Vye gets County Promise on New Academies

5.19.00pm GMT Thu 29th Oct 2009

Kent Liberal Democrat Martin Vye has questioned the difference between local Kent Conservative policy regarding Academy schools and that of the Conservatives nationally.

At October's Kent County Council meeting Martin Vye, Liberal Democrat shadow Cabinet Member for Education, asked whether the local authority could give a guarantee that any new Academy would only be set up to replace an existing school, would be committed to working with other schools, and not attempt to poach pupils from them.

Afterwards Martin said:

"I am glad to say I was given the assurance that Academies would only be set up to replace existing schools, although I shall be looking closely at the fine print in any new application to set up an Academy.

"Clearly the Conservative administration in Kent is distancing itself from the national Conservative leadership, which plans to encourage hundreds of Academies to spring up all over the country.These will be set up anywhere, and will draw children away from existing local schools, thus weakening them and making it more difficult for them to improve education for the children who remain in them."