James Hargrave's Blog

"Hand of Hancock" as Seckford gets Third free school at Ixworth

2013-05-22T18:09:00.001+01:00

If the lack of a transparent process at the DfE wasn't enough on its own to raise an eyebrow about the award today of the Ixworth Middle school site to the Seckford Foundation then local MP now Education Minister Matthew Hancock's comments in the EADT strongly suggested his influence was at least in part behind today's decision.

Hancock boasted in the EADT article that:

“I have always pushed to replace the closing middle school in the village and as well as campaigning for a replacement locally I have raised the issue with the education secretary Michael Gove.

“My focus has always been on ensuring that the best possible education is available for children without having to travel long distances.

“The new school will ensure this is available for local families and I can’t wait to see it up and running.

“Rob Cawley will have my full support as he puts in the hard work getting the site ready to open its doors to students.”

Raising the issue with Gove certainly won't have been hard for Matthew Hancock as he was appointed a Junior Education Minister in the last reshuffle.

An alternative bid for a free school called Ixworth St Mary's was submitted by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich that would have used the same site.

The process of awarding the school to Seckford is not open to public scrutiny of any kind whatsoever with the Secretary of State not even required to provide any reason for the decision.

Of course it might well have been the case that the Seckford bid was objectively the best but we will never know certainly whilst this Government is in power. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the outcome today at Ixworth shows the "hand of Hancock" in action. That and perhaps a desire to salvage the Seckford chain which now stands a much better chance of succeeding with a school at Ixworth that at last will deliver them the key ingredient for success of any school. Children!

A much more popular choice for parents in an area with a good deal more children than their previous two schools at Beccles and Saxmundham the Seckford Foundation must be celebrating the return of normal service in Suffolk politics that tends to deliver success to those who have the "right" friends as the seal is finally put on the "done deal".

Posted with Blogsy

Debenham Library celebrates 10th birthday as it plans move to larger site

2013-05-18T10:22:00.000+01:00

Debenham's tiny library celebrates 10th birthday

Two years ago in Debenham in bright sunshine a crowd gathered outside Debenham Library to campaign against plans to close it. It was at this event that local Conservative MP Dan Poulter signed the petition against closing libraries in Suffolk.

Last night in Debenham in cold and wet weather another crowd gathered outside Debenham Library to celebrate its 10th birthday.

The reason why crowds gather outside the library is that it is truly tiny. The smallest library in Suffolk it was once a fire station and a Barclays Bank branch before it became a library after a local campaign in 2003.

Now part of Suffolk Libraries the local library group has just finished its consultation on moving the library to a much larger space in the primary school. There are still i’s and t’s to be dotted and crossed but this is likely to happen in the Summer.

Proposed new larger home for library in primary school

The new space will provide Debenham with a much larger book stock and both inside and external space to hold events something challenging with the current space.

So at the next celebration hopefully we will not have to rely on the weather for enough space!

There are more pictures from last night's 10th Birthday celebrations on Flickr

Stradbroke Primary School teacher wins "teacher of the year" award

2013-05-17T12:30:00.000+01:00

Laura Wilbourn and her class (EADT)

Laura Wilbourn, a teacher at Stradbroke Primary School, has today been announced as the winner of the Pearson Teaching Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School in the East of England.

Laura was presented with her award at a “glorious garden party" celebration at the school today by our local MP Dr Daniel Poulter.

Laura now goes forward to the UK finals of the competition. The final is on 20th October and will be broadcast by the BBC!

Laura joined Stradbroke Primary School as a newly qualified teacher and currently teaches Class 2.

The Press release from competition organisers Pearson gives more details:

Laura Wilbourn of Stradbroke CEVC Primary School in Eye, Suffolk has been announced as the winner of the Pearson Teaching Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School in the East of England. Selected from over 24,000 nominations received by the Pearson Teaching Awards in 2013, 62 celebrations are taking place in schools across England, Northern Ireland and Wales on 17 May 2013 to present prestigious Regional Teaching Awards to outstanding local heroes of education. The Pearson Teaching Awards are an annual celebration of exceptional teachers and teaching, founded in 1999 by Lord Puttnam, they recognize the life-changing impact of an inspirational teacher on the lives of the young people they teach.

Laura was nominated by her headteacher who said: “To put it simply Laura is an inspirational teacher. All children should experience teaching of the quality Laura delivers. From the moment she stepped into the school she changed the lives of those she works with. Her lessons are vibrant, well structured and very importantly- fun! Children not only make good progress under her care but they thrive. She is everything one hopes to find in a teacher and the whole school community have enormous professional respect for her”. Laura will now join fellow winners at the UK final of the Teaching Awards on 20th October, filmed in London and broadcast by the BBC.

Guy McGregor out of the cabinet as Lisa Chambers leads on Education

2013-05-12T20:33:00.000+01:00

Guy McGregor: out of the cabinet

Hoxne, Stradbroke and Eye county councillor Guy McGregor has found himself the casualty of Mark Bee’s attempts to reform his administration. Now out of the Cabinet he secures the sinecure of Chairman of the Council, a post that was due to go to former Tory councillor Anne Whybrow who lost her seat by one vote to UKIP.

Former Education portfolio holder Graham Newman takes over McGregor’s transport brief. His post has been taken by newly elected deputy leader Lisa Chambers who certainly
brings credibility to the post with children herself going through the re-organisation in the Newmarket area where she is a councillor.

Chambers will also face a proposed free school in her own backyard.

Lisa Chambers: Education Brief

This is clearly building on the earlier news that education is to be the surprise priority of this new Council, I say surprise because it never even made it to the top 5 list of promises that Suffolk Tories fought the election on.

That said education certainly needs to be a priority and everyone of good will in Suffolk will be hoping Mark Bee can pull off the much needed improvements and make Suffolk schools feel that the Local Authority is on their side.

Changes in the cabinet don’t end there with three new faces coming into the cabinet.

Becky Hopfensperger

Becky Hopfensperger West Suffolk Councillor Becky Hopfensperger comes into cabinet with an interesting new “localities” brief designed to focus on urban areas and also picks up the library portfolio.

Aldeburgh and Leiston’s Richard Smith takes on a new portfolio comprising Economic Development, Environment and Planning. Ipswich Councillor.

Alan Murray joins cabinet taking on Adult Care and Health with Colin Noble moved to the Finance brief where he will doubtless boast about keeping Council Tax the same...

Only Colin Spence is spared change retaining his public protection brief.

In perhaps the most bizarre move of the reshuffle Joanna Spicer will join Cabinet but without either a portfolio or pay according to the EADT:

Joanna Spicer

Mrs Spicer’s role – which will be unpaid – will include acting as a liaison between the cabinet and backbench councillors of all parties.

