A TORY MP has spoken out against government policy for the second time in a week.

Caroline Ansell had already condemned plans in last week’s budget for £4 billion of cuts in funding for the disabled and has welcomed the eventual u-turn over Chancellor George Osborne’s planned changes to the personal independence payments.

And now the Eastbourne MP has stepped into the education debate after the Chancellor also announced last week that all schools must become academies by 2020 or have official plans to do so by 2022.

Caroline, a former teacher, has met with education minister Nick Gibb to discuss her concerns about this policy.

She told the minister she was unhappy with several proposals, including no requirement for a parent governor role in the academy system.

She said she feared the pace of change was too fast and that teachers were worried about the future.

She said: "I made it clear to the minister that I believe the case for academies per se has not yet been made. In some areas they have been a success, but in others they have not been so effective and local authorities still have a vital role to play in protecting vulnerable pupils or those with special needs.

"I explained this forced change was not offering a freedom of choice for schools and omitting parents from any governor role would be taking an important function from the community. I called on the minister to ensure that parents have an identifiable role in any new proposed system.

"I'm certainly not against academies and I can see they have an important role to play in raising standards in certain circumstances, but I believe it’s absolutely for school communities to determine their own future, with parents too at the heart of decision making.

"I have real concerns parents are to be disenfranchised from the schools their children will be attending on the basis that they will not have the professional experience to run an academy."

Caroline added that the minister agreed to visit Eastbourne in the near future to meet with local headteachers and discuss the concerns they have.