Valerie Paynter is right to say that there is cross-party support for the Connaught Centre to become a primary school to help ease the shortage of school places in Hove (Letters, June 24). However, it is the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government’s divisive policy of so called “free schools” that could now jeopardise the process and cause unnecessary delays to solving this urgent problem.

In their desire to get these Free Schools up and running in any available building, including empty shops, offices and homes, the policy has to have priority over any planned provision that a Local Education Authority (LEA) is trying to make. The LEA will have to embark on a costly process to see if any local individual or group wants to set up one of these schools before proceeding with its own plans. In addition, planning rules that gave local residents protection over issues such as noise and increased traffic are to be “relaxed”, meaning that neighbours will have less of a say and, as these schools will be outside of LEA and democratic control (although run with tax-payer’s money), they can set their own admission policy and do not need to cover the national curriculum.

Hove Tory MP Mike Weatherly may well be welcoming the advent of these free schools for a small minority but they will be paid for by the majority of children and parents from all of the rest of the schools in Brighton and Hove, which will suffer decreased funding as a result.

Hove urgently needs a new primary school. The last thing parents and children need is to be caught up in this misguided experiment with our children’s education.

Councillor Melanie Davis


Labour Goldsmid Ward Opposition Spokesperson Culture, Recreation And Tourism