Free Schools in Suffolk: The desires of the few outweigh the needs of the many

If you remember Star Trek you probably remember the famous scene featuring Captain Kirk and Spock where Spock is dying and he says "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one" here is a reminder:

Spock describes this as "logical" and indeed this premise is one of the things that civil society is based upon. The idea of the common good.

The situation in Suffolk with the plans to open a number of small free schools that will benefit a few but cause damage to other schools affecting far larger numbers of people turns this logic upon its head. I first thought of calling this post "the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many"  but actually that doesn't really cover it because this isn't even about the needs of the few. They don't actually need these schools the just want them.

I wrote a blog post some time ago entitled Free School Madness Continues in Suffolk where I concluded:

To me it seems hugely questionable to use public money to build a new school to compete against an already good existing school. A real case of confusing "want" and "need"

So I think this means that it is really a case of "the desires of the few outweigh the needs of the many" because what, effectively, is being argued is that the desire of some people to make a choice is more important than the needs of everyone to have a good school for their children.

The "facts" leaflet circulated by the Seckford Foundation attempts to deny this and suggests that:

"the introduction of the free school would create and incentive to all other existing schools to maintain and improve the education they provide so as to attract pupils. This will benefit all local children"

As I argued in my earlier post this is an opinion and not a fact and it certainly sounds attractive. Choice for all and the ensuing competition also improves the available options. Only problem is it doesn't work like that. This is the educational equivalent to having your cake and eating it.

Another way of looking at it is to think about the impact on a town centre of opening a out of town shopping complex. Something many towns know only too well. Such shopping centres were built in large number to increase "choice" so people should "choose" to shop there or in the town centre. Except of course that isn't what happened in many cases. The out of town shopping centres killed the high street stores so there was no longer a choice. You can't have your cake and eat it. People suddenly didn't need (or even want) to buy twice as much stuff so it was "logical" that in the end one would have to close.

Looking back at the situation with free schools what became clear yesterday with the publication on the Wikisuffolk site of the number of free school applications in Suffolk so far is just how few people the "few" are in this case. Bearing in mind that there are 44 795 secondary age pupils in Suffolk. Here are the numbers of applicants for the three free schools proposed to open in 2012:

Source: Suffolk County Council (FOI request)

Yes that's right. 399. Not even 1%.

I recently received a Freedom of Information Request from Suffolk County Council containing around 1400 pages of correspondence about free schools in Suffolk. There are countless emails and letters flying around between County Council officers, headteachers, councillors, MPs, the Government and several of its Quangos even solicitors about a handful of free schools. Even if they were all completely full and operating they would only be serving a tiny percentage of Suffolk children yet before they even exist they are consuming a large percentage of the available capacity of the County Council and others.

Last night also saw the publication by the parent group Compass who oppose the proposed Stoke by Nayland free school of their response to the recent application to open a free school by Seckford. Their response is extremely thorough and it presents an excellent analysis demonstrating that the proposed schools in just not needed.

The report is so good I have attached it in full below to encourage you to read it. Very similar arguments apply in Beccles, Saxmundham and Ixworth.

Compass DfE Response Stoke by Nayland March 2012

Desperate Seckford advertising for pupils after receiving only 86 applications for Beccles

The Seckford Foundation have placed half-page adverts across much of the press in North Suffolk today for the Beccles Free School in a move seen by many locals as presumptive given that final approval has not yet been granted by the Secretary of State. However this Blog can reveal the number of applications made to Suffolk County Council for Years 7, 8 and 9.

Only 86 children have expressed an interest across all three of these year groups, this breaks down as follows:

Source: Suffolk County Council Freedom of Information Request

This is around half the number needed for the interim site at Carlton and a quarter of the original 108 per year group imagined. And that is if all these children actually go and given many probably applied before the news of the move to Carlton Colville that is unlikely.

Here is a copy of the advert:

Click to enlarge

In addition to the advert the Archant papers ran an article about the adverts and there was also a flyer distributed with the paper pointing out some "facts" about the free school apparently to counter "whatever you have heard" presumably by reading the letter from local MP Peter Aldous to Schools Minister Lord Hill or the article in the Beccles and Bungay Journal by Mark Bee...

Having read this I must say I am pleased my children do not attend a school run by the Seckford Foundaton as they appear not to understand the difference between "facts" and "opinions".

Here is a useful example for Seckford of the difference.

