March 23: Academies still facing key tests

It is a mantra that will be repeated frequently during the forthcoming election campaign when the Tories will question the performance record of under-achieving LEAs – the Prime Minister is committed to taking 3,300 ‘coasting’ schools out of the control of town halls by converting them into academies. “Just enough is not good enough,” he has proclaimed.

Yet, while the coalition’s commitment to resorting rigor to the academic system has been laudable and helped to reverse of the ‘dumbing down’ that took place under the last Labour government, Mr Cameron’s enthusiasm does need to be tempered.

As The Yorkshire Post’s own investigation of exam results confirms, the advent of academies has not had the marked impact on performance predicted by the Conservative leader. The improvements have been marginal at best and it would be remiss of Mr Cameron to impose changes on the scale envisaged without greater evidence that academies are the way forward for most schools.

It is also vital that there is proper oversight of these schools and their governance, a requirement that has prompted the Government to appoint a network of eight regional commissioners to fulfil this important role.

Yet it does not inspire confidence that Yorkshire schools will come under the auspices of three different regions. With the attainment levels of LEA-run schools and academies well below the national average, such an ad hoc arrangement will make it more difficult for the whole of Yorkshire to work together to improve standards across the board. As such, it is vital that the election does not stand in the way of Mr Cameron learning these important lessons – and working with the education establishment – to give pupils the very best start in life.

Salmond’s swagger: the SNP election conundrum

NOW that the election debates have finally been agreed, David Cameron’s apparent reluctance to participate can be explained – certainly in part – by the return of Alex Salmond to front line politics.

Even though he resigned as Scotland’s First Minister in the immediate aftermath of last autumn’s referendum vote, he will be a key player in this election as the SNP looks to return sufficient MPs to Westminster so it can hold the balance of power after May 7.

Such a scenario, let it be said now, would be disastrous for regions like Yorkshire that would find themselves even more marginalised if Mr Salmond was in a position to prop up a government led by Ed Miliband.

That said, it would be churlish not to acknowledge Mr Salmond’s swagger and skills as Britain’s most canny political tactician and campaigner. Unlike the Tories and Labour who have become a shadow of their former selves, he has energised politics north of the border – the SNP membership continues to grow in spite of the independence referendum being lost – and his call for policies to debated on an issue by issue basis in the House of Commons after the election has merit. After all, Parliament has become bereft of those ‘big beasts’ of domestic politics whose oratory and conviction resonates with the electorate at large and encourages participation in the democratic process.

The life and soul...

there IS one Tory policy which Ukip’s Nigel Farage will be able to toast when he makes his obligatory visit to a hostelry for the benefit of the TV cameras – Community Pubs Day. The Government intends today’s initiative to stem the number of pubs calling last orders because of the changing dynamics of their industry, hence the Chancellor’s decision to knock a penny off beer duty in last week’s Budget.

However the campaign, headed by Keighley MP Kris Hopkins in his role as Communities Pub Minister, does contain the slight whiff of hypocrisy. After all, it was the Department of Communities and Local Government – the Ministry where Mr Hopkins works – which relaxed the laws so that pubs could be converted into supermarkets without planning permission. If this was reversed, it might help those who are striving to ensure that pubs remain the life and soul of local communities.