The divisive Cllr Spicer seems astrange choice as a liaison person and I expect she is more a Tory Chief Whip and UKIP liaison person. It’s difficult to imagine her building bridges across the opposition...

Ipswich Spy Story
Paul Geater’s EADT Story

Suffolk Tories cling to power with majority cut to three

2013-05-05T16:04:00.000+01:00

Former Cabinet member Judy Terry who lost her seat

2009 was always going to be a high water mark for Suffolk Tories no matter how they and their friends in Government managed to do. Labour were at an all time low with the leadership of Brown in question and ended up with only four seats in the County.

Government at both county and national level left much to be desired but it was pretty much assumed that Suffolk Tories would retain control at Endeavour House until the scale of the threat from UKIP became clear. With only one seat in 2009 UKIP have ended up with nine seats but it could have been worse for Suffolk Tories who must look up the A140 in fear to see Norfolk now with no overall control with UKIP the second largest party with 15 seats.

Suffolk Tories now have a majority of three and face a much larger opposition composed of 15 Labour councillors, 9 UKIP, 7 Lib Dems, 3 Independents and 2 Greens.

Leader Mark Bee

Mark Bee is going to have to make changes to his administration with Jane Storey deciding to stay on the back benches and perhaps most spectacularly Judy Terry of library portfolio fame having lost her seat in her Ipswich division.

If he is wise he will take the opportunity to make more changes amongst the cabinet. New faces with more respect across the political spectrum most importantly clearly having the skill and ability to manage their portfolios are a must. Bee needs to look ironically for candidates much more in his own image than most of the people he inherited from Pembroke’s failed administration.

He is bound to stick with new deputy Lisa Chambers who effectively becomes a replacement for the likeable Jane Storey seen as a “safe pair of hands” but amongst the others he could really show his leadership by banishing the likes of McGregor and Noble to the back benches.

The one thing this election says for sure to Suffolk Tories is they can no longer take the County for granted. They are going to have to come up with something much better than Colin Noble’s four year council tax freeze.

With the school reorganisation review still incomplete and clearly losing them votes in some areas it could be education, something they didn’t even mention in their core pledges that causes the most trouble.

Most suffolk schools are small primaries still under County control all of which are about to see their funding quite literally fall off a cliff in 2015. The County Council could show real leadership and work with its schools and support them but this could well mean conflict with the Tory led Wesminster government.

If the Council doesn’t and it is seen as part of the problem in Suffolk and not the solution 2015 could see a mass campaign to save rural primary schools that makes the 2011 library campaign look like a picnic. If Suffolk Tories find themselves on the wrong side of that this could be the last time they are in power in Ipswich for a while.

Are Suffolk Tories going to lose control of the County Council?

2013-04-22T07:36:00.001+01:00

With the massive majority of 35 out of only 75 councillors they have enjoyed since 2009 it scarcely seems possible that the 2013 elections could see the end to Tory rule in Suffolk. It was clear that 2009 was a high water mark of dissatisfaction with the Brown Labour government and that several urban seats would head back to Labour for sure in the 2013 elections. The 2011 District Council elections began this trend with Ipswich back under Labour control and Waveney on a 50/50 knife edge.

But the rise of UKIP makes it seem likely that we are going to see more than a re-balancing in Ipswich and Lowestoft. Nigel Farage is positioning his party as a protest vote party for all comers and with many in Suffolk still angry at the mess the Tory administration made at the start of this term of office with the Andrea Hill (‘that woman”) debacle and all that followed the presence of UKIP might mean that Suffolk Tories end up paying the price at the ballot box.

A council with no overall control looks a likely scenario now.

But Andrew Rawnsley in the Observer yesterday warns that it isn’t just the Tories with something to fear from UKIP:

A Ukip vote is not mainly, if at all, about making a choice based on an assessment of policy. More than anything, it is about expressing an emotion – usually a feeling of intense rage about how Britain has changed and how they are served by the established political parties. It is a howl against the modern world, a scream against the establishment. There's no arguing with that. Or, if there is a way of dealing with it, none of the main parties has yet discovered what it is.

Suffolk Tactical Voting App Launches on Facebook

2013-04-21T10:10:00.000+01:00

As the County Council Elections on Thursday 2nd May draws closer Tactical Suffolk 2013 have launched a searchable service that shows the best candidate to choose if you don’t want a Tory County Council.

Due to our current voting system it could well be that by voting Labour, Lib Dem or Green in your division you are actually helping the Tories to win by splitting the opposition vote. In our system it is “first past the post” so a Tory will win with only 30% of the votes if others voted say 22% Lib Dem, 20% Labour and 19% Green. Combined together though the Lib Dems, Labour and Green poll 61% but the Tories still win the seat.

In this election UKIP are standing in nearly all of the seats and this is doing the same thing to the Tory vote so in some seats the Tories are especially vulnerable this election.

Suffolk Conservatives are standing on 5 pledges:

Our Pledges for Suffolk

No increase in council tax for the next four years

High-speed broadband across Suffolk

County-wide ‘No Cold Calling Zone’

A new Travel Card for young people

£270million investment in care facilities

But on her Blog Lib Dem county councillor Caroline Page who is fighting to keep her Woodbridge seat is more interested in what isn’t in the manifesto:

Snapshot of Suffolk’s County Council 2009-13:

Threatened closure of 29 libraries.. the vanishing of the Road Crossing patrols.. loss of the rural evening and Sunday bus services.. closure of Youth Clubs.. divestment of Highway Services.. divestment of Country Parks.. vast sums spent on gagging clauses, consultants and senior management salaries and perks.. abolition of the Explore youth travel card.. sale and potential closure of Care Homes.. the plummeting of Suffolk schools down the educational league tables to their current places as 148th out of 151 at Primary school level, 141 out of 151 at secondary level… (there’s plenty more, but that’s enough to be going on with)

It’s quite a spectacular grime sheet, isn’t it? As the 2013 elections approach it may be worth remembering that the Suffolk Conservatives made no mention of Suffolk’s New Strategic Direction when they went to the polls in 2009. Yet it didn’t stop them doing their darnedest to implement it without any mandate once they had their majority. (And when they were stopped, many of the NSD proposals continued under a different guise..)
It might be well to ponder this before voting.

The Suffolk County Conservatives’ 5-pledge election manifesto is as thin as a lo-calorie water biscuit – and about as nutritious. They promise to replace a youth travel card they cut two years back, the high-speed broadband they funded in this electoral cycle, plus an (unavoidable) expenditure on care , a Country-wide ‘No ColdCalling Zone’ (go figure) and that old Tory staple of no council-tax increase – which is always wheeled out as an alibi for their more spectacular episodes of financial mismanagement. And .. er.. that’s it.

Who you vote for in the elections is of course your choice but if you don’t want to let the Tories in by the back door then please take a look at the Tactical Voting app and if you like it share it with friends (you don't need to be on Facebook to use the app).