A fact is something verifiably true for example the statement "86 people had applied for places at Beccles Free School by 15 February 2012"

An opinion is a view or judgement formed about something that may or may not be based on fact, for example "the introduction of the free school would create and incentive to all other existing schools to maintain and improve the education they provide so as to attract pupils. This will benefit all local children"

Seckford are quite entitled to that view, I don't share it, but it is an opinion not a fact.

But I think there are two main concerns here. Firstly it appears that Seckford are using public money from the DfE to pay for these adverts. The free school pre-opening costs that the DfE will pay include "marketing and publicity". I called Seckford and asked them to verify this but "nobody was available to speak to me" and a promised call back was not received.

Secondly there must be concerns that the local press are now at least somewhat beholden to Seckford, indeed they even ran an article about the adverts. An article in the Lowestoft Journal about the Carlton Colville public meeting pointedly failed to mention the failure of Seckford to turn up or even acknowledge the invitation. 

This has concerned several local residents who have been asking Archant journalists about the way they are covering the free school story by asking questions on Twitter. It is certainly true that previously they have published several articles critical of the school but is now the case that questions are being asked.

Does this all mean the school is a done deal? It might do but equally it could be a form of pressure by Seckford on the DfE almost daring them not to approve it given the money they are spending...And if this is public money Seckford certainly don't seem to have much to lose. Except maybe their reputation.

Dead Men book launch at the Natural History Museum

The beautiful Natural History Museum in London was the location for local Stradbroke author Richard Pierce's book launch. His Dead Men novel  is a work of fiction based on the story of the Antarctic explorer Scott. The natural history museum currently have an exhibition on Scott to mark the 100th anniversary of his expedition.

I travelled down to London with Richard and tried to keep him from needlessly worrying about if anyone would turn up or if he would be any good. As it turned out he had no need to worry as people were literally queuing round the block to get in to the Question and Answer session hosted in the museum. 

Richard read from his book and answered questions from the audience. Richard's personal experience from visiting the antarctic and the iconic Scott's hut enabled him to engage what was clearly a very knowledgeable audience.

You can get a flavour of the event from the video below that I took on my phone, a more professional video will hopefully be available soon:

I was was great to meet one of Richard's fellow authors SJ Heckscher who has written an interesting Blog post about the launch.

For those of you in Suffolk there is a local book launch at Stradbroke Library on Friday 23rd March from 7pm to 9pm you can see more book launch events on Richard's website.

You can buy Dead Men from all good bookstores and online from Amazon there is also a Kindle Edition.

Wanted 270 Trustees for 45 companies to run Suffolk Libraries...

When the Suffolk Libraries IPS was announced it was clear it was going to be a "membership" organisation made up of local library groups. Details of exactly how this will happen have started to emerge. In the County Council's best value evaluation back in November it was suggested that:

it is expected that there will be a number of independent local library organisations, i.e. local community groups, governing local libraries, either as incorporated organisations or constituted associations.

However it has since emerged that local library groups will need to be formally incorporated companies in order to qualify for membership. The rules of the IPS state that membership can be granted to:

any community based library group within Suffolk that supports the objects of the Society and is incorporated or, will be incorporated within six months of their application to become a Member of the Society as one of the legal forms acknowledged and accepted to the Society.

So they will need to be legally registered and have Directors. The model proposed is that these too will be "membership" organisations where the members will elect Directors who in turn elect the IPS Directors.

The diagram below tries to show this:

Bear in mind there are supposed to be up to 44 of these Library Groups! So up to 45 companies including the IPS itself and even if each Board only has 6 members a total of 270 trustees on boards....All this to run an organisation with around 170FTE staff. And on an individual level some smaller libraries have less than 1FTE staff but appear to need a Limited Company and Board of Directors to run them...

This seems to me a governance sledgehammer to crack a nut. Some of the proposed corporate structures will require reporting to both Companies House and the Charity Commission. Articles of Association, Memoranda of Incorporation,  Audited accounts etc etc Not to mention some kind of "service agreement" with the IPS, the best value document suggests that:

the relationship will be based on a commercial relationship where the IPS will provide services that the local libraries wish to purchase, encouraging all parties to act in a business-like fashion and encouraging the IPS to be demand-responsive. The IPS will develop a mechanism (such as a grant agreement) to agree an individual budget/service offer with each of the library organisations. 

So that is 44 individually negotiated agreements, some for tiny libraries.

