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Educational chaos

IN the headlong rush to privatise our education system, Government strategy was to denude the LEAs of funding in order to incentivise almost anyone who felt they could set up and run a school, anywhere, to do so. As the national cake was never actually expanded, we are now reaching a day of reckoning as the largesse to the Academies slows down.

What I hadn’t appreciated however, was just how quickly the CEOs of these schools were migrating into random, geographically disparate groups (MATs), arguably with the one objective of enriching themselves and their executive boards.

This in turn is creating fertile ground for the Americans who are beginning, as they are in the rest of the public sector, to infiltrate here despite their own education system being down at the bottom of international comparisons - well below us.

(beware of TTIP Mk2 Teresa) ‘Top of the Pops’ is Sir Daniel Moynihan, CEO of the Harris Foundation whose £40,000 pay hike in 2014, took him to a very handy £370,000 pa. Hot on his heels is Ian Comfort CEO of Academies Enterprise Trust at £220,000 yet in October 2016, the Education Funding Agency issued an improvement notice for 28 of its schools. Jon Richardson of Unison has described “an explosion of senior pay in Academies”

Excessive executive pay is not the only way trusts are able to divert funds provided for pupil education. Unlike state schools whose spending is closely monitored by the local authority, Academies seem to have a free reign in how they spend their money, leaving the system open to widespread abuse and potential fraud.

Transactions with related parties are resulting in £ millions being channelled in seemingly beneficial directions, without adequate public oversight, according to the Government’s Public Accounts Committee. Lilac Sky Schools Trust (9 primary schools in Kent and East Sussex) ran up debts of £665,000 whilst the husband and wife team in charge arguably benefitted from £800,000 being paid by LSST to outside companies the couple owned. On top of this CEO Trevor Beeson ensured the employ of his own daughter Victoria Rezale, at one of the schools at a useful £65,000 pa.

In Swindon all secondary education is now privatised and in primaries, many of which are brilliant SBC schools, academisation is slowly taking over. But I stress I am not suggesting any kind of abuse locally… at the present time.

Whilst struggling LEA schools face forced academisation, failing Academies are “rebrokered” into yet bigger groups.

Clearly no one wants to take on the financial basket cases and thus the whole due diligence process means uncertainty for pupils/parents but big pay days for the legal profession, monies that historically went into pupil funding. Add grammar schools to this mix, denuding academies of the brightest pupils, and you have a perfect recipe for educational chaos.

Whatever the outcome it’s likely class teachers will continue the daily grind at zero or below inflation pay rises whilst the executives continue to play Monopoly and pass the parcel, at all times keeping their snouts as deep in the trough as possible.

Sadly one more small ratchet up of the screw for inequality in Britain today.

JOHN STOOKE

Haydon End

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Visit the ‘Other Place’

A SHORT time ago I wrote in with a criticism of the way our beloved council, Organises? Runs? and generally forces onto us, the population things that we really don’t want.

Recently I had the opportunity to see and compare how another place, slightly smaller than Swindon but much more impressive, does things. When I say smaller I mean in terms of population; Swindon has an approximate population of 185,000 persons, the other that I made the comparison with has just 117,000. Thus the difference is 68,000 and this means there are 68,000 more to pay taxes and work in and around our town, visit shops, stores and generally wander and work within its boundaries. One would imagine that this would contribute to Swindon coming out quite well in the comparison. So did it?

Sad to say it didn’t. The other place has the advantage of a cathedral, very nice and of course that makes it a city, something that some of our councillors think that Swindon should become. Actually although I am a true Swindonian it really doesnt bother me.

During my visit to the “Other Place” I had the opportunity to compare the heritage buildings of the two. Sadly in Swindon we don’t have many as the council seems intent on demolishing them as quickly as possible, or if not knocking them down to leave them to rot. so that in the old military phase they are Beyond Economic Repair. BER for short !

This was an opportunity to compare the shopping centre of each place and you might think that as Swindon is so much bigger it would be better. Think again. The shopping centre in the “Other Place” was way beyond anything we have in Swindon. It was larger, wider streets, better laid out with shops which we now dont have in Swindon. A three story Marks and Sparks, Next, a Large John Lewis multi floored.

This together with many arcade type of shopping

areas containing many small and individual & privately owned shops. One other thing that stood out for me was it was all so clean. Although I didn’t actually look for them I didnt spot any £1 shops. We seem to have a plethora of them here.

