Showdown!

JACK HULME

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Council chiefs take on ministers in academies battle
OLDHAM Council chiefs are meeting with top Government ministers to fight to save the borough’s multi-million pound academies scheme.

But council leader Councillor Howard Sykes admitted the plans are hanging in the balance as he defended Oldham’s Lib-Dem administration against Labour accusations that they put the scheme in jeopardy by dragging their feet.

Plans for three new academy buildings, due to be completed in 2012-13, are under review and Councillor Sykes said it will be around five weeks before it’s known if the funding is available.

He is currently at the Local Government Association Conference in Bournemouth where he will meet Local Government Minister Eric Pickles, while cabinet member for children and families, Councillor Jack Hulme, meets Schools Secretary Michael Gove.

Councillor Sykes added: “We are fighting out corner to get some clarity. We don’t know yet what’s happening. It will be four to five weeks before we know what the situation is. But it’s money the country has not got.”

Their vital talks will follow the hammer blow that the Government has called a halt to the £55 billion Building Schemes for the Future (BSF) programme to replace or refurbish every secondary school in England by 2020.

The shock news left the borough’s £266 million plans to overhaul all of its crumbling secondary schools in tatters.

Eight schemes have been axed, while a new Catholic school and an extensive rebuild of North Chadderton School is in doubt.

The three academies will still open in the five existing schools they are replacing in September while the sponsors try to secure funding for the new buildings.

Labour has blamed Lib-Dems — saying they reviewed the plans when they came to power and could have pushed through the process quicker to guarantee the money.

Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher said: “I think the council let us down. I asked them previously if they wanted me to lobby the Department for Education and they were not forthcoming. If they did everything they could it would be different but I do not believe they did.

“I am not saying we could have got all eight schools signed off but we may have made progress on a few and they could have been given the go-ahead. I feel awful about this decision, as more should have been done.”

But Councillor Sykes accused Labour of not telling the truth, adding: “That’s not the case. Where is his evidence? There have not been any delays.”

He pointed out the Meridian fiasco - Labour’s unrealistic plans to build the Catholic School on land the council didn’t own.

“They should remember the scheme I inherited had something in it called the Meridian, which will have a tram running through it very soon,” said Councillor Sykes. “It was undoable and unaffordable. We spotted it and solved it and got it back on track. If we hadn’t it would be dead now.

“We have done everything we can to get the funding - it’s a long and bureaucratic process.”

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas is also fighting Oldham’s cause — seeking to get the Saddleworth School rebuild back on the agenda.

He said: “What happens now is I will be putting the case for the Saddleworth school to the Secretary of State Michael Gove to try and convince him of the economic benefits and the schooling benefits.

“This will be a tough task but it is the right thing to do. The case for a new school is very strong, it is a great school but it is overcrowded and needs modern buildings to do even better. This was one of my ten points on my local manifesto pledge in the election campaign and I intend to fulfil it.”