This is not to say that I do not see a benefit to having local library groups and some of them may well be incorporated as they may perform another function such as the Wickham Market Partnership but for smaller libraries and communities that do not want to manage any staff or buildings these seem bureaucratic overheads.

Seckford Foundation provoke fury with free school banner in Carlton Colville

Having failed to turn up at the public meeting on Sunday organised by Carlton Colville Town Council and ignored emails since requesting an explanation the Seckford Foundation appear determined to provoke local residents in North Suffolk. Since the meeting on Sunday someone has turned up at the former Carlton Colville Primary School site, apparently without the consent of the County Council who own the building, and put up a sign stating Beccles Free School: Your child, your choice.

It is difficult to imagine a more provocative action by the Seckford Foundation who appear to behave with impunity totally ignoring the wishes of local people.

This follows them smearing opponents in the press as "enemies of choice and opportunity" and standing by and doing nothing whilst the DfE and their agents Cambridge Education made allegations, which were proved to be untrue, that opponents of the free school had "intimidated" staff during a consultation meeting in Carlton Colville. Claims that the police were involved were later retracted and an explanation that they had consulted the police for advice on future events substituted.

I understand that Suffolk County Council have ordered the Seckford Foundation to remove the banner. Given the site is 7 miles from Beccles and the school is not meant to be located in Carlton Colville for longer than 2 years it is difficult to see this as genuine publicity. It looks more like staking a very visible claim on the building.

At the public meeting the community made it clear they were unhappy that the Seckford Foundation did not consult them about their plans for the site. This seems a very strange way to deal with these concerns and appears to undermine local MP Peter Aldous's claims that this is not a "done deal". 

Ipswich Library Pilot Collapses as IPS has a difficult start

IPS Chair Clive Fox

The planned staff co-operative for libraries in Ipswich has collapsed. Six out of the seven Ipswich libraries were due to be part of the pilot but two withdrew last week, including the Central Library leaving the plans unsustainable. The collapse of the Ipswich pilot comes as "Suffolk's Libraries IPS" begins its plans to transition staff from the County Council to the new not for profit body.

This comes as another blow to IPS Chairman Clive Fox who missed a meeting earlier this month of the pilot groups at Bury St Edmunds. It was revealed on Suffolk Wordblog last week that the Aldeburgh library manager, Iain Rousham had resigned after disagreements with Fox and the County Council's divestment strategy.

Meanwhile the pilots in Stradbroke, Debenham and Eye are still bogged down with buildings issues as the somewhat convoluted relationships between County, the IPS and local groups continues to be bottomed out.

There are also concerns about the structure that is going to be needed by local library groups in order to enable them to join the IPS with the suggestion that complicated "membership" corporate bodies will need to be established for each of the 44 libraries at considerable cost in both time and money.

What seems to be emerging is that Fox and the County Council see the future of Suffolk's libraries as a collection of individual self-governing local libraries rather than a coherent countywide service. This is especially concerning for smaller libraries. There have even been suggestions that some staff might be more or less immediately transferred to local groups meaning such staff would be subject to two TUPE consultations in less than a year.

Cllr Judy Terry
Cabinet Library Lead

The use of volunteers also remains an issue that the IPS needs to make a decision on as there are suggestions that volunteers could be use to do jobs currently undertaken by paid professional staff. Clearly volunteers will play a part as they do now in Suffolk Libraries but this must be subject to some clear agreed constraints.

Iain Rousham had remarked after leaving Aldeburgh that:

"Judy Terry, like a drowning woman, clutched at Clive Fox as a man who could deliver her plan"

The question is can Fox really deliver this plan? It seems the early indications are not encouraging and that the IPS may need to look for a change of leadership if it is to avoid collapsing before it has even got started. Suffolk County Council also need to accept it is an independent body and resist the temptation to interfere in decisions and appointments.

Or they could save a great deal of time, effort and money and keep it in house retaining local groups to support each library but requiring a much less bureaucratic and complicated arrangements. How on earth this is saving money I have no idea. it just seems to be passing the buck from where I am standing and the worry is more and more of the staff that makes the library service what it is will end up leaving if this continues.

