Tax threat in bid for new school

Parents are threatening to withhold taxes in an effort to get government funding for a new secondary school.

This is the latest twist in a long-running campaign by parents in Brixton, south London, where there is no secondary school.

Their hopes were raised when it was suggested that one of the new city academies might be a suitable solution.

But no site is available and the parents say they are being told by ministers to "buy your own school".

'Funding trap'

Under the academies scheme, private sponsors put in up to a tenth of the start-up costs, with the rest coming from the Department for Education and Skills.

Aren't our taxes supposed to pay for local schools? Parent Devon Allison (right)

Under the rules, the local education authority - Lambeth, in this case - would provide a site free if it were replacing an existing secondary school.

But that brings the parents back to square one: there is currently no school, which is why they are trying to have one built.

So now they say they are caught in a funding trap: central government refuses its part of the funding if there are no sites available and the local council has no sites and no money to buy them.

A spokesperson for the education department said it and Lambeth had been working closely with the parents' group to examine the possibilities and would continue to do so.

"However, it should be remembered that sites in London are not cheap and could potentially add millions of pounds to the cost of a new school.

"Were a sponsor to come forward who would consider putting forward additional funding to purchase the site, we would be happy to explore this possibility. "

Tax revolts

The parents say their local MP - the Housing Minister, Keith Hill - wrote to say they should "investigate various creative approaches to funding site acquisition".

They have written to the School Standards Minister, David Miliband, to say that the creative approaches that have occurred to them include tax revolts - "because what funding options do ordinary people have?"

As part of their campaign they won the support of the former South African president and intend to name the school after him. They have formed the Nelson Mandela School Foundation.

"The government has totally lost the plot," said Ray Perrotte, who chairs the foundation.

"They think they can take our tax money, give local kids nothing back, and then tell us that Brixton parents should buy sites for schools.

"If they won't pay for the schools we need, they should give us back our tax money.

"Then maybe we could go out and buy land for schools."

Commitment

"We don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Devon Allison, a local parent who chairs the Secondary Schools Campaign in Lambeth.

"When did a local secondary school become a luxury that some kids get and others don't?

"Aren't our taxes supposed to pay for local schools?"

Lambeth said in a statement that is was determined to provide extra secondary school places.

"We have committed through the London Challenge to provide at least two new schools following the opening of the Clapham Academy due in September.

"As is normal in these cases, the LEA will be providing sites for the schools. The funding will come from central government."

Rising costs

Figures revealed on Friday suggest that the cost of building the new city academies is rocketing.

According to the Times Educational Supplement, £425m has been spent on the first 17, compared with the £170m first budgeted.

The education department spokeswoman said: "We want every pupil to have the chance to reach their full potential and therefore we make no apology for significant investment in schools, especially in areas of disadvantage."