You can also download the Tactical Suffolk 2013 PDF

This post is entirely my own personal opinion it does not represent the views of any organisation that I am a member of or have any contractual relationship with.

RIP Thatcherism 1979-2013

2013-04-13T09:18:00.000+01:00

In death as in life Margaret Thatcher retains her unique ability to divide and polarise. The “marmite” Prime Minister who people pretty much loved or hated and who undoubtedly changed politics and the country.

We are, of course, not meant to rejoice in the death of anyone - unless they are a “terrorist” like Bin Laden when the correct response is to punch the air.
Margaret Thatcher famously described the ANC as a “terrorist” organisation and it is fitting that in defiance to this Nelson Mandela outlives Thatcher although clearly ill.

Thatcher despite her protestations as a supporter of the free market and small state neoliberalism when push came to shove was in reality a supporter of raw state power. Nelson Mandela and his ANC needed to be crushed in South Africa just like the miners and Unions did in Brtitain by the jackboots of state power just to maintain state power.

And whilst it might appear ironic that a woman who said “If you can’t stand on your own two feet, you can't expect help from the state.” is about to be buried at vast state expense it isn’t really such is the gap between the “populist” rhetoric of Thatcher and what she actually did.

It is of course unclear how aware Thatcher would have been of the clear evidence that her economic policies failed completely. The 2011 credit crunch and ongoing failure of all the free market institutions that Thatcher saw as offering salvation don’t just represent the fact that she got her economic policy a bit wrong but that her whole economic vision is fatally and irrevotrievably flawed.

Thatcher and her American counterpart Ronald Raegan sold free market neoliberalism to the world in the 80s and many of us saw it then as a fundamentally unfair and socially devestating economic policy that ripped communities apart.

But few of us would have predicted that when finally Maggie Thatcher was buried her economic policy would be buried with her. True there are those such as Cameron and Osbourne that are in denial but they might as well tell us the earth is flat. The truth is plain to see Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies just didn’t work.

The challenge we face now is to look forward not back. Thatcher is no help for those who feel she did a great job in facing the challenges we now have. They can’t be solved by Thatcherism. We have already privatised, marketised, liberalised anything that moved.

Such policies aren’t going to come from the children on Thatcher be they in the Tory or even Labour parties. Thatcher’s children were brought up to think there is no other way and not to listen to others so I fear it will be a while before even reality hits.

Keep Calm and Vote Tactically! Your help please...

2013-04-06T08:08:00.000+01:00

My Blog post last night despairing that the sheer number of candidates in each Suffolk County Council division is likely to lead to the Tories winning by default has got me thinking.

Rather than just accept that this is the result we have nearly a month to convince people to adopt a more pragmatic course of action and to rally the anti-Tory vote together. The aim is to ensure that the County Council elected is more reflective of the actual wishes of the Suffolk electorate and not an accident of our electoral system.

To do this we first need to decide which candidate is the most pragmatic tactical choice in each division. The idea is to produce a list that we publish on the web and make available for download and try and share as much as possible via social media.

Hopefully we can also produce some posters like the one to the left here in the colour of the suggested tactical vote for target divisions or areas.

To do this I need your help though! What I really need is some people to help to compile the list who have a good knowledge of the local areas and candidates. I can do this myself for much of Mid Suffolk and where the voting choice is more obvious in urban areas but I need your help for the rest of the county.

To have any chance of making a difference the guide needs to be available soon, during the next week so if you can help in any way please get in touch via the Contact Form or email blog@hargrave.org.uk. Unless otherwise agreed all contributors can be assured of complete confidentiality although I would prefer you disclose your name to me.

So KEEP CALM and VOTE TACTICALLY in Suffolk 2013!

Will split opposition votes keep rural Suffolk Tory in 2013?

2013-04-05T21:30:00.000+01:00

Today candidates for the May County Council elections have been published by each of the seven District and Borough councils in Suffolk.

This is important as one of the things that contributes to Tory hegenomy in rural Suffolk is that the anti-Tory (Labour, Lib Dem and Green) vote tends to get split resulting in the Tories winning by default.

In the more urban areas of Ipswich and Lowestoft we see much more of a two horse race between Labour and the Tories. The expectation here is Labour will do much better than they did four years ago. Which isn’t exactly going to be hard as they were left with a handful of seats.

It will be also interesting to see what happens to seats held by the Lib Dems. Clearly the national picture remains poor and in areas without sitting Lib Dem councillors I don’t expect they will do so well but popular local candidates may well buck the local trend and I hope that is the case.

But as for rural Suffolk it looks like seat after seat is being contested by Labour, Lib Dems and the Greens. They are facing either just the Tories or the Tories and UKIP.

This almost certainly means that in most of these divisions the Tories will win by default. I think this is a shame as it is likely to mean that the opposition voice if the Tories do retain power will be limited to a handful of Greens and Lib Dems outside the likely revitalised Labour areas of Lowestoft and Ipswich.

But there are some positives that look a likely result of these elections. Some fresh faces on all sides replacing some councillors that have become to put it politely long in the tooth. As well as the prospect of new cabinet members even if the Tories do as I expect they will retain power.

That said I remain to be convinced on that front as so far as I know only Jane Storey who is actually one of the better cabinet members has actually said she will leave the cabinet. Certainly she isn’t one the people who if I could have my way would be removed from the Cabinet.

But if Mark Bee and his Suffolk Tories do win this year perhaps Mark will feel more free to shape his own cabinet. He certainly did a good job of steadying the ship after the Pembroke/Hill debacle.
One other thing that looks clear is that at least there is likely to be a better opposition. Well at least a larger one!

But indifference is likely to win the day and most people will conclude it isn’t worth voting. I think they are wrong and whilst the Tories might well find themselves back in Endeavour House in power - albeit with a smaller majority - they ought to at least consider what the result of the election would be if we had the choice to vote for “anyone but the Tories”. Even here in Blue rural Suffolk I am not sure they would win that election.

Stradbroke Court House and Library consultation off to flying start

2013-03-03T10:07:00.000Z

There was a slight sense of deja-vu this Saturday morning when we were waiting the the Courthouse in Stradbroke to see if anyone would turn up! Just like two years ago in 2011 we had delivered leaflets, put it on the website, in the parish magazine and sent emails, tweets and facebook events around.

But in 2011 the mood was very different. With the launch of the library consultation and the threat of closure in the air there was anger in the air fuelled by speeches, banners and chanting.

Yesterday there was interest and excitement at the plans fuelled by tea, coffee and cake!

But still as many people came. Having come together decisively in 2011 to say that the library was an important part of the Stradbroke community people came again to hear the plans to expand the use of the Court House building and to give their ideas about what the space could be used for.