Amber Miro 30 July 1965 - 6 March 2012

Amber Miro in Red

I met Amber when I started to work at LSE in 2005. I had been taken on to do a job working for Sue Wing who rang me just before I started to tell me she was leaving LSE!  So when I arrived I found myself "acting up" together with Amber. Now Amber had been at LSE for many years and was at that time the Training Manager and she was really helpful to me in getting settled in. I remember going to a UCISA (Universities IT networking) conference and over a few drinks asking Amber if she would be applying for the job that Sue had left.  I was delighted when she said she was and then got the job.

So for most of the 5 years or so I worked at LSE Amber was my boss. We worked closely together and shared some difficult times. Typically we would get coffee from Pret or Starbucks and sometimes lunch. Amber always having a soya cappuccino with sweetener.  We shared a love for decent coffee, gadgets and a good few drinks when the opportunity presented itself as it frequently did at UCISA conferences. Later we both became avid social media users, particularly of Twitter.

Amber with her red
coat and iPhone

My abiding memory of Amber is of her wearing her red coat and clutching her iPhone. That and (in a typical Amber paradox) a fountain pen!

Typically smiling Amber always had time for people and a genuine interest in their lives. Always remembering details she treated her colleagues as human beings not mere cogs in the machine and as a consequence was extremely well regarded.

Amber combined this human touch with a strong competitive streak and a determination that you would not, perhaps, guess just by looking at her. I think it was the combination of these two things that enabled her to get things done. She would have an idea, talk about it, convince people and it would actually happen.

After I left LSE I was pleased to continue to see Amber from time to time. Sometimes on the train up to Suffolk where her and her partner had a place not far away from my home.We finally got round to meeting up in Suffolk over Christmas in Stradbroke where Amber, her wife and my wife went out for a meal.

So on Saturday in the small Suffolk village of Thrandeston we will "honour, cherish and bury" Amber and then celebrate her life in a nearby pub in a way that Amber would, I am sure, approve of.  And whilst she leaves a huge hole in the lives of us all I feel privileged to have called Amber a friend and my life was better for knowing her. I know I am not alone.

At LSE and amongst the wider higher education community and amongst her friends and family I know there are many people feeling the same and that says it all.

If you would like to donate to Cancer Research in memory of Amber you can do so here
Visit the virtual scrapbook in memory of Amber at http://www.ambermiro.org


Amber Miro was Assistant Director of IT Services at the London School of Economics and a member of the UCISA Executive. You can read the UCISA announcement of Amber's death. 

Mass Library Lobby in Westminster whilst the "Suffolk's Libraries IPS" board meets

Libraries Lobby outside Westminster

In Suffolk the board of the new clumsily named "Suffolk's Libraries IPS" met today whilst down in Westminster a mass lobby of parliament took place on the issue of libraries.

I called in to Westminster to take a look at the lobby and one thing struck me. It was the same thing that has been striking me during the Beccles Free School debacle.

Pretty much everyone "protesting" are respectable looking middle class people. I bet you more of a few of them voted Conservative. Just look at the photograph. Do these people strike you as "rent a mob" - the words used by Suffolk's Libraries IPS Chairman Clive Fox about Suffolk library campaigners.

So here as in Beccles with the free school the Government is not behaving in any way like a truly conservative government. Once again the desire not to fund libraries comes more form the free market neoliberalism that cannot see the benefit of anything that cannot turn a profit.

Library Campaigners from the WI - Rent a Mob??

In the House of Commons Minister responsible for libraries Ed Vaizey tried to defend himself against allegations that he was the "Dr Beeching" of libraries. A reference to the infamous author of a report that ended up closing much of Britain's railways. Vaisey spoke once again about the use of volunteers which seems to be one of the arguments trotted out time and time again as an excuse for cutting what isn't even that expensive a service.

The mass lobby was organised by Speak Up for Libraries an umbrella organisation including the WI, professional library association CLIP, Voices for the Library and UNISON.

In today's Guardian: Beccles Free School twitter spat with Sam Freedman

Sam Freedman
DfE Civil Servant

The story that was first featured on this Blog about the tweets made by DfE civil servant Sam Freedman alleging that staff running one of the Beccles Free School consultation meetings had been "reduced to tears" by a member of the anti-academies alliance is featured on p33 of today's Guardian newspaper.

The problem with this remark is that on closer examination neither part of the allegation was true. Nobody was reduced to tears and the person alleged to be responsible isn't actually from the anti-academies alliance. Indeed the owner of the newsagents where the consultation took place reported that the event passed off with no trouble.

