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Camden New Journal - by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 12 July 2007

Councillor Andrew Mennear

UCL lead in school race

Councillors to decide between sponsorship or competition

SENIOR councillors will be asked to choose between taking on University College London as a sponsor for a new-style City Academy or holding a competition to see who should run a new school planned for Swiss Cottage, according to a confidential policy paper.
The report is being prepared for the Liberal Democrat and Conservative cabinet as members prepare to firm up plans to spend millions of pounds of government cash on a new school.
As the New Journal revealed last month, the report will make no mention of providing a new school south of the Euston Road where parents are desperate for places for their children and will focus instead on a preferred site in Adelaide Road.
They will be effectively told: ‘Sorry, there is no affordable site available in your neighbourhood.’
It is also understood the Church of England, despite a strong parent campaign, will not be listed as a potential preferred bidder in the dossier’s recommendations.
But council insiders said that the report, an advisory document prepared by civil servants, will leave the possibility of holding an open competition for control of the school.
UCL is understood to be wary of the time such a process would take and alarmed by the prospect of having to fight it out with other prospective sponsors.
A competition would, however, give Camden the chance to make the case for the school to be a traditional comprehensive, as well as bringing the Church back into contention.
The debate on whether to have a competition or not is thought to have divided opinions within the coalition with many members eager to take on UCL but others worried that Camden is not fulfilling all of its legal obligations and at risk of a judicial challenge if it does not hold a contest.
Education chief Councillor Andrew Mennear said: “The report will only lead to an indicative decision and then we will go back to consultation again.”
He met with representatives from the Church of England on Monday afternoon and is thought to have told them that the new school needed to address a wider issue of a shortage of secondary places at any school and not just for parents looking for one run by them. Councillor Mennear said that nobody at the Town Hall had unfairly promoted UCL.
The university outlined its hopes for an Academy last week in a statement that coincided with the preparation of Camden’s recommendations.
In a statement, UCL said: “Like UCL itself, the school would have a global vision and strong aspirations.
“What we have in mind is that it would specialise in mathematics and science, but also develop skills and personal qualities through a broad curriculum.”
Tom Peryer, the London Diocesan Board’s director for schools, said for several weeks it had been clear that the council was favouring a bid from UCL but that the Church would campaign further. He said: “If there was a competition, I think we have a strong case and would be in a strong position.”
The eagerly-anticipated document is understood to still be in draft form and runs to tens of pages, including appendices.
Only a handful of officials currently have access to it.

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