Then we come to some of the heritage buildings. OK some of these are old dating back to the 14th and 15th century. But they are there and maintained and visitable. In another area just off the main Shopping Center they recently had a large fire in a hotel. This was very serious but it is all being restored and meanwhile everything around it goes on as usual. This includes a “Watering Hole” Called the SHIP. This dates back to the early 1500s and it is still the serving beer and ales with wine and coffee

plus food to its clientele. One af it most famous visitors in the past was Sir Francis Drake, he was there in 1587 I believe.

Surely you must all know the city I am taking about by now - it’s Exeter. And I would advise anyone to pay it a visit, especially our councillors and they should take the council’s planning office to see what can be achieved with a little common sense.

DAVID COLLINS

Blake Crescent

Swindon

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Cheer up, guys

MAY I thank Chris Deeley and Jeff Adams (Adver 1st. February 2017) for taking my advice and bringing at last a bit of humour into the letters pages? I have never laughed so much at their totally wrong assumptions on my personal character. I swear even my Westie was grinning as I laughed my head off .The last time his tail wagged at that speed was when he spotted a little lady poodle in a stylish doggie coat on Weymouth Esplanade.

However attacks on my personal character from two strangers I have never even met . Gloves off, pistols at fifty paces... As for being without judicial experience, Mr Deeley - would that include my years as a works convenor and attending industrial tribunals? As being of delicate nature, Mr Adams - would that include the aforementioned, as well as an east end of Glasgow upbringing?

Mind you, perhaps you could get together as a comedy team - Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, Adams and Deeley. We all have to start somewhere.

Here’s hoping you both take this in the light-hearted manner intended. Cheer up Chris and Jeff, we are all just passing through this existence.

BILL WILLIAMS

Merlin Way

Covingham

Swindon

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Help save the NHS

CHRIS Gleed writes in the Adver (4th Feb) that ‘the NHS is more important than what Trump does’. Chris is right that we must defend our NHS.

We must fight to save the NHS from destruction. The threat is real. It is happening now. Hospitals, GPs’ mental health, ambulance and community services are on their knees. Private companies are gaining an ever greater foothold within the NHS. Years of pay restraint has seen the value of NHS staff salaries reduce by 14% since 2010. The Government’s Sustainability and Transformation Plans are a smokescreen for a massive programme of hospital and community service closures, and its latest instrument for privatisation.

The NHS is one of our greatest achievements. We cannot allow it to be undermined and ultimately destroyed.

Swindon People’s Assembly have a coach going from Swindon to the #our NHS demonstration in London on March 4. We will be leaving Chapel Street car park at 8.30am and tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/swindon-coach-to-nhs-demo-london-4th-march-tickets-31802776962 or via our office by emailing peoplesassemblyswindon@gmx.co.uk or calling 01793 522824. Cars can be left at the car park during the day, free of charge. Tickets range from £5-£20.

The People’s Assembly are also supporting demonstrations against Trump. We should be talking about the connection between the special relationship with the USA, the Government’s haste and keeness in promoting trade deals with the USA and the threat to our NHS by American companies wanting to get a foothold within it. There is a clear connection between Trump and the safety of our NHS.

Even if people are not concerned about Trump’s racist, Islamaphobic, mysogynist, anti-disability and divisive rhetoric and actions, they should be concerned about our NHS.

KATE LINNEGAR

Secretary Swindon People’s Assembly

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Thanks for your help

This is a big thank you to all the ladies who stopped to offer assistance on Wednesday when my car broke down at the bottom of Pipers Way. The kindness you all showed was very much appreciated. Many thanks.

HELEN FRENCH

Swindon

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Wall is an extension

I WOULD like to just clarify a point made by Peter Smith in his letter of 3 February in which he states that I defended Donald Trump in my recent letter criticising Gill Harris’s column. I did nothing of the sort, in fact I very much disagree with his ‘wall’ idea.

What I did was point out that Trump’s wall is only an extension of Bush’s wall. Indeed Bush’s wall covers 650 miles of the 2,000-mile US/Mexico border.

With regard to my comment regarding “ I don’t recall anyone in this country being offended by the Bush administration’s action”, I did think as the comment appears at the end of a paragraph in which I refer specifically to Bush signing into law The Secure Fence Act 2006 it was clear I am referring to that action alone and not the Iraq war; a war which I am on record as having spoken against on many occasions.

I therefore aver to no one in my condemnation of Bush and Blair for that escapade, which cost many lives and achieved nothing positive whatsoever.

I know getting rid of Saddam was what Blair wanted but he simply avoided looking beyond the quick gain and failed to consider the long-term implications of his actions.

DES MORGAN

Caraway Drive

Swindon