Conservatives congratulate Parkside on academy bid

Governors of the Parkside Federation, which runs Parkside and Coleridge Community Colleges, have voted overwhelmingly for the federation to apply for Academy status.Conservative Andy Bower, a campaigner in the Coleridge ward which covers one of the school sites, welcomed the news and criticised local Labour councillor Tariq Sadiq for opposing the bid.

“Cllr Sadiq argues that local authority control is needed, just in case the excellent management team were to fail some time in the future. This pessimistic argument could be applied to any devolution of power – whether from Whitehall to local government or from local government to schools, communities and individuals.

“Labour under Tony Blair used to understand this, which is why it created the Academy programme in 2000. Cllr Sadiq’s attitude is more evidence that Labour under Ed Miliband has receded into its comfort zone of state control.”