It is with great regret to say that the audio file of Steve Beynon’s presentation has corrupted (arrghh) and is unable to use. We will endeavour to record it again at one of the next couple of public consultation meetings and will put it out on VB as soon as we can.
In the meantime, David Pugh’s recording is still in tact and follows now.
Councillor Pugh started his presentation by stating that …
Difficult decisions need to be made on Isle of Wight.
He continued that the Government was pointing them in the right direction with the recent changes to primary capital funding. Steve Beynon had pointed out the £10m the council used to receive was now reduced to a £3m basic grant with the Government stating that if the Island are to get back the £7m shortfall that they will need to meet strict criteria to reduce surplus places in schools from 30% to less than 10%.
He wanted to make it clear that they weren’t just targetting rural schools, but in fact, trying to strengthen them, using Niton School as an example.
He believes that the council should not be in the position of only spending £3m per annum manintaining the schools buildings, because children should not be in sub-standard buildings.
New government criteria on Primary Capital Funding came into force on 6th December and Pugh stated that they have been informed, because of these changes, that the council would received £7m less, until they can show a reduction in the surplus places – which has to be submitted by April 2008.
He said the choices would be to either let the buildings fall into a state of disrepair and have children educated in them, divert money from other council services, increase council tax by 11% or make changes proposed in the three options.
“It’s not all about money, but we need to spend that money best.”
Councillor Pugh continued that he had received a huge amount of correspondence in relation to Wroxall School and encouraged governing bodies to consult with parents to put forward case for the school to be retained under criteria outlined in the booklet.
“We know people feel strongly about specific sites. There may be a good case that can be put forward for them.”
He finished by strongly urging everyone to complete a questionnaire in order to let the council know the views of the public.
To listen to the presentation, click on the play button below:
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/david-pugh-ventnor-presentation.mp3]