In case you are interested in reading more, here are the links to the relevant posts:

• Beccles, the Big Society and a Free School (report of twitter argument)
• Full text of the twitter argument
• Free School Consultations: Like letting property developers carry out their own planning inquiry (response to allegations)
• Beccles Free School: The "newsagent" consultation (report just after the consultation meeting)
• Guardian Article (or read below as printed)

---

The Guardian
13 Mar 2012

School Land Issues, more personal power to the Secretary of State

Carlton Colville Primary School: Belongs to Mr Gove

At yesterday's public meeting in Carlton Colville there were three tiers of government present. The meeting was organised by the Town Council who had plans for the old primary schools site, there were District Councillors present (who are the local planning authority) and no less than three Suffolk County Councillors including local constituency councillor and Cabinet member Kathy Gosling. Suffolk County Council actually "own" the site.

County Cllr
Kathy Gosling

Well when I say they own it I am being a little unfair because from 1 February this year some technical sounding but significant changes to legislation on school land effectively mean they have no control whatsoever over the building. They may own the freehold but they can't dispose of it without the personal consent of Mr Gove the Education Secretary.

For those wanting chapter and verse you can find it in this document on the DfE website called Changes to the requirements for disposing of school land under Schedule 1 to the Academies Act 2010 (formerly Schedule 35A disposals). If you really want you can read Schedule 1 of the Academies Act but to cut a lot of legalise short it's up to the Secretary of State what happens to the land. 

Michael Gove MP
behind a "Big Society" banner

He keeps these powers for 8 years on all land formerly used for a school or academy. Indeed we heard at a public meeting that a nearby primary school - Elm Tree - was being left empty "just in case" someone wanted to open a free school there.

This legislation effectively means that the Secretary of State can ignore all three tiers of local government. Maybe this is why Seckford didn't bother to attend they know the only relationship that matters is with the DfE in London.

It in some ways then the  meeting was a waste of time as the two organisations who matter - The Seckford Foundation and the DfE stayed safely in Woodbridge and Westminster away from the public anger. The local Conservatives present never mentioned that they have given away the local communities right to make decisions over their own public land to someone in Westminster who probably couldn't find Carlton Colville on a map....

Beccles Free School: Seckford Foundation fail to show up at Carlton Colville public meeting

The Seckford Foundation were conspicuous by their absence at a public meeting in Carlton Colville this afternoon organised by the Town Council. You can read my Live Blog of the event. Town Council Chairman Terry Fleet told the meeting of around 60 local residents that they had been invited but had failed even to respond to the invitation. The old Carlton Colville Primary School building has been earmarked by Seckford as the initial temporary location for Beccles Free School until they can move into the Beccles Middle School site in 2014.

Terry Fleet went on to to tell the meeting that he had first heard about the Seckford plans from a report on ITV Anglia and that nobody had told him or anyone else in Carlton Colville.

Local MP Peter Aldous spoke against the establishment of the free school telling the meeting that he was in favour of free schools but that this was not "the time or the place". He assured sceptical people in the room who described the school as a "done deal" that this wasn't the case and that the DfE would consider it carefully.

Seckford's Graham
Watson not there

Campaigner and local teacher Ian Goodyear told the meeting that the failure of Seckford Foundation to attend the meeting showed their lack of concern for the local community. He reported that they regularly failed to respond to correspondence from local residents.

The meeting went on to consider various community uses for the primary school site and after much discussion it was agreed the Town Council would work with the people behind the "Discovery Family Centre" that you can read more about at http://discoveryfamilycentre.org/. Peter Aldous tried to get the various different local councils and groups to agree to work together on this.

Whilst there was certainly disagreement about what should be done it was very clear that the free school was not welcomed with the Town Council suggesting it had derailed their plans for the building and others concerned about it not moving out after two years.

Some form of community use was clearly favoured by those present and Carlton Colville which now has more than 7000 people and looks to be heading towards 10000 certainly needs more community facilities.

As for the Seckford "no show" it is difficult to know how to interpret this. Some have suggested that it might mean they are confident the school is going ahead regardless but the opposite interpretation is just as possible. We just won't know until there is a decision.

LIVE BLOG: Carlton Colville Primary Public Meeting

I will be attempting a first for this Blog by "live blogging" the Carlton Colville public meeting about the use of the primary school site! See what is happening and join in the discussion at 2pm today Sunday 11th March! Live from Carlton Colville Community Centre.