Special school shake-up plan criticised

Jan 10 2007 By Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Mail

EDUCATION Secretary Alan Johnson has criticised Birmingham's shake-up of special schools as the city was drawn into the row over Cabinet colleague Ruth Kelly's son.

Mr Johnson accused the city council of planning "contentious closures", and warned that it would be blocked from going ahead unless it could prove it was offering children something better.

Parents of special needs children in Birmingham have already launched a campaign against the controversial plans for reforms of special schools.

A parents' action group is due to hold its first meeting tomorrow after the city council launched a review.

The authority denies it is planning to close schools and has promised to consult parents and children about any changes.

Mr Johnson criticised Birmingham in an angry letter to David Cameron, the Leader of the Opposition, following the revelation that Ruth Kelly, a former Education Secretary and now the Cabinet minister responsible for local government, had sent her dyslexic son to a £15,000-a-year private school.

Conservatives claimed her decision demonstrated clearly that local authority-run special schools had been neglected by the Government.

But Mr Johnson said: "Where closures do occur this is a decision taken by the local authority.

"You will know that some of the most contentious special school closures are in Tory-run local authorities, including Wandsworth and Birmingham.

"We have recently set out new rules that make sure local authorities only make closures when they can clearly show that something better is planned in its place."

Tony Blair appeared alongside Ms Kelly yesterday in a public show of support.

The pair appeared before cameras in Downing Street a day after she faced criticism from some Labour MPs for taking her son out of special school and paying for him to go private.