What a pity people have such short memories. The idea of Falmer School becoming a flagship city academy under a Labour government is no different to the Conservative's discredited grant-maintained schools policy.

Thankfully, these schools were brought back under the umbrella of local education authorities in the early years of the New Labour government.

And thank goodness no schools in Brighton and Hove decided then to opt out of the LEA to become grant maintained.

Now Pat Hawkes, as chair of Brighton and Hove City Council's children, families and schools committee has suggested academy status will bring much-needed investment to Falmer School (The Argus, November 11).

Is this the same Pat Hawkes who I seem to remember campaigned against Falmer parents voting to take the school out of LEA control to become grant-maintained?

When parents voted overwhelmingly against the idea of grant-maintained status, she thanked those who had been involved in the successful campaign.

The director of the council's children, families and schools department, David Hawker, suggests, quite naively, in the same article, that the Falmer Academy would not be entirely independent because it would have one LEA representative on its governing body.

Big deal. Might I suggest that if this half-baked idea ever comes to fruition, the LEA representative, in a minority of one, should be Pat Hawkes?

At least then she could experience first hand how empty David Hawker's assurances will have been.

-Jeff Nixon, Hove