With the local elections coming up in May a couple of issues have already surfaced which potential candidates will use to gain votes. One is social housing in Shiptonthorpe and the other is the revised Woldgate school admissions policy.

With candidates already starting to set out their stall I thought I’d have a stab at posting some basic facts starting with WLP. (I do not claim to be an expert on anything so please chip in if you spot any errors).

1. The Conservative Government wants more academies as they give individual schools greater freedoms, including control over their own finances, compared to local authority control.
2. A Labour government will want academies to cooperate with their local authority on admissions policies.
3. Trust schools are funded directly by the Department of Education. Not ERYC.
4. Local headmasters decided to form a Multi Academy Trust. No one told them to.
5. The information recently put out by the headmaster about accepting 240 pupils a year is at odds with what the Trust says. It’s almost as if they don’t communicate with each other.
6. Anyone with a suspicious mind might be forgiven for thinking the Trust is deliberately understating the annual PAN in order to claim extra funds from the DofE.
7. Cllr Leo Hammond agrees with the Woldgate headmaster that there is NOT a capacity issue.
8. If there is not a capacity issue why did they have to revise their admissions policy which has resulted in a great deal of stress for local parents.
   Communication from the WLP is very poor.
9. The schools say they have never been invited to a meeting to discuss local infrastructure. This could be because there has never been such a meeting.
10. All schools were invited to contribute comments to the ERYC local plan.
11. The school say they have not received any section 106 cash for extra school places.
12. In 2017 Pocklington Junior school received £75,000 from the Community Infrastructure Levy which preceded section 106.
13. No Pocklington developer has yet been asked to contribute any money under section 106 towards additional school places as part of the planning process. Therefore, there is no money to pass onto the WLP.
14. The schools say they have raised section 106 funding with local leaders. When I asked who, they said Councillors but did not name any individuals.
15. The heads said that there had been no funding for cycle paths and crossings but could not give me any evidence to show that the schools had been lobbying for these. They said the local authority is responsible.
16. The schools say they need an additional £800,000 to cope with increased pupil numbers. When I asked how they had calculated this figure they said it was based on current intake.

It is likely that local election candidates will stir the pot on this one. Remember the school does not answer to ERYC. Candidates cannot impact what happens at WLP schools. Expect a lot of words and inflammatory language but at the end of the day WLP is not answerable to anyone locally. Which is a shame.