Commons challenge over schools' closure

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 20th May 2008

The future of two Colchester secondary schools threatened with closure will be raised in the House of Commons today (Monday) by the Town's MP Bob Russell.

Mr Russell has secured second place in today's Oral Questions to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. It is the second time this year that he has had a question on the order paper to challenge the Government over plans by Essex County Council to shut the Alderman Blaxill School at Shrub End and the Thomas Lord Audley College at Monkwick and replace them with a 1,500 place Academy on the TLA site.

Liberal Democrat Mr Russell has pursued a dogged campaign at Parliamentary level in support of Alderman Blaxill School, raising the threat of closure on several occasions ever since Tory-run Essex County Council last summer put forward a proposal to close the school, along with Thomas Lord Audley College, and build an Academy at Monkwick. He has Tabled both written and oral questions, and last autumn had a 30-minute debate.

Last month he presented a Petition to Parliament signed by people opposed to the closure of Alderman Blaxill School. On other occasions he has also mentioned the importance of the school to the children of soldiers from the Colchester Garrison - more than a fifth of the pupils come from Army families.

Mr Russell's question today calls on the Government to have a ballot of parents of children already at the schools and at feeder primary schools to see if they support the establishment of an Academy in preference to the retention of Alderman Blaxill and Thomas Lord Audley.

In the Borough Council Elections on 1st May, against the huge successes achieved nationally by the Conservative Party, in Colchester the defending Conservative Councillors lost their seats at both Shrub End and Berechurch (Monkwick). Mr Russell observed: "The people have spoken - they do not want to see the closure of these two community-based schools and their replacement with a huge Academy."