What has been going on at Bromley Council?

Both the Standard’s original report and Bromley Council’s clarification suggested that giving assistance to fee-paying parents has been discussed because state schools in the area are becoming oversubscribed. Yet, Bromley Council informed me that state schools in the area were not oversubscribed and that the Council reviewed that issue frequently.

So, if the Council were aware of that, why did they, as Councillor Stephen Carr says, feel “duty bound to consider this, as is good practice,” following a question being asked at a June meeting? And, why did Councillor Peter Morgan, the Conservative Councillor who raised the question, feel the need to do so? Mr Morgan was due to go on holiday next week, but has jetted off this week instead.

The downturn has placed London state schools under enormous pressure, and I would be amazed if Bromley was any different. In view of this, spending £4,500 to lessen that strain over the next academic year does not seem too unreasonable – especially as competition for the bursaries that private schools give to families who can’t afford the fees will intensify, and the underprivileged will lose out.