10:53am Tuesday 16th March 2010
AS Durham County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, I was appalled on Tuesday of last week to hear Councillor Owen Temple refer to the £30m new academy in Consett as “Colditz”.
As I take safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously, I am amazed that Coun Temple would not want to ensure that the children of Consett are given the same levels of protection and safeguarding that we apply to all our children in County Durham.
Parents, governors, head teachers and teaching staff as well as pupils themselves all expect safety to be at the forefront of everything we do.
While we encourage our schools to be part of the community we also have to ensure that this is managed and all our young people are safe in a positive and protected environment.
The fencing proposed on the perimeter of the Consett academy is no different to any other fencing we design into our new schools. While being unobtrusive, it also ensures its main objective of safeguarding our children.
It bewilders me that Coun Temple cannot embrace this major investment in Consett, but instead chooses to destroy the positive investment we are making in our children.
He should retract his comments.
Councillor Claire Vasey, Durham County Council.
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