With building work about to start funded by the County Council in the Court House to join the downstairs large room with the Library and to re-paint and generally refurbish the room the most popular idea for the use of that space seems to be a cafe. But the space is flexible enough to be used for many more things.

Upstairs the Radio Stradbroke team played music alongside a book sale and were suggesting a part of the upstairs could be used for studio space for the village radio station.

There is more about the plans for the Court House on the Stradbroke Village website and the consultation can be completed online or on paper available from the Library.

Is a decline in library lending really a "shock"?

2013-02-23T10:46:00.000Z

Apparently the East Anglian Daily Times is “shocked” that library lending is declining. Perhaps next week they will run a story of shock declines in CD purchasing or even newspaper circulation. I don’t make this point to have a go at the EADT. The decline in library lending, CDs and newspapers all has exactly the same cause. The rise of the Internet and digital media.

None of this is any kind of a shock. It has been happening for many years and it is going to continue.

Those that have failed to embrace the move to digital have ended up dead or dying. Jessops, Comet, HMV to name a few.

The same fate awaits others - including libraries and newspapers - who fail to rise to the challenge and opportunity that the digital world offers.

In fact trying to read the EADTs article presented something of a challenge. I read the front page on my iPad using the EADT’s newspaper app and was told to turn to page 4 to read the rest of the article. However p4 had nothing about libraries on it at all! I had to fire up my laptop and change the “edition” of the electronic version of the EADT to read the story.

The story also didn’t appear on the EADT website until lunchtime. I guess because they don’t get enough revenue from the website and want people to buy the print or electronic copies. All this is understandable. The paper needs money to survive.

It’s not just newspapers that have problems with clunky digital interfaces. One of the reasons library eBook lending hasn’t risen as fast as it might is that it is not as easy as it should be to borrow eBooks. For example Amazon won’t allow its Kindle platform to be used for library lending in the UK but they do in the US.

Cllr Judy Terry, Suffolk’s portfolio holder for libraries is someone I have not always seen eye to eye with but her comments in the EADT article sum up the situation:

“We just have to recognise and address the fact that this is the current trend – but even if this trend continues I don’t think it will pose a risk to the future of our libraries. Libraries have to adapt and meet changing needs but they have been doing that for the last 30 years – and will continue to do so. They offer central hubs of resources and places of research. They still serve a purpose to the community.”

Libraries are already re-inventing themselves to meet the digital age. I’m lucky enough to be attending the Edge conference in Edinburgh next week which is all about the future of libraries. Whilst the digital age is a challenge to libraries it also offers a massive opportunity.

But the comments from Education portfolio holder Graham Newman seem more curious. He appears concerned about the decline in reading “hard copy books” as if reading a paper book is somehow different to a book read on an iPad or a Kindle

“It is disappointing and distressing. Reading hard-copy books is an essential learning tool for children. It will still be vital in future ages no matter what the technological advances are. “

It teaches children how to think and discuss things with their parents. It improves their communication and confidence skills.

“They need to be sat with their parents reading books to each other because reading on the Internet or iPads or anything else is never going to be able to replace that.

“If children cannot read when they leave primary school they are in for a hell of a tough time at secondary school. You cannot make up for lost time like that. It will affect their examination results.”

The thing is I think Newman is completely wrong. Electronic books will for the most part replace physical books just like electronic music has replaced CDs. We have already seen this in academic libraries where particularly science journals have long moved to online only. A much better format for storing journals and at least the article you need isn’t lost or require a lengthy journey to get hold of.

Children are growing up with technology as this charming video entitled A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work shows:

Tablets make particularly good devices for parents and children to sit and share and can create a much more engaging experience for younger children by combining touch, sound and both still and moving pictures.

Newman also suggests attracting young people back to libraries was going to “be a tough problem to solve” But this half term week libraries have been full of the happy sound of children sometimes with their parents or joining groups reading or even singing. Declining lending doesn’t mean children aren’t coming into libraries.

If anything reading and writing is even more important in the digital age than it was in the age dominated by print that is coming to an end now. Of course printed text was itself a technological innovation many years ago beginning the whole age of mass literacy and communication that we take for granted today.

I’m absolutely sure that libraries will be here for many, many years and I hope local newspapers will be too. Both have an important role in the local community. Both need to change and meet the challenges of the digital age.

Ann Kerr 1943-2013

2013-01-12T00:12:00.000Z

Some time before we moved to Stradbroke I met Ann Kerr at a village function. I remember her distinctly as she was dressed as Queen Victoria! Such an outfit befitted Annie as she was an incredibly determined and strong woman. She combined this strength with just as much an amount of likeability.

When we moved to Stradbroke Annie was involved in many activities in the village. Chair of the Parish Council, community centre trustee and a Governor at the Primary School. A former teacher and Local Authority Advisor Annie’s specialism was special educational needs. Indeed she was even a lay member of the Special Educational Needs tribunal, a member of the judiciary no less!

It was not long before I became Chair of Governors at the Primary School and Annie became Vice-Chair. it was a difficult time for the school and Annie was the best Vice-Chair imaginable. She was encouraging, knowledgeable and always on the end of a phone when there were problems.
When we appointed a Head who at the time was the youngest in the country Annie provided her with support too which I know she really appreciated.

More recently Annie also became a Governor at the High School and helped to strengthen the relationship between the two village schools.

Annie also played a key role in the Suffolk Libraries campaign of 2011. Her inspiring speech delivered to a packed community centre in Stradbroke quite literally kicked off the campaign that is well documented on this Blog.

For a while the small village of Stradbroke somewhat amazingly played a leading role in the County’s politics and it would not be too far of a stretch to see a link between events in Stradbroke and the departure of the County’s Leader closely followed by the Chief Executive.

Stradbroke Library - and all the libraries in Suffolk - remain open and at Stradbroke we are starting to put in place plans that she championed to develop the use of the Courthouse building to expand the library. This would simply not have happened without Annie.

Annie was not just a strong campaigner but put just as much energy into the community work that began when the campaigning stopped. Indeed she would very likely have been nominated as one of the first Board Members of the new Suffolk Libraries IPS had she not been taken ill just as the nominations were due.

In a small village people often wear a lot of hats but none wear as many as well as Annie did. I will miss the regular post-meeting drinks putting the world, or at least the County, to rights as much as I will her wise counsel and leadership.

I have put together a short tribute video with a recording of Annie speaking at the public meeting about the library held in February 2011. Her speech was a real inspiration:

You can read the Full text of the speech on the Stradbroke Website
Suffolk Libraries have also issued a tribute to Ann Kerr
There is also a tribute page on St Elizabeth hospice website where you can donate in Annie’s memory
The Diss Express also published a tribute to Ann Kerr

No sex please we're Church of England!

2013-01-04T21:05:00.000Z

The Church of England seems to lurch from crisis to crisis when it comes to equalities. Blocking gay men from being Bishops then failing to allow women to become Bishops.

