The radical Labour council waging class warfare on the south coast

Yahoo

05-02-2025

It was Victorian Britain's pre-eminent seaside town, but Brighton is distinctly more shabby these days.
The i360, a 'vertical pier' designed to bring in tourists, closed down in December with £50m of debt. Frequent bin strikes in recent years have resulted in piles of rotting rubbish in the streets, while plans to shut half the public toilets in the city to save cash were shelved.
Now the new Labour-run council is embarking on a controversial education plan that experts say is a dangerous experiment in 'social engineering'. It has been accused of peddling class warfare by targeting middle-class parents who had hoped to send their children to schools within walking distance.
The council says its radical plan will address the attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils in its six state secondaries. Among a raft of controversial ideas, it proposes giving greater priority to children eligible for free school meals, carving up existing catchment areas and slashing admission numbers at oversubscribed schools in favour of bolstering uptake at others.
It hopes to introduce the changes as soon as next September, but parents argue the shake-up will result in hundreds of pupils being 'randomly dispersed across the city'. Many of these students will have to take two buses to schools five miles outside the city, rather than be allowed to walk to one on their doorstep.
Sir Jon Coles, formerly a senior civil servant in the Department for Education, and now chief executive of United Learning, which runs more than 100 schools, branded the plans 'truly extraordinary'.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said Brighton council's proposals were 'based on some very shaky pseudo-academic evidence. Surely no one wants a return to council-led social engineering by busing? Maybe improving the weak schools would be a better strategy'.
On a cold January day, dozens of parents and children protested outside the council offices, calling for authority leaders to scrap the proposals.
Sally Bunkham, a mother of two autistic daughters, said the 'council is using children as a social experiment'.
Another parent, Tony Boland, told The Telegraph: 'There's a misconception within the council that if you live in a specific area in Brighton, you're a multimillionaire. It is completely untrue.
'We're not wealthy by any standards. Our community is a broad church and we have bled to live here. We bought a house here 10 years ago as we thought it would be a suitable area for our kids.'
He adds: 'I don't know what we're going to do. We can't afford to move or send our kids to a private school, so we're just going to suck it up.
'There are two huge schools literally within 10 minutes walk of our area, but they will only have a one in four chance of being able to attend either.'
Hundreds of children being forced into a lengthy commute at the age of 11 is a frightening prospect for Sarah Taylor, who says her daughter could 'end up having to walk into town for 20 minutes and then take two buses in the dark'.
'I don't see that as a safe or right thing to do,' she said.
The council, which is currently running an active travel-to-school campaign encouraging walking, says children not receiving free school meals will get a free bus pass if they are forced to attend a school more than three miles from their home.
Critics argue that shipping pupils across the city is at odds with plans to cut pollution and traffic. The council's website states that 'children who travel actively to and from school achieve higher academic success'.
In a bombshell for the council, the heads and governors of all six local authority-run secondary schools in the city have lodged their concern at the proposals.
A joint letter sent to the council reveals the schools' fears over 'significant unintended consequences for pupils across the city' as a result of the policy.
The council argues its plan is fairer and would stop people buying up properties near good schools to get their children a place. It is being supported by left-wing campaign group Class Divide.
Writing on the group's website, its founder, Curtis James, said: 'Years from now, when we look back at this moment, what will we tell our children about the choices we made?
'Will we say we were brave enough to create real change? Will we say we built a city where every child, regardless of their postcode or family income, had a fair chance at a great education?
'These proposals aren't perfect – no change ever is. But they offer a real chance to build the kind of education system our city deserves; one that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.'
Labour voters are in despair at the council they voted for.
Adam Dennett, a professor in urban analysis and a parent in Brighton, questioned the logic behind the proposals. He argued that Brighton's schools are already more socially mixed than most other areas of the country.
'What we have is something of a Frankenstein's monster of a proposal with bits bolted on and cobbled together,' he said.
'The Labour council thinks it can be bold, but being bold isn't about forcing through bad policies. I'm absolutely horrified that the party I voted for is forcing this through.'
The school shake-up comes amid Brighton and Hove's plummeting birth rate. At 0.98, it is one of the lowest in Britain – and it is forecast to keep falling.
Two primary schools shut their doors last year, and there are fears that dwindling pupil numbers will force more to close. The council hopes its plan to direct children to low-intake secondaries will stave off the threat of further cuts.
The closure in 2005 of a secondary school in Whitehawk, a deprived neighbourhood, has left children in the east of the city without a local school. But campaigners say forcing hundreds more children to travel long distances is not justified.
In an impact assessment of its own proposals, the council concedes that the catchment changes 'may separate existing friendship groups from primary school, potentially impacting social development and wellbeing'.
It also states that extended travel times 'could reduce independence' for teenagers.
'Sibling links' are to be retained, making it more likely for youngsters to attend their local school if their older brother or sister already attends.
Lorna Palmer said: 'My son, who is an only child, will be at the bottom of the priority list and will be totally separated from his friendship group.
'From the council's own figures, he'll be one of 250 kids displaced in the first year. In about five years' time you're going to have 1,000 kids travelling around Brighton unnecessarily.'
The council is now deciding on its final plans, with thousands parents waiting on tenterhooks.
Councillor Jacob Taylor, deputy leader, said: 'Our consultation proposed a small percentage of open admissions which would mean that every family in the city had at least some chance of a choice of secondary school for their children.
'We are ambitious for children's education in Brighton & Hove and we are committed for fairness for all.'
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