Has anyone seen a breakdown of how much money will be spent on each secondary school, should Essex County Council get its way with its disgraceful, and costly, reorganisation proposals for Colchester?

Does anyone really know what the figure is and how it has been arrived at?

During the public consultation, the sum quoted by Essex County Council was £100million.

However, in August this year the figure quoted in the official records of Essex County Council – when “funding agreed by Partnership for Schools”

was signed off – was said to be £150 million. Now Essex County Council says the figure is £130 million.

I think the people of Colchester are entitled to know what the true figure is; how it is broken down among the various secondary schools in Colchester; and what guarantees there are that all of the money will be forthcoming when it is known that all the political parties are warning of serious financial shortcomings in public spending, irrespective of who wins next year’s General Election.

Essex County Council has refused to provide a breakdown of how it has arrived at its latest figure, that of £130million.

I have been forced to write to the county council with a Freedom of Information Act request for these numbers, which even county councillors have been told they cannot have.

I shall also be pursuing this point at Parliamentary level.

Bob">
MP for Colchester
Magdalen Hall
Wimpole Road
Colchester,;