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Camden News - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 26 June 2008

‘Academy might not be ready by 2010’

CAMDEN’S first city academy school is unlikely to be built in time for the next local elections, in what is a blow to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition running the Town Hall.
Both parties had hoped for at least some evidence of the new school taking shape in Swiss Cottage by the time they next face a public vote.
In the initial timetable, education chiefs said the new school would open sometime in 2010, but the first hint that work is taking longer than expected came at Thursday’s meeting.
Conservative education chief Councillor Andrew Mennear admitted the “foundations might not even be dug” when the coalition administration is put to the test in two years.
Opponents to the scheme have repeatedly claimed Camden has hurried the project in order to impress voters.
But Cllr Mennear insisted the only reason Camden may have seemed to be in a rush to get the school open was because of the poor economic climate.
He said he worried delays could lead to the government withdrawing some of the £200 million grant already pledged for refurbishing schools and building a new one.
Cllr Mennear has been urged to take more time to consider the project.
But he said: “I’m not completely convinced that the government is open to a local authority which is in good order actually pushing the timescale back.”
“The government is under intense pressure on national finances – that means we really don’t want to put things back. There is a danger that if you do that you will end up with much less investment and a less good rebuild of the entire secondary school estate than we have planned at the moment.”
Sceptics believe that regardless of Cllr Mennear’s warning, in reality there is little prospect of Camden losing financial assistance from the government, with the government desperate for what they see as a shining example of an academy to be opened.
The sponsors, University College London, is regarded as a great catch among ministers eager to score better press for the academy programme.
Cllr Mennear said: “I’m not actually sure there will be any foundations dug by the time of the May 2010 elections, so frankly I don’t consider the timescale is particularly in keeping with the local elections. I consider that reasonably irrelevant in terms of an argument.”

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