Today they announced a change of policy towards gay Bishops. Gay men in civil partnerships will now be able to become Bishops but with one proviso - they need to be celibate.

Whilst progress of a sort is to be welcomed this position seems theologically incoherent and has led to criticism from both sides of the argument.

Evangelicals are saying they will import their own Bishops from overseas and gay rights supporters are also upset at the incoherent and unenforceable policy.

Whilst this whole policy might look ridiculous from outside the Church it may well make some more sense to those inside and provide a mechanism to right a very serious wrong that was committed when the current Dean of St Albans Jeffrey John was turned down for appointment as a Bishop.

Jeffrey has long maintained a celibate but committed relationship with his partner and this announcement is widely thought to open the door to him becoming a Bishop. This is to be welcomed but it is a shame that the church could not take the next and obvious step and accept stable loving relationships between same sex couples will also be sexual - just as between heterosexuals.

Suffolk Libraries appoints a new IT Manager…me!!

2012-12-11T13:41:00.000Z

Photo taken in the County Library in Ipswich

This week I started a new job as IT Manager for Suffolk Libraries. I will be working for the new Industrial and Provident Society (IPS) that took charge of Suffolk’s 44 libraries, mobile libraries and the schools and prison library services in August this year.

When nearly two years ago the Suffolk library consultation was launched and the campaign began I found myself one of the leading campaigners in a campaign that ended up with a petition with more than 35,000 signatures being presented to the County Council.

Since that time the threat of closures have thankfully lifted and a new chapter begun for Suffolk’s libraries with control of the service passing to the IPS. Suffolk County Council remain as the statutory library authority and fund the IPS.

They way libraries are now run in Suffolk may not be what everyone wanted but it has been my view for some time that the IPS offers the best future for Suffolk’s libraries. With a Board able to negotiate as good a deal as possible in funding and independance from some of the more annoying aspects of County Council control the IPS has an opportunity to make the most of the funding available.

My experience as a school governor has shown me the benefits that local autonomy can offer. The relationship with the council becomes more of working together and simply having a cheque book means schools can buy what they need without all the bureaucracy of a large organisation.

One area that can particularly benefit from this is IT. Public libraries offer access to computers and the Internet to many that might not have access elsewhere. The County Council’s IT service however is designed for an office environment needing much more security and with quite different requirements to a public service.

My job as IT Manager will include improving these services and making them more fit for purpose. So I will be looking to improve the services with more modern web browsers and the ability to use USB keys as well as back end IT systems for things like HR and Finance more suited to the smaller IPS than the large corporate systems a County Council needs.

Enhancements such as apps for mobile phones to search the catalogue and reserve books as well as wireless internet access are things that I will be looking into to see if they are viable.

There are many ways to support and improve a service including campaigning but now I feel I can best support the library service in a more practical way.

As an employee of the IPS clearly I will not be in a position to be one of those holding the service to account. I now become one of those accountable!

I am really looking forward to this new role. There is plenty to do and I am particularly looking forward to working with Suffolk Libraries staff. Some I know already and others I look forward to meeting over the next weeks and months.

Where are the conservatives when you need them to get tough on strikers, scroungers and shirkers?

2012-12-09T11:16:00.000Z

Laughing and smirking on the green benches

As I grew up in the 70s and 80s in Middle Class England there were some strong and decent values that were taken for granted. If you worked hard you could “get on” in life, own your own home, save for a decent retirement and generally have a good life.

At least in public these were the stated values of conservatives.

Move on to 2012 and the world looks very different. Owning your own home is a dream for many including the “strivers” with banks that will not lend and property prices still out of reach of even well paid people in many areas.

Many have either no pension or pensions with uncertain benefits including many professionals and well paid employees.

Millions of people are struggling to get on despite often working hard and as a society we face an ever increasing benefits bill.

It is becoming clear that much of the money we spend on benefits ends up in the pockets of scroungers and shirkers as an excellent paper from left leaning think tank Compass explains.

Download the full compass paper

But these scroungers and shirkers are not who you might think.

To read the right-wing press you would imagine much of Britain had turned into the kind of place seen in the TV series Shameless where people live the life of riley scrounging on benefits partying whilst we work.

The facts however tell a different story with literally billions of pounds of the money we spend on benefits ending up in the pockets of buy to let landlords and in tax credits paid out to people actually in work as the paper explains:

So who are the real shirkers and scroungers? Big business is guilty of scrounging from the public purse on a monumental scale – often hidden behind a whole political economy rather than some drawn curtains. The billions of pounds in working tax credits paid out every year are not going to the unemployed but to workers to supplement their low income. It is making up the difference between low wages and the minimum necessary amount for families to live on – a living wage. As 29% of low-paid workers work in retail, this sector in particular is coming under intense scrutiny. A report by the Fair Pay Network found that despite collectively making billions of pounds worth of profits and paying their CEOs millions of pounds a year, none of the top four supermarkets were paying their workers a living wage. They could easily do this and still make huge profits at the same time. So why should they be able to scrounge off the rest of us?

The same is true in the housing market where a staggering one in five of all families depends on housing benefit to survive:

One in five households in the UK rely on housing benefit to put a roof over their heads. Out of these households 87% are low and middle-income families and pensioners – the so-called strivers that the government pretends to support. Why is it that working people need housing benefit? It's the same story: the cost of living is not in line with income. The market has failed. Successive governments have tried to correct this failure by moving from an emphasis on building houses that can be rented cheaply to paying landlords directly to cover tenants' rents. But as 32% of housing benefit claimants rent in the private sector, this means the hard-working striving taxpayer is paying their tax directly into the pockets of private landlords enabling them to expand their property portfolios. Last year this cost the taxpayer nearly £10bn.

So where are the conservatives now? The supporters of home ownership and reward for those working hard?

Well Boris Johnson is actually amongst those calling for a living wage. Why is it that people are paid so little that they cannot afford to put a roof over their heads and food on the table without state benefits even when working full time? Sometimes even with two adults working full-time.

But Cameron and Osborne rather than grappling with this issue are playing party politics with the poor. Suggesting real terms cuts in benefits as a political trap for labour and literally lounging on the green benches of the Commons laughing and smirking at how “clever” they have been.

Should the Church of England change its electoral system in the wake of women bishops vote?

2012-11-21T09:39:00.002Z

Women Bishops

Twenty years ago the Church of England took what at the time appeared to be a controversial decision to ordain women as priests. Today with a third of all priests women and a lot of water under the bridge it genuinely seems incredibly that there was a time when women couldn’t be priests and it has been accepted widely both within and outside the church.

