THE BIG SOCIETY

It has been interesting to see that Nick Ramsay (the incumbent Tory member for Monmouth Constituency in the National Assembly) has been waxing lyrical about the sad decline of the quality of life in our rural communities over the past decade with the loss of many invaluable rural services such as pubs and village halls.

He goes on (and on) about the loss of the pubs and village halls that were once the heart of rural communities. His solution to the well recognised problem is that people who use local services take control of them. This is not due to any great Tory commitment to rural life, but, more down to a pressing need to once again flag up David ("Call me Dave") Cameron's flagship policy - 'The Big Society' which has been lacking of late in the media (nationally and locally).

Cameron's 'Big Society' is a nice idea, but, with present financial circumstances it may end up being consigned quietly to the poltical dustbin. One thing it does anticipate, is a future trend of Government at all levels simply being there and providing next to nothing or at little as long as it costs the least (and claiming it's expenses for the privilege).

This sudden Conservative concern about society and community is all pretty ironic especially when you consider that Mr's Thatcher a Conservative (and Blairite / Brownite) icon once said that there was no such thing as society. No doubt that provided the inspiration for Mr Ramsay, as the following extracts from the Assembly records of claims would seem to suggest that he might well have been inspired by the spirit of self interest rather than anything else:

07-Apr-08 Nick Ramsay - Second Home Electrical Goods £977.95
(Sony LCD TV £549.99 Sony Surround Sound £159.98 Product Support for Surround Sound £59.00 Product Support for LCD TV £169.00 Logik 4m Aerial Cable £9.99 Scart £29.99)

Expenses aside the new bottom line is when you have ineffective and inert Government, then if you want a civic or fair society or merely want to reopen an old railway station, save a village pub, or community centre, a local primary school (Govilon and Llanover - to name but two), a cattle market (Abergavenny) or perhaps even a magistrates court (Abergavenny and Chepstow) then it will be up to us to make Government act on our behalf (whether it wants to or not) and find the money.

Unless of course said citizens find themselves in opposition to something that Government (central or local) wants to happen in which case then they will find themselves fighting against the full weight of the machinery of Government (at all levels) and all the inbuilt bias's and intricacies of the planning system. This is not in essence the Big Society that Cameron droned on about long before the election, this is people making Government at all levels pull its collective finger out and do what they want for their communities.

Roll on the day when Government's are afraid of their people, rather than the people being afraid of their Government. And that after all is the stuff of a collective New Labour and Conservative nightmare and the beginnings of a real Big Society.

MONMOUTH SMALL SCHOOL CLOSURES - UPDATE

A quick update about the announced (and announced may well be the key word here, not to mention announced to whom) closure of one of Monmouthshire's small schools - Llanover Primary School. School Governors have gone on record (in the South Wales Argus - which makes interesting reading) stating that they are unhappy with the nature of the consultation process, which was combined with offers of places at other schools, which made parents somewhat nervous about securing places at other schools, so they pulled their children out of Llanover Primary School, effectively undermining efforts to keep the school open. Hence, falling rolls make the school uneconomic and unsustainable, due to falling pupil numbers. Knowing the way that Monmouthshire plays the game, I am not surprised at this one bit and I suspect very similar scenarios have played out over the years with small school closures in Monmouthshire and beyond.

MONMOUTH SMALL SCHOOL CLOSURES

News that both Govilon and Llanover Primary Schools are to close on the 31st August is disappointing news for pupils, parents and teachers in the affected schools and their communities. Not for nothing are our small villages and community schools referred to as the hearts of their communities - their loss will be a bitter blow to both communities. There has been much understandable local criticism of the consultation process, which has been described to me as being somewhat after the fact. 

Sadly many of our small communities across the whole of Wales have and probably will face similar situations. The National Assembly needs to take a long hard look at the programme of small school closures by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC), rather than merely acting as an effective rubber stamp. There is a bigger picture here, one that stretches far beyond the Assembly directive (which is regularly sited by MCC spokespeople) which aims to reduce surplus places. 

For many of our smaller communities a school building and its facilities aside from being a ficus of much community activity are an important community asset out of school hours - which once lost is gone forever. It's time to look at the bigger picture and and to take a much longer view - merely repeating a questionable policy of small school closures and amalgamations (as practiced over the border) is not good enough - our communities badly need some real vision here. 

SMALL SCHOOL CLOSURES

The news that Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) is continuing to push ahead with its School Closure Programme with Llanover and Govilon Primary Schools being in the firing line will surprise few people in the county. MCC might well make much reference to the consultation process and the need to save money but this is being driven by their own agenda, which will result in the county council gaining financially in the short term but the pupils, parents, teachers and their local communities losing out in the long term.

MCC has made much of the financial savings that may be made in respect of Llanover (£121,000) and Govilon (£134,000) but little has been mentioned about any windfalls that will come MCC’s way when it comes to disposing of the sites, and even less about the County Council’s role in any future planning applications on the sites of the schools if they are closed.

There is a degree of irony in that if MCC pursues its goal of disposing of former school sites for housing then one result will be a rise of the number of children eligible to attend local schools that will have little option but to join their fellow pupils on the ever longer school run.

The local community loses out doubly, as what has been described as the focus for the community disappears and also any access to local facilities in the shape of the school building and its grounds are gone forever. The small school closure programme the effects of which are being felt across all of Wales means that in the event of a growth in pupil numbers that the costs of a new build programme, as opposed to a refurbishment programme will be far more substantial over the longer term than any exceptionally short term gains.

Monmouth County Council and many other County Council’s across Wales are busy making questionable short term decisions about closing small schools which will have long term consequences for many of our communities for many of our communities. Whether or not our County Council’s (MCC included) make these decisions is one matter, another which should cause even more concern is whether or not the National Assembly rubber stamps such closures with the bare minimum of concern for the consequences of small school closures on the pupils, parents and teachers and our communities.

It is time for Monmouthshire County (MCC) (and the other County Councils across Wales) and the National Assembly to suspend the small school closures programme, to take the medium to long term view and actually to work to support pupils, parents, teachers and our communities.