• YOUR editorial (Private school privilege is stifling our state education, Comment, October 14) is a wake-up call to council officers and its Labour politicians.

As a former chair of governors of a primary school forced to close, I looked back 10 or so years when our local state education system was among the best in the whole country.

The essential question is why do almost four out of 10 of our teenagers now attend private schools? And why have parents lost confidence in our local state secondary schools?

We know that Haverstock school has pupils to fill only 4.5 of its seven forms and has to pay £1million a year out of its budget for the PFI, private finance initiative, building costs, putting it in financial jeopardy.

While the grandiose Community Investment Programme project, which provides homes for the rich and not for those with smaller incomes is also a causal factor, it does not explain the reasons for the shift to private education.

Are we now to see other secondary schools under financial threat and indeed closures as was the case with Carlton and St Aloysius?

Perhaps Camden’s cabinet member for a best start for children and families could explain what is being done to restore the faith of richer parents in the local state system.

Better still the chair of the education scrutiny panel could oversee an independent investigation before he joins the seemingly increasing stream of Labour members leaving the council ship next May. This is needed so that the trend can be reversed.

As your editorial suggests the cabinet might also urgently consider the effect of its CIP project on its so-called education policy.

MICK FARRANT, NW5