Free school parents attack council plans

The Labour-run Kirklees Council has been accused of attempting to thwart parents’ plans because of their “political bias” against the coalition’s free school policy.

A group of parents have already won Government backing for plans to open their own secondary in Birkenshaw in 2013.

They aim to base their school on the site of the council-run Birkenshaw Middle School which is set to close when the area moves to a two-tier school system of primaries and secondaries.

Kirklees Council has, however, now announced plans to use the site to relocate and expand Birkenshaw First School to turn it into a primary. The council is still closing down the middle school but says cuts to the Government’s primary capital programme have meant it cannot afford to expand Birkenshaw First School’s existing building.

The free school campaigners have accused the council of trying to block their plan for a community-led school. A statement from the Birkenshaw, Birstall and Gomersal Academy Trust said the council’s “only objective” was to stop plans for their school.

The council’s cabinet member for children’s services, Peter O’Neill, said they had to find an alternative way of moving to a two-tier school system after the Government scrapped funding for building projects.