There are a couple of points to add – did councillor Wallace explain that the previous Conservative Administration actually authorised seeking Legal Advice on this matter and it cost around £5,000. (this can be substantiated and proved)

Cllr Judith Wallace has accused the Labour group of 'political grandstanding' and wasting tax payers' cash for trying to push for a judicial review over the schools merger. Cash in that money was spent on legal advice. There are a couple of points to add – did councillor Wallace explain that the previous Conservative Administration actually authorised seeking Legal Advice on this matter and it cost around £5,000. (this can be substantiated and proved) The previous Conservative Executive agreed the current course of action back in the Autumn of last year, in agreement with all three Political groups and it was done so on the understanding that the matter was one of Education in North Tyneside and the impact of the academy on the current education provision. Cllr Wallace was part of that agreement in her role as Deputy Mayor and as Leader of the Tory Group of Councillors. The fact that there has been a change of political administration has not changed the position adopted by all three groups. The politics of the situation has now been invoked by the Tory Opposition and others, not by the Labour and Liberal Groups. The matter is a one of educational significance and impact on existing schools immediately the school term starts in September. This is a matter that Cllr Wallace will have to face in Wards along the Coast as residents learn that the sustainability of education in its current form will have to be addressed as a direct consequence of the imposition of the Academy. The fact that the impact is immediate and has meant that the council have no other options but to act straight away to implement a review of school provision as soon as possible. If the academy proposals had been undertaken over a longer period of time, then any reviews would have gone through a more sensible process and mitigation plans would have been considered on merit. The fact is the Academy and the DFE have avoided to engage in a meaningful way with the Local Authority and have dismissed the impacts on other schools. In fact even Northumberland County Council have schools that objected to the proposals because of a similar impact. If Cllr Wallace actually considered her position before making weak political points, she would have realised a fundamental political mistake in the reaction of parents of pupils in the other schools who will no doubt not appreciate the stance taken by the Conservative Group *** Please note - that 900 new places are actually nearly 3% of the school community and that is equivalent to 30 classes of 30 pupils in each class, so would it be better to use numbers rather than percentages to demonstrate the immediate change in the surplus places?