William MacDougall annouces new policies to improve local Tottenham schools 05/07/04

Policies announced to improve schools in Tottenham

Public services will be the battleground of the next election, and Tottenham Conservatives have fired the first shots on improving schools. William MacDougall, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate this week endorsed the 'Right to Choose' for parents announced by Conservatives to improve local schools and make it easier for residents across Tottenham to have a better and more diverse range of schools available to them.

Under a Conservative Government, parents will be able to take the money that the taxpayer spends on their child's education to any school, whether state or independent, as long as no additional charge is made to parents. Conservatives will increase spending on schools by a third and in order to stimulate an immediate growth in the number of good school places, will establish a Schools Expansion Fund to provide significant help and
incentives to all schools, new or existing, which wish to provide additional places.

Mr MacDougall explained:

"In our local schools we rely more than ever on the hard work of teachers, sometimes battling against worsening discipline and truancy, but always battling against Whitehall and Haringey Council bureaucracy.  Increasingly over-worked teachers are leaving the profession, worn down by the over-bearing pressure from Whitehall.  That's not their fault. It's the fault of the system.

"Our proposals for a "Right to Choose" will mean that we will trust teachers in Tottenham to set priorities for their pupils free from central targets. Good schools will be able to grow to meet the demand of local parents if they wish and parents will be able to choose the school that best suits their child, not be told where to send their child by a restrictive system. Our policy will mean excellence and choice for everyone, not the few."

Our plans to increase the capacity of secondary school places by 7.5 per cent across the country means that across London there will be the equivalent of 31 new schools.

Notes to Editors

The full policy document and policy summary is available online at:
http://www.righttochoose.com

The proposals, which apply to all of England, include:

The Right to Choose

  1.. The parents of all school-age children - at primary, secondary and
sixth-form levels - will have the Right to Choose the best school for their
child. Any family may apply to any State school: local councils will not
decide admissions. Parents will also be entitled to send their child to an
independent school which can offer a good education for the cost of a State
school place - which will be around £5,500 on average by 2007-08.

  2.. The Right to Choose will impose competitive pressure on
under-performing schools to raise their game, or lose their pupils.

  3.. Schools which persistently fail their pupils will be taken over by new
management - or lose their right to taxpayer funding.

Freedom for Professionals

  1.. Conservatives will consolidate funding streams so that money follows
the pupil - greatly simplifying the financing of schools.

  2.. We will scrap targets on schools imposed from Whitehall.

  3.. We will end the Surplus Places Rule, so that good schools are able to
expand to meet local demand.

  4.. We will abolish Appeals Panels so that head teachers are once again in
charge of discipline policy and are able to establish their authority in the
classroom.

  5.. Heads and governors will be able to allocate their own budgets and
vary the pay and conditions of staff.

The Right to Supply

  1.. Any good school - charitable or commercial - that can offer a good
education for the same cost as a State school will be entitled to receive
taxpayer funding.

  2.. Schools that receive taxpayer funding will not be allowed to charge
parents fees.

  3.. Conservatives will invest to reform. Our spending plans provide for an
extra £15 billion a year to be available for schools by 2009-10 beyond the
spending we will inherit from Labour. This will enable us to pay for the
extra capacity that will make choice a reality - including a School
Expansion Fund to pay for the equivalent of 260 new secondary schools.

The expansion of school places means that there will be the following
equivalent expansion of schools in each region:

 Region        Increase equivalent number of schools

      North West     16
      North East     36
      Yorkshire and the Humber     25
      East Midlands     24
      West Midlands     31
      East of England    32
      London     31
      South East     38
      South West     25

ENDS.