The news is - no news

I am sorry to say that having offered to meet me a week ago, there is still no offer of a date for that meeting from Robert Henderson at Richmond Council, nor is there a written response to the questions posed to him. For reference,  the questions we are waiting for answers to are printed below. In addition we are also waiting for answers to our FOI  requests to the council (the first of these are due by November 3rd at the latest - if they haven't arrived by then we will of course notify the Information Commissioner).

We would encourage everyone to write expressing their views to...

Robert Henderson, Assistant Director, Protective and Preventative Services at Richmond Council (r.henderson@richmond.gov.uk)

Nick Whitfield, Director of Children's services (nick.whitfield@richmond.gov.uk)

Gillian Norton, Chief Executive, (g.norton@richmond.gov.uk)

...and let us know what they say.

Questions To Robert Henderson

Why was the timeline not part of the consultation document (as you wrote in your letter). Why was there no mention of the possibility of the sale of land at The Russell School in the consultation document (yet it is mentioned in the missing timeline)

Why does the consultation document claim that new buildings are vital to Strathmore improving its OFSTED rating from ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding’ when the OFSTED report makes no mention of the buildings, and cites a) teaching issues and b) the performance of the governing body at Strathmore as the issues that need changing.

Was it indeed suggested to parents in the 24^th July meeting that rebuilding Strathmore on the current site was a possibility? If so, what has changed?

Is it true that the Council has already allocated funds from reserves for development work at Grey Court and Clifden? Why has no money from reserves been allocated for The Russell?

Can you confirm the valuations that the Council has received on the Strathmore and Russell School land, and also the estimates the council has received for the rebuild

Why, if the consultation is about the best model of care for the children, have parents been given no evidence either way for the proposed model on which to base their judgement?

Could you confirm you are aware of the on line petition against this proposal and that you have noted the numbers signing it? Could you also confirm you are aware that Russell school parents voted against these proposals?

Could you confirm there is no truth to the rumours circulating that Council officials asked Governors not to share aspects of their thinking with the wider school and local community?

Can you confirm that the council has not commissioned any other studies into potential impacts of developing on the Strathmore/Russell school sites (which would seem somewhat premature given this is an informal initial consultation).

Can you confirm that in the two days Russell School parents were informed they had to complete the on line consultation document, that the document was down and incapable of taking comment?

Why was no meeting arranged for Russell School Parents as it was for Strathmore?

Why were parents not told in writing that land at The Russell school could be sold to developers until after the consultation forms had been returned?

Can you confirm that other funding options will be looked at for the development that do not include any sale of school land. Can you also confirm that the Council will not sell the Strathmore land if other funds are found?