School closure prompts MP's bill

Newlands School, in Seaford, East Sussex, re-opened on Monday after two investors stepped in with £2.5m.

But Norman Baker, Lewes MP, said he wants measures brought in to protect children from similar disruption.

Mr Baker's Independent School Closures (Provision For Pupils) Bill gained its first reading.

The bill calls on the government to set up an emergency trust fund to be paid into by private schools so they can close in "a timely manner" if they have to go into administration.

"A private school is not a fish and chip shop"
Norman Baker

It also calls for a duty to be placed on independent schools to draw up emergency plans for such a situation.

Before introducing the bill on Wednesday, the MP said: "This case has raised the issue of the lack of safeguards in place to protect the education of pupils in independent schools in the event that their school goes into administration.

"It is terrible that children can be left high and dry without a school place in the middle of the academic year, in some cases, only weeks away from their exams."

'Extra pressures'

In the Commons, Mr Baker said parents and pupils were given only 24 hours notice when Newlands closed.

He said: "A private school is not a fish and chip shop.

"It demands better protection for those who use it than a fish and chip shop would."

He said such closures put extra pressures on the local education authority to find places for displaced pupils and disrupted the continuity of education.

Newlands announced its closure during the Easter holidays but reopened on Monday after two businessmen provided funds to keep the school in operation.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Newlands School
Friends of Newlands
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites