Letter to the editor of the Dursley Gazette on the VBC closure threat
The Editor
Dursley Gazette
28 November 2009
Madam
A Labour Government report is recommending that the Vale of Berkeley College should be closed. Graham Badman is the author of the report and he was appointed by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. In contrast, the Local Authority is exploring options including a ‘federation’ of schools to incorporate Vale of Berkeley College.
The threat of closure is extremely unsettling for pupils, parents and staff. It is also potentially damaging to the local community; Vale of Berkeley College provides useful facilities including the gym opened three years ago by my wife, Laurence, in her capacity as a Stroud District Council Cabinet Member.
I am committed to effective local schools and I believe that this sort of top-down decision making ignores the importance of local opinion and community interests. This is why I am searching for a better solution for the school and, above all, the pupils.
Conservatives want to strengthen local decision making. To this end, we propose to introduce reforms in education where parents can take a decisive role in supporting, enhancing and, indeed, even creating new schools. These plans now have an added urgency.
Yours faithfully
Neil Carmichael
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Stroud
Tags: Vale of Berkeley College
