Essex County Council’s performance on education in the north of the district continues to deteriorate. Whilst schools are providing outstanding education, ECC ‘s support to hard working parents is declining. Those residents with children of primary school age will struggle for a further year; fortunately thanks to pressure from R4U a new school will now open in 2017.
With regard to secondary education, ECC is now adding serious insult to injury for those pupils unable to gain access to the County High. It is imposing a large increase in bus charges to go to a more distant school which they didn’t actually want to attend. Parents are being asked to pay £663 per child this coming year, then £990 in the next academic year.
So if a family has three children in secondary education they will have to pay £2,970 per year or £247.50 every month of the year.
All of this is in marked contrast to our neighbouring local authorities who have been much more sympathetic to the plight of hard working families. I have written to the responsible cabinet member to formally ask for consideration of the special educational problems here in Saffron Walden, but as a Chelmsford based Conservative member he clearly believes that this part of Essex is unimportant as he has failed to respond and more importantly act.
Where we live is important to us and it’s about time we had a County Council that works for us rather than its Westminster party masters.