Press Release

Isle of Wight Council Leader, Cllr David Pugh, has been asked by the government’s Education Secretary to join a national advisory group on education matters.

The invite from Michael Gove MP follows a letter written by the Cllr Pugh that outlined the groundbreaking steps the Island has taken as part of its school re-organisation programme.

From September 2011, all Island secondary schools will be run by local educational trusts, or as academies. This makes the Island the country’s first local authority to commission the running of all its secondary schools, as opposed to running them itself.

Similarly, the Island is one of only a very few areas to undertake a successful competition for the establishment of a new primary school.

David is one of just nine local authority elected member representatives asked to contribute to the new Ministerial Advisory Group looking at future plans for national education policy and children’s services.

This group, chaired by the Secretary of State and attended by the entire education ministerial team, met for the first time on Thursday 29 July. Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Pugh, who is also the IW Council Cabinet Member for School Improvement, said: "I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to contribute to the development of future government policy on education. The Secretary of State is committed to seeing local authorities play a strong strategic role in commissioning education and holding school providers to account.

"With the Isle of Wight being the first local authority in the country to move to a fully-commissioned model of secondary education, we are well placed to share our experiences and offer our model as a possible structure for others to follow.

"I previously met with Michael Gove in February 2008 when he was the Shadow Secretary of State, to share our then plans for schools reorganisation. With our implementation beginning in earnest this September, I was pleased to update him, as the new Secretary of State, how we have been able to use the reorganisation process to develop an enhanced role for the local authority, which ties in with the evolving national agenda.

"Over the coming months I will continue to bring the Isle of Wight’s work to the attention of the Ministerial Advisory Group, and play a part in developing education policy which I am confident will be of benefit not just to the Island, but to the rest of the country as well.

"This is an exciting time for local authorities in developing an education system that more effectively meets the needs of young people today, and the Isle of Wight remains at the forefront of this agenda.

"This is a very welcome avenue into the heart of the Government and I will also be working to develop further close links with Government across all departments."

For a copy of Cllr Pugh’s letter to the Secretary of State, please contact him on [email protected].