Carlton Primary School

• A MONTH ago, when Camden’s cabinet approved the closure of Carlton primary and St Michael’s primary schools, I made a simple request that I was pleased the cabinet member for schools agreed to.

That was: if Camden couldn’t put together a plan to save those schools, it should fully open up its books.

It should provide all the information it had used to reach the conclusion that there was no alternative, so that others could see if there was one.

Given proposals to close schools must, by law, be followed by consultations this could have made the difference.

It would give the community a better chance to see all the facts and either table a counter-proposal that could be better for our children or identify areas where more attention is needed.

At Camden’s council meeting a week later I praised this pledge of openness. But I also said the proof of the pudding was in the eating – and it seems the pudding isn’t as sweet as was promised.

The consultation launched this week on closing Carlton has none of the information you’d need to put together a counter-proposal.

For example, it includes absolutely nothing on Carlton or nearby Rhyl primary finances beyond illustrative examples of how their budget shortfalls have been caused by the falling numbers of families living locally.

Withholding this information gives the community no chance to change Camden’s mind or to identify shortcomings that Camden may need to address to make its scheme work.

There’s a word for consultations where the decision has already been made and can’t be changed: a sham. Sham consultations like this leave residents with little control over their lives or their children’s futures.

It also leaves Camden without the information it needs to make good decisions. Everyone loses from Camden Council breaking its promise of openness.

CLLR OLIVER COOPER
Leader, Camden Conservatives