Yesterday the General Synod of the Church of England voted overwhelmingly in favour of women becoming Bishops. Up until now the highest rank women have been able to achieve is a a cathedral Dean. However due to well meant but ultimately self-defeating rules women will not be becoming Bishops at least for now as the measure failed by 6 votes to get the two thirds majority it needed in the House of Laity.

A small group of disaffected “traditionalist” opponents have been able to force their minority opinion over the clear majority of the rest of the church.

Part of the reason why this has happened is possibly due to the way the lay members of the General Synod are elected. The church of England has quite an elaborate system of “synodical” government with local Parochial Church Councils at the bottom then Deanery Synod, Diocesan Synod and the General Synod at the top.

All clergy get to vote for their General Synod representatives but this is not the case for the lay members who are indirectly elected by the lay members of all the Deanery Synods in the Diocese. Possibly when the synod was set up a “general election” of all lay Anglicans on Electoral Rolls would have been costly and difficult to implement but these days I don’t think this would be the case.

A General Synod elected directly by the lay members of the church would at least appear to have more legitimacy and I wonder if it might have made a different decision yesterday.

As the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury - undermined before he has even started - said yesterday it was a “grim” day for the church. Interestingly it is amongst the Bishops themselves that there is the strongest support for this move and they are currently in a “crisis” meeting at Church House.

The Church of England quite rightly as a “broad church” puts measures in place to allow opponents to this kind of measure to continue as members of the church. So the church does not bulldozer through changes on a 50.1% margin and rightly so but just as the majority should not trample on minority groups it is just as untenable for a minority to prevent progress that is supported by an overwhelming majority.

The ordination of women as Bishops was really decided 20 years ago. It is an untenable position to suggest that women should be priests but not Bishops mis-quoting biblical texts about “headship”. Clearly priests are already leaders in the Christian community leading parishes and in other senior diocesan positions.

The Church of England will, I am sure, appoint women Bishops eventually but sadly until it gets its act together on this one they will miss out on many able and experienced women who will join the many able and experienced homosexual clergy that also cannot be appointed to the episcopate. With congregations continuing to decline the church can ill afford this loss both in potential leaders and in its reputation in society.

Whilst the church is reflecting on this situation I hope it considers changing the electoral system for lay members of synod. Perhaps it also could offer a live video stream of the Synod’s proceedings?

IES Breckland forces closure of Brandon Youth Club

2012-11-11T12:48:00.000Z

Cllr Eddie Stewart

Update - see response from school at end of article

IES Breckand school have forced the closure of Brandon Youth Club as they are unable to afford to abide by onerous new restrictions and charges imposed by IES.

Writing in Brandon Life local Tory District Councillor Eddie Stewart explains what has led to the closure of the Youth Club:

I have some very bad news for the parents and children of Brandon. Breckland Youth Club is now closed ... permanently!! As you all know I have been writing about our need for a meeting with IES Breckland to discuss their ‘Terms and Conditions of Hire’ as they were untenable for us. We had been promised a meeting at 3 public meetings and also by the new headteacher and by e-mail. Indeed, at the first stakeholders’ meeting we were assured that the youth club would be able to continue as before.

We were misled! The Club Leader was offered a meeting very recently if she could get to the School within 15 minutes. This she managed to do and saw our Treasurer as she was entering the School grounds and he came with her. There was no time to contact anyone else and so I didn’t know of this meeting until it was over.

The meeting itself lasted around ten minutes and our representatives were told that the rules were NOT up for discussion as they had been decided on and finalised by the Governors. Also we were told we can no longer hire the gym, which we have paid for for 11 years. The increased costs generated by these Terms and Conditions mean that we cannot afford to run the Club and there were other restrictions also….

...Playing Fields in the summer were also non-negotiable. In the early days of Sabres Breckland Youth Club figured strongly as one of the reasons for saving the School and even featured in a DVD presentation. How ludicrous that seems now.

The School has published a very detailed lettings policy on its website but parents who have children at the school who can no longer attend the youth club might be more interested in the complaints procedure. Sadly this is missing from their website but parents absolutely do have a right to have a complaint heard by the Governing Body who must consider and respond to it. It will be interesting to find out what has happened to the complaints procedure….(note that the school is required by law to have a complaints procedure)

IES Breckland need to remember that the school is a community asset they lease from the County Council. It belongs not to them but to the people of Brandon.

Sadly this is not the first time that promises made whilst the school set out to secure the support of parents and the local community have been broken.You may remember that IES failed to employ a single teacher from the predecessor Middle School which caused an outcry locally.

When even a local Tory councillor is saying that local people have been misled by the school it really is time to take a look at the governance arrangements at IES. Why does the school not care the youth club is to be forced to close? Many will wonder if this school which opened in September without even a library is being run for the benefit of the children of Brandon or for the benefit of a Swedish company.

Update: The school has responded:

IES Breckland's Response to Eddie Stewart's Personal View

IES Breckland's Governing Body and SABRES Educational Trust were saddened by the Breckland Youth Club Committee's decision not to reopen their club which had previously been held at the former Breckland Middle School. Despite many communications and correspondence between IES Breckland and the Youth Club's Leader the Committee felt that as they were unable to use the gym they would instead close the club. The gym is not part of the school offered for hire. This is due to forthcoming Phase II building works being carried out a er hours and insurance stipulations.

IES Breckland's Governing Body and SABRES Educational Trust wholly support community use of our facilities and are greatly disheartened by inaccurate comments made by some members of our community. The School Hall was offered to the Youth Club and if they change their mind we would welcome another meeting with them. All groups using our amenities are subject to the same terms and conditions of our Lettings Policy. We currently have six community groups successfully using our services weekly and several other groups making use of our facilities throughout the year. The IESB Friends have a number of events scheduled and the community will be invited to join in. IES Breckland is primarily a fully functional, inspirational and quality place of learning – a secondary school for the community.

How long before we see a Free School bid for Bacton?

2012-10-29T13:44:00.000Z

Bacton Middle School is preparing to be next in the line of Suffolk Middle Schools to see a free school bid. In what has become an all too familiar patten a “committee of parents” has been formed to fight the move to two-tier education.

The EADT quote parent Julie Mitchell as saying:

It seems different meetings are getting different answers. Everybody is getting very angry, it’s not moving forward at all.

“It’s very frustrating at the moment and people are concerned about teachers leaving the middle schools. The teachers may leave for secure jobs. “

I’d like to think they would listen to people. People are saying it’s a done deal – it’s already been decided. There’s nothing wrong with what we have now.

“We want them to look at other options – the all-through school option.

“At the end of the day we want Bacton to stay open. We are fighting for their education,

Then there is the familiar claim that every other area had more money for a move to two tier:

Mrs Mitchell said other moves to two-tier were better financed than Stowmarket and Stowupland’s.

