Lib Dem education plans - opening schools and providing new places

12.41.34pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 11th Apr 2006

Standards in Lambeth's schools have improved

Lib Dem councillors' support for Lambeth's teachers, pupils, parents and governors over the last four years has brought a dramatic improvement in school standards. There are no longer any schools in Lambeth on special measures or identified as having serious weaknesses. When Labour left office in 2002, they left behind them one school on special measures and three with serious weaknesses. Since then, the number of students getting 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to C has increased to 52% in 2005 - compared to 32% in 2000 under Labour - and Lambeth is now in the top six education authorities for 'value added' scores.

In addition, the Lib Dems are successfully dealing with Labour's bungling on school places. Not content with closing primary schools and selling off sites, the Labour Council before 2002 failed to spot that Lambeth was facing a shortfall of secondary school places, in spite of being told so by the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and local campaign groups. Labour's School Organisation Plan 2000-2005 stated that by 2005 there would be sufficient capacity in secondary schools to meet predicted demand! The first hurdle the Lib Dems faced after 2002 was to revise the roll projections for Lambeth's schools to show the accurate need for more school places.

Having revised upwards the projections for pupil numbers at Lambeth's schools, we made a successful case to the government for funding to provide extra secondary places around the borough, which provided 90 extra places at three schools and 150 6th form places. Now the sites for a new City Academy and a new parent-led comprehensive have been identified, the Lib Dems have also started the process of building two new secondary schools in Lambeth. To ensure that the extra school places these new schools will provide are available as soon as possible, we have put in place plans that will allow both new schools to open early on temporary sites, the first starting in September 2007. Building the new schools on their permanent homes requires a substantial investment. The Liberal Democrats are ready to invest at least £12.5 million to establish the new City Academy on Shakespeare Road in Brixton.

The work on the two new schools are part of Lib Dem plans to ensure that in the first instance there will be places at local schools in the borough for 80% of secondary school age children by 2011 (currently only around half Lambeth's children are educated in the borough). As well as the new schools these plans will mean an increase in the forms of entry at successful local schools such as Archbishop Tenison, London Nautical and the new Lilian Baylis. The Lib Dems are also planning to expand sixth form provision. All of this will be paid for from the £200 million the Lib Dems won from the government under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF). The BSF money will also be used to refurbish local secondary schools to make them more suitable for teaching in the 21st Century. For example, estimated capital works for Archbishop Tenison's and London Nautical come to £5.48 million.

Because we believe in providing new school places in every part of Lambeth the Lib Dems did not to support the proposal floated to build a new City Academy on the Thames Water site on Brixton Hill. Acquiring the Thames Water site would cost millions of pounds, require compulsory purchase orders (there are a number of owners) and result in a less than ideal site in terms of shape. (It would also mean throwing allotment holders off their allotments.) Labour and key figures in LEAP have argued for this new school on Brixton Hill, but this would take money away from existing schools including those in north Lambeth.

And school dinners?! Lambeth agreed a new contract for better and healthier school meals in September 2004 - ahead of the Jamie Oliver-inspired bandwagon. The new contract contained rigorous specifications requiring the use of freshly prepared food, and limiting the use of fat, sugar, salt and additives. 93% of the current menu is prepared from fresh ingredients.