Another Delightful New Labour Legacy

[youngmafbog]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/almost-half-of-primary-schools-to-have-more-pupils-than-places-in-two-years-8795575.html

Open the doors, let everyone in.

But where are labour when it comes to sweeping up the mess?

[jno]

where are labour when it comes to sweeping up the mess

In opposition, where you put them.

And, er, where are the coalition when it comes to sweeping up the mess? In power, by any chance?

[emmie]

this argument will run and run, until someone actually does something about it. Shut the damn door on more people until such time they can be supported, or they have their own finance to be self supporting. You can't keep on bringing in people without the back up services to go along with it, schools, hospital, GP, and homes, all in short supply.

[dunnitall]

A local school near here has had to extend and add extra classrooms to accommodate the influx of inmates! Sorry, school children.

[Gromit]

"We will get immigration down to tens of thousands not hundreds of thousands" was the Cons line in 2010.

Three years later they have failed on that promise...
// The latest data showing the net immigration figure increased 23,000 to 176,000 last year.

The home secretary's drive to hit the Conservative migration target by the 2015 general election is stalling.

Office for National Statistics figures published on Thursday show a net flow of 176,000 long-term migrants into Britain in the year to December 2012. The number is well below the 215,000 for 2011 but above the 153,000 for the 12 months to October 2012. //

- Instead of solving the problem, the Conservatives with their failed policy, are making it much worse.

- the increase birthrate and the need for more school places were entirely predictable and known about. The fact the coalition, after 3 years have ignored the problem was deliberate. Herding kids into giant classes is not a problem for them, because they don't send their children to state schools.

- 'New' Labour was 1997. It ain't newin 2013.

-

[andy-hughes]

The present Mrs Hughes, who is a Schools Inspector for independent and state schools laughed out loud when this was announced.

She has been predicting it for the last three years, and in her belief, the government's assessment of the crisis is laughably over-optimistic.

People who work in schools know what is happening, and tell the government, and are ignored, by politicians who pursue this mad idea that everyone wants to go to university.

[TTG]

Not just uncontrolled immigration, there just does not seem to be much concern about financially supporting a child knowing the government will do it. The casual way soap characters and media "celebrities" have children without a stable family environment does not send out the right message. Is it just the UK that seems to have this problem?

[New Judge]

There is nothing unusual about this phenomenon.

All governments (of whatever persuasion) prevaricate and fanny about without taking the necessary decisive action. Recent examples that spring to mind:

Provision of a stable electricity supply (farting about with windmills whilst closing efficient reliable coal fired power stations and refusing to sanction the building of nuclear power plants as suitable clean replacements). Power shortages in the next few years are thus almost inevitable.

Expansion of airport “hub” capacity (authorising innumerable “enquiries” whilst European airports expand and threaten the UK’s pre-eminence as a provider of interconnection facilities).

This problem is no different. As has been pointed out it has come as no surprise that many additional primary school places are required for the reasons stated. Nothing has been done. Now the excrement has hit the air conditioning. No doubt in five or six years time a similar problem will exist with secondary education (which will probably be worse since, by then, additional eleven year olds will have been admitted to the country).

Of course the people who cause all of this will have been either (a) elevated to the House of Lords or (b) provided with a nice little number in “Europe” or (c) taken up cosy positions as non-executive directors or “consultants” in organisations associated with the areas of business for which they had responsibility whilst in government.

So let’s not express surprise

[youngmafbog]

Err gromit, how on earth can you blame it on the coalition?

New labour, 2010 (from 1997 - nice try at manipulating figures) should have started it, Schools (and other infrastructure) take years to get of the ground; especially when the pot is left empty by the last Government wasting it on left wing right-on experiments.

[Gromit]

// gromit, how on earth can you blame it on the coalition? //

They haven't suddenly discovered all these children, they were registed years ago. So the Coaltion Government knew how many school places were needed but did nothing to provide extra places.

All the children born under the coalition (net immigration is still rising), will probably go to school when Labour eventually come to power. If Labour do not provide enough places then, they will be responsible, just like the Coalition are responsible now.

[Zeuhl]

NJ and andy have the answer; Short Termism

no politicians want to spend 'their budgets' now to accommodate the school children (or air passengers) of the future

also, it's dull (schools) or tricky (airport expansion)

HS2 is the flip of that; it gives the initiating politicians a glamorous, high tech sheen and the implementation and overspends will be someone else's problem

Perhaps strategic, national infrastructure should be taken out of the hands of here-today, gone-tomorrow politicians

[jno]

Gove's been in office for more than three years now. As for as I can see, attention he's paid to this: nil. Attention he's paid to adacemies: heaps.

Shouldn't actually providing schools be the priority rather than promoting his ideology?

[jno]

A local school near here has had to extend and add extra classrooms to accommodate the influx of inmates

My school did that; I was mostly educated in prefabs, in classes of 30-40. No need for splitting the day into shifts or having three-day weeks. Is there some reason why this is not a solution?

[237SJ]

The junior school that I went to held a total of 30 pupils. Now, it has 100 pupils. When I was at college (1980s) we had some classes that were held in portacabins because there were more pupils than classroom places. It`s nothing new. I don`t know what the fuss is about. More pupils means more parents which means more taxpayers which means more money to build new schools. If that doesn`t happen, then it`s the fault of the government for not understanding the concept of supply and demand.

[catgullyarha]

Ever since ww2 successive governments of all colours have treacherously let the rest of the world into our country with umpteen reasons why they should come.They are that short-sighted they cannot see the ultimate conclusion if this continues.What I think we need is a really, really strong party in charge.