All this sounds depressingly familiar. It is perfectly clear that Suffolk County Council are consulting on how to implement the move to two tier having decided on this strategy years ago and having nearly finished a countywide move. As Education Portfolio holder Graham Newman points out:

Only 1% of schools in England are middle schools compared with 10% in the 1980s

If past experience is anything to go by it won’t be long before the same people “opposed” to two tier are , effectively, proposing a free school within a two tier system. As Mitchell says "at the end of the day we want Bacton to stay open”. The only remaining question is who will come along and try to open the school? Seckford? A Swedish company?

Ixworth St Mary's models itself on successful Debenham High

2012-10-24T08:36:00.000+01:00

Mike Crawshaw former Debenham Head led the
school to three "Outstanding" Ofsted judgements

As more details emerged about the church free school plans for Ixworth - including the proposed name Ixworth St Mary’s High School - it is becoming clear that the highly successful Debenham High School is being used as a model for the new school.

Former Head of Debenham High School Mike Crawshaw is one of the leaders of the bid and would play a leading role in the development of the school.

The curriculum development would be led by Mike Crawshaw who recently retired as Head of Debenham Church of England High School after leading it to three outstanding Ofsted judgements. Ofsted described his leadership as "inspirational".

This really is a major advantage for the Diocese. Debenham is a truly outstanding school with excellent academic results but also a completely inclusive school for the whole community. Mike Crawshaw is someone who commands respect and has a solid track record.

I also think Thurston is a great school but it is not the same as Debenham and parents would really get a choice with the two schools in the area.

In fact what the St Mary’s bid would offer would seem to me to tick every single box on the list of things the original "Ixworth and Stanton Free School" parent groups said they wanted to deliver. Small, academic focus, strong pastoral care and extra-curricular activities.

Indeed the parent group actually said in their initial leaflet that they wanted to model the school on "best practice in the highest performing secondary schools in Suffolk" (Original emphasis). I understand that Debenham High was even mentioned at the time.

But as well as the influence from Debenham there is also a local focus from working with local Thurston schools building strong links with the Primary schools where children will come from and with Thurston Community College to collaborate on transport and even curriculum issues;

Pupils in years 9-11 would build on the core subjects by choosing from a range of optional enrichment subjects. We would do our best to make this choice a broad one by working with Thurston Community College to allow access to some of its vocational courses where these were in the best interests of the student.

Once again the Seckford Ixworth Free School website shows that the proposal for Ixworth is a chain school identical to Beccles and Saxmundham.

It seems unfortunate that the form to register interest is actually called “Beccles v2”:

Given that Beccles has become something of a byword for failed free schools this does look another clumsy mistake.

But that is really the choice for parents in Thurston area. Do they want "Beccles v2" or a school like Debenham High. Personally I think this is a no-brainer. Debenham’s track record speaks for itself.

You can see the new Ixworth St Mary's High School website which has an FAQ page
The Seckford bid have their Ixworth Free School website which has an FAQ page

Ixworth Free School: Peace breaks out in book bag battle

2012-10-23T17:59:00.000+01:00

The new Ixworth St Mary's High School Website

I recently blogged about the “Battle for Bookbags” which is really the battle for "Parent Mail" these days! Various comments had been made by people on all “sides” of the debate about the rights and wrongs of sending out information to parents about one or both of the free school bids.

I now understand that a letter with information about both bids is likely to go out to all parents from Suffolk County Council which seems an excellent idea.

In addition the following letter has been sent to parents today by Ixworth Middle School which sensibly provides details of both bids and the proposed open meetings for parents:
Ixworth Middle SOR Letter Oct 2012

This approach by Ixworth Middle School seems to be the way forward with parents being given information about both the bids.

In addition the church free school bid has launched its website today at http://ixworthstmarys.org with the proposed name Ixworth St Mary’s High School with lots more information about the proposal.

To me the only argument that matters at all now is which of the bids looks likely to provide the best education for children in Thurston area. Nothing else matters and I hope we can now draw a line under arguments about who sent what letter or what people said months ago on Twitter or at public meetings.

Would Colin Noble pass GCSE English?

2012-10-22T20:16:00.000+01:00

Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member
Cllr Colin Noble

Some people just cannot stop themselves. As this blog has detailed Colin Noble made some unwise comments about Mildenhall Community College’s GCSE results at a parish council meeting. This made the papers and he then wrote a blog about it.

That really should have been the end of the matter but Colin Noble seems to have failed to heed the wise saying when in a hole, stop digging!

He has written yet another blog post about it specifically concentrating on the Maths and English results which he says the school has not published.

As is well know there were significant issues with this year's GCSE English results. In fairness to Suffolk County Council both Simon White the Director for Education and Graham Newman the Portfolio Holder have supported Suffolk schools on this issue even helping to pay for re-marking.

But Colin Noble is not being so generous claiming he knows the results and challenging the school to publish what he calls the “litmus test” i.e. the Maths and English GCSE results.

What makes me particularly angry with Colin Noble’s post is that it is extremely badly written. I don’t mean it has the odd typo or spelling mistake. I mean so badly written that if it was submitted for GCSE English it would fail to get a C grade.

This is not my opinion. I sent this to an English teacher who lives well away from Suffolk to “mark” and this was the opinion of the teacher:

Overall, the piece lacks clarity and coherence, and is littered with basic errors of grammar and punctuation…..All of these areas would need to be improved before the piece would reach a Grade C. At best, it would get a D.

You can see below the comments the teacher made marking just three paragraphs of the post.
School Report on Colin Noble

If you are going to criticise a school for not getting good enough English exam results I think that you should take particular care to look at the standard of your own writing.

If we are to raise the bar in Suffolk then maybe we need to start at the top with our Cabinet members!

Dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John is @Out4Marriage

2012-10-20T13:12:00.000+01:00

Jeffrey John is currently the Dean of St Albans. He would have been a Bishop now except for two facts. He is gay and he is honest about it.

I used to know Jeffrey when he was a Parish Priest in London back in the 1990s. He actually conduct my own wedding and has long been a supporter of homsexual relationships being regarded in the same way by the Church as heterosexual ones. Back in 1993 he wrote a book entitled Permanent, Faithful, Stable: Christian same-sex partnerships.

Jeffrey has been in a relationship with a fellow clergyman called Grant since Theological college. A relationship he has always been completely honest about.

A new updated version of this book with with a slightly different title has been published this year, now called Permanent, Faithful, Stable: Christian same-sex marriage. The difference is the word marriage rather than partnership and this shows the progress made since 1993.

Well the progress made by civil society that is. As a High Church Anglican (part of the Affirming Catholicism movement) Jeffrey has always had a strong doctrine of the Church regarding it as important as central to christianity. It therefore says a lot that he basically says in the Preface of his new book and in the video below that the Church is wrong and should be ignored:

The You Tube video is part of the Out4Marriage campaign that is supporting the proposed change in the law to allow homosexual couples to marry in the same way as heterosexual ones.

I think Jeffrey gives a powerful message in favour of gay marriage. I know he feels that the Church should actually be leading this campaign rather than opposing it.

It is sad that despite the progress of the last 20 years the recent bed and breakfast case and opposition to gay marriage shows that there is still a way to go in equal rights for homosexuals.

I think the Church of England has rather shot itself in the foot with Jeffrey John though. An outstanding scholar, priest and public speaker he would have made a brilliant Bishop and who knows might have even been in contention for Canterbury now.

Discrimination is not only wrong it also damages those doing the discriminating as the tale of Jeffrey John shows.

We need to fight ideology from the left and the right to Save Suffolk's Libraries

2012-10-17T08:29:00.000+01:00

Front page of today's EADT

If you read the EADT this morning you may well conclude that Suffolk's libraries are under threat again. I think you would be right but not in the way the EADT article suggests.

Having defended Suffolk's libraries from an ideological attack from the right who were determined to see the service broken up and "divested" handing it to local communities or even private companies to run sadly it looks like a similar ideological attack from the left has begun.

This new attack from the left seems to be due to the insistance by some that the library service "must" be run by the County Council and that as such the IPS must be a bad thing. Some would appear happy to see a worse service just so long as the it was still under Council control.

I have already written about the disingenuous suggestions that the library service is "close to breaking point" which was based on a list of problems all of which the IPS inherited from the County Council.

The subject of today's EADT article is UNISON's response to the IPS's proposals to restructure the services in the back office of the IPS mainly because it now needs to deal with issues such as HR, Finance and IT that the County Council previously covered.

In fact none of the staff in any of the 44 branches of Suffolk Libraries are directly affected at all by the consultation. This, however, does not stop UNISON claiming:

“It seems incomprehensible that the IPS proposes to reduce the staffing and resource to this front line service which reaches out to some of the most vulnerable and isolated people in Suffolk – and yet can find the money to appoint more staff at higher grades in the organisation.”

They are able to make this claim because the consultation does include the reduction in staff and service to the mobile library service. However, as UNISON know full well, this reduction was made by the County Council and the IPS have no choice but to implement it. In point of fact the County wanted to go further, cutting the number of mobile vehicles so there would not even be a spare but the IPS were able to get them to drop this.

So actually we are discussing here a restructuring of back office staff. You can read the proposals that the IPS made and the response from UNISON on Suffolk Unison's website (click on Suffolk Libraries on the menu on the left hand side)

Now I completely understand that it is the job of trade unions to support their members and my guess is they have quite a few of those amongst the already higher graded "central" staff of Suffolk libraries than they do in the front line branches.

Whilst the UNISON response makes some sensible points sadly it appears to consist largely of a what begins to look like a personal vendetta against General Manager Alison Wheeler. One of the most absurd of the anonymous comments is:

It's A***ea all over again!

Clearly a reference to Andrea Hill, former Suffolk County Council CEO.

These kind of references make the document lose all credibility and there are other dubious claims, for example UNISON suggest that:

There was considerable concern expressed about the proposed grading of the Personal Assistant to the General Manager. Staff felt it was not appropriate for this post to be a suggested Grade 5 when Library managers are only a Grade 4.

Sounds dreadful, right? However if you look at the IPS proposal there is not a post that is just the PA to the General Manager but rather a PA and Office Manager post:

The PA/Office manager will have three main areas of duties. They will support the General Manager, they will be the clerk to the Board and they will be the supervisor of the admin staff who work in the IPS Headquarters.

The suggested grade by the way pays between 23K and 26K per year.

UNISON's consultation response and the corresponding news report seem a deliberate attempt to undermine the IPS and in my view will make the future of Suffolk's libraries less secure. Incredibly UNISON even include this comment about working with local community groups giving their own time free to help save their members jobs:

Staff wish to know who will be attending meetings with local community groups after hours. There is a need for reassurance that staff will not be expected to do this either in their own time or be forced to change their pattern of work to take on these tasks.

Perhaps the local groups should just pack up and find something else to spend their time on.

It was notable that the unions had a low profile during the library campaigns and somewhat strange that they appear more interested in attacking the IPS than they were the County Council.

Ideology is once again the enemy. Be it from the left or the right it is little different and pragmatists that want to see the library service continue need to resist it.

Ixworth Free School: The battle for book bags

2012-10-16T21:21:00.000+01:00

Throughout the free school controversy in Suffolk there has been something of a battle over whether schools should send out leaflets on behalf of the free school groups or opponents.

In Stoke by Nayland an agreement was eventually made to allow both Seckford and the group that opposed the free school called Compass to distribute leaflets to parents.

In Thurston the position was more varied. Ixworth Middle sent out Seckford leaflets. Blackborne Middle and Beyton Middle leaflets from both Seckford and Suffolk Coalition Opposing Free Schools (SCOFS). The Primary Schools and Thurston Community College took the position not to send either leaflet out.

This led to the intervention of Matthew Hancock MP who put pressure of the County Council and local schools to send the Seckford leaflets out. The County Council advised they were powerless to force them to and the schools stuck to their guns and did not send any leaflets out.

But when the possible bid from the Diocese was announced last week the primary schools (who are mostly church schools) did send out the leaflet from the Diocesan Director of Education. This prompted immediate anger from members of the Ixworth Parent Group who backed the Seckford bid.

Here are a few of several comments they left on my Blog:

This seems unfair, I know the parent group (Seckford), have tried to engage in meetings with the primary feeder schools, asked them to distribute information and been turned away, and generally been given no access to distribute information at all, hence them standing on the street giving information out and attempting to blanket leaflet areas. This all seems really bizarre since now they are giving info out about the diocese bid, because Thurston has given it the nod to say they can!! It's all one sided, how can you make an informed decision when you do not have all the information, the Primary schools should be ashamed of themselves and I personally am quite upset that they think parents are not going to shout about this. Thurston, scarily appears to have a huge amount of dominance...

Why also are the primary schools sent the letter but Beyton Middle School parents havent been sent it nor i assume other middle schools. It is, after all, the middle school children caught up in this.

However today it became clear that Ixworth Middle School have refused to send out the letter from the Diocese. Apparently their Governing Body (which contains several Parent Group members) voted not to send it.

Blackbourne Middle on the other hand not only sent out the letter but also a strong letter of support which is perhaps unsurprising as they are a church school.

It has also been reported that Ixworth Middle School have refused to send out an invitation to an open day for parents at Thurtston Community College which seems even more bizarre.

Given the strong views expressed here over the weekend that the primary schools were wrong not to send out Seckford leaflets I hope that the parent group members will now be asking Ixworth Middle School to send the Diocesan leaflet out. Perhaps Matthew Hancock will too.

After all how can you make an informed decision when you do not have all the information?