Leader of the Isle of Wight Council, David Pugh, was last night questioned about a BBC report that claimed the Isle of Wight council, along with Portsmouth and Southampton, was backing plans to take court action against the Government for using money from state schools to fund new academies.
The question, raised by Cllr Churchman, was answered by Cllr Pugh who claimed that the BBC article didn’t accurately reflect the current position.
He gave a brief overview of the situation, explaining that the government approach to funding the Academies Programme is to ‘top-slice’ funding from all local education authorities, irrespective of whether they have academies or indeed how many. It’s being referred to as ‘Academies Tax’.
Money should not be top-sliced
Cllr Pugh went onto say that although the ruling party supports the Academies Programme (there are two opening on the Island in September), they do not feel that the money should be ‘top-sliced’ from their budget to fund the programme, adding his view that it should be funded centrally or by those academies.
He clarified that no judicial action is being taken at this stage, simply that the Local Government Association, on behalf of a number of local authorities, is sending a pre-action letter, setting out concerns and seeking a response from the Government before considering any further action.
Further action unlikely
Addressing the chairman, Cllr Pugh stated that further steps in terms of action was unlikely and that there was no financial commitment on the IWC.
He finished by stating that the “BBC report wasn’t totally accurate in the way it was reported”. We have asked for a clarification of which parts were inaccurate.
Update: We asked Cllr Pugh what part of the report was in his view inaccurate, he replied
Having reviewed the article, and also the news coverage, it appears to infer, in the opening line, that Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight councils are threatening to take the government to court.
Whilst it does go on to say that we are among 14 Las backing potential court action by the LGA, I consider it would have been more accurate to state that the LGA is writing a pre-action letter to the Government setting out concerns, and that in taking this action, the LGA has the support of a number of councils, including Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
