Lambeth Conservatives

Labour’s Folly

Lambeth Labour knew about the severe shortage in primary school places but first ignored the problem then delayed taking firm action relying instead on piecemeal temporary solutions.

The situation is particularly acute in the South of the borough where many families cannot get their child into one of their first, second or third preference schools and have been forced to travel long distances to a school even though they have one on their doorstep. Labour simply haven’t listened to local parents’ concerns.

Despite more funding being available Lambeth Labour have let the Youth Service fall into disrepute. There is no even spread of services across the borough and there has been a history of very poor management. This has negatively affected the services available to young people.

More money was spent on the administration of the Youth Mayor scheme than was given to the Youth Mayor to spend on chosen youth projects.

Conservatives’ Answer

“We will work with parents and carers to encourage new forms of school governance that give schools and communities more control over the way their schools operate.”

The Conservatives are totally committed to providing excellent education for all children and young people in the borough and will focus on achievement alongside the provision of enough places. We will work with head teachers, governors, parents and young people to ensure that they are at the centre of all decision taken regarding education and we will ensure that as much funding as possible is devolved to schools and not retained by the borough.

Conservatives know that in an age of tight budgets, innovation is essential.

Nationally and in Lambeth we will therefore support new finding sources and new ideas. We will support parent-promoted schools – we know this can work because in Lambeth it has already done so at The Elmgreen School, Norwood. We will also support more Faith-based schools and recognise the importance of their role in education.

We want to see more community involvement and accountability in the running of Children and Young people’s services and will actively involve young people and members of the community in determining the direction and management of the services in their community.

In office we will:

• Deliver a new school for Norwood, not empty Labour pledges.
• Prioritise and pursue funding for the expansion of popular primary schools and secondary schools in particular Julian’s school in Streatham.
• Ensure that school entry is based on objective and fair criteria.
• Work with parents and carers to encourage new forms of school governance that give schools and communities more control over the way their schools operate. They may include more parent promoted schools, academies, trusts, foundation and other models.
• Establish a network of independent parent-advocates, who can give help and advice to other parents who are experiencing problems with their children’s education.
• Reduce the number of school exclusions by expanding the role of the primary and secondary pupil referral units and by setting up a forum and support network for parents whose children are excluded or at risk from exclusion.
• Bring forward the application date for primary schools so that parents are not disadvantaged in the application process.
• Recognise that the protection of children at risk has to be our highest priority. We will ensure that Lambeth maintains the highest level of service and care to children and families by closely monitoring the work load and performance of social workers. We will also take steps to cut the number of agency staff working in Lambeth.
• Create a new Looked-after-Children’s champion who will work across all the council departments to raise their profile and ensure that children who are in the care of the borough and those leaving care are not disadvantaged.
• Improve support to Lambeth foster carers ensuring that they are properly supported by the council and have priority access to council services, for example housing and leisure.
• Support the Youth Mayor and give them a larger budget to spend on youth projects by cutting the administrative costs.
• Expand the role of the Youth council, co-opting members onto council committees so that young people have a real say in the running of the borough.
• Establish a professionally run youth service that is accountable to the community and increase provision in Streatham and Norwood. We will set up community forums where young people and members of the community have a say in how local services are run.
• We recognise the important role undertaken by faith and community groups in this area, in particular providing Saturday school and holiday provision, and will ensure that they are properly supported by the council.

To find out more CLICK HERE and download our manifesto (PDF, 9MB)