| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Cuts to Schools Building Programme | |
| Posted by: | John Hawkes | |
| Date/Time: | 20/07/10 17:07:00 |
| I have to smile at the insouciant way Ms Taylor describes how schools and GP practices will 'stand or fall’ on their ability to attract pupils or patients. Just like Woolworths - if it closes down one can always go to Poundland ! However if you are a pupil preparing for GCSEs or a patient in the middle of cancer treatment having to sway with the movements of the market and find a new school or doctor having no obligation to take you could be somewhat disconcerting. I take education and health to be fundamentally more important than CDs or plastic laundry baskets and this should be reflected in the way they are provided. And I say again, if I am funding these schools and medical practices - as a tax-payer not a customer - I want assurance that I can influence a democratic process that gives me some accountability on how my money is spent and what services are provided. What can I do if I see in the GPs accounts that he/she has given themselves a massive bonus from the profits they have made from sub-contracting some services to an American healthcare conglomerate ? But going back to the original thread, this was about the allocation to and management of taxpayer funds for a democratically managed, open, state education facility, not a taxpayer funded independent school managed by the vested interests of its benificiaries. They are different beasts. Were there to be the money (ultimately provided by me), I would have no objection to Elliott controlling the spending of it. My interests would be protected by Wandsworth Council’s Education Committee (which I could elect or perhaps dismiss) participating in the overall management of the school. |