CITY ACADEMIES: THERE has been much discussion about Darlington Borough Council's bid for a city academy.

In the interests of informing the debate, I would like to explain some key points about the council's intentions.

We want to provide a £20m school with state-of-the art facilities in a building that will be nearer to where the majority of pupils of both schools live. It is worth remembering, too, that as populations shift across the borough and as pupil numbers continue to fall, it is important that we have the right number of school places for the south-east of the town. Our aim is to build on the success of Hurworth School and give more pupils access to this success.

It is also our intention that the academy will be led by the senior leadership team from Hurworth School and that it will build upon the school's ethos and play a key role in a borough-wide school improvement partnership that will benefit pupils in all of Darlington's schools.

We are now providing parents with information so that when formal consultation starts next year they will have had time to consider the council's proposal. - Councillor Chris McEwan, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Darlington Borough Council.

HERE are some facts about city academies, as planned for Darlington:

* Nine out of the 11 academies which reported national test results last year were ranked in the bottom 200 schools.

* Two academies are among the bottom 12 schools in the GCSE league tables. At Manchester Academy, only eight per cent of pupils achieved five A* to C grade passes.

* The House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee (March 2005) has expressed grave reservations about the lack of evaluation of academies.

* Academies which are improving may be raising standards by improving their intake rather than doing better by the same pupils.

* As part of the funding arrangements, academies are able to reduce pay and condition requirements for teachers.

l Teachers in independent schools, including academies, are not obliged to register with the profession's regulatory body, the General Teaching Council.

* Teachers must sign 'gagging clauses' in order not to reveal potentially embarrassing facts about the academy when they take up employment.

* There is no requirement for an academy to hold an annual parents' meeting.

The TUC welcomes the Government commitment to extra investment in health, education and childcare but is opposed to policies of privatisation and marketisation. Measures such as academy schools are expensive and inefficient and undermine collective provision and fairness. - Linda Hughes, Regional Development Worker, Northern TUC, Newcastle.

ISLAM

A FAIR assessment of Islamic history would have to conclude that the religion has often been a force for good. Look at the great Islamic civilisations of early medieval Spain and Iran, or at the very many scientific terms that derive from the Arabic - alkali, algebra etc.

Recognising this aspect of Islam and the many decent, devout Muslims of today does not mean, however, that we should underestimate the threat we now face from Islamic fundamentalism or suppose Western policy on the Middle East only has to change for the threat to go away.

To imply that it would, as Pete Winstanley (HAS, Nov 12) does, is to misunderstand fundamentally what has been taking place, not simply in the Middle East, but in the whole world. It offers reassurance where, in fact, no grounds for reassurance exist. - T Kelly, Crook.

RAPISTS

ONCE more a woman is subjected to a vicious sexual attack and then raped (Echo, Nov 14).

Is it now not time, in this day and age, that convicted rapists should be chemically castrated? - TE Crook, Bishop Auckland.

HOWDEN AND FIR TREE

I THANK the electorate of Howden and Fir Tree for electing me as their district councillor recently. I would ask anyone who has any queries or problems not to hesitate to contact me and I will come and visit if necessary. I will do my very best and take on board my responsibilities with honour. - John Bailey, Liberal Democrat Ward Councillor for Howden and Fir Tree. (Tel: 01388 765219).

BRISTOL

AS A result of an article (Echo, Aug 10) about Eastern Airways commencing a service from Durham Tees Valley Airport to Bristol, my husband and I, both in our eighties, decided to travel to our granddaughter's wedding.

As I am disabled and need wheelchair assistance, I was apprehensive.

In the capable hands of Captain Smailes, Flight Officer Raymond and our hostess Thiana Nicholson, we had VIP treatment on the 70-minute flight and would recommend this service to locals wishing to travel with speed and comfort. Hoping it 'takes off'. - MM Storey, Newton Aycliffe.

90 DAYS

SO THE Prime Minister is angry because he has been beaten over the holding of terrorist suspects for 90 days on advice from the police.

He should not be surprised as he took the country to war on advice from the security forces telling him of weapons of mass destruction which could be launched on us in 45 minutes.

Mr Blair's response is to blame MPs for not understanding the risk and voting against him.

But wait a minute, didn't he praise these same politicians last year for voting with him for a hunting ban, describing them as democratically elected MPs speaking for their constituents. Come on Mr Blair, you can't have it both ways. - JF Atkin, Darlington.

ALTHOUGH Tony Blair failed to secure a 90-day detention period for suspected terrorists, the redeeming feature was that he held to his beliefs throughout.

The Prime Minister and his senior colleagues strove mightily to win the vote and could not have done more.

It was unfortunate that the Government could not meet the requests of Sir Ian Blair and the Metropolitan Police, but the new 28-day detention period now approved by Parliament should help.

Losing the Commons anti-terror vote was a blow to Tony Blair, but he acted in the country's best interests and the issue was not merely about him. - LD Wilson, Guisborough.

MOBILE PHONES

IT IS said that all people want is new, updated mobile phones. But there is still a place for cheap, simple phones with big buttons.

Thousands of pensioners are put off buying a complex phone, but a simple one would greatly improve their independence.

What happens to all the old, simple phones that are thrown away? We could use them. - Ann E Carr, Middleton St George.

SMOKERS

WHY do most cigarette smokers assume that their addiction is above that of other drug users?

Addicts who take cocaine, heroin, etc usually do it in private and their addiction does not affect the health of anyone but themselves.

Smokers, knowing full well what their addiction can do to other people's health, insist that they should be allowed to smoke anywhere they feel like. - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.