Conservative Leader Cllr Jim Dodds has accused the administration of being planless following an announcement made at full Council yesterday by the Cabinet Member responsible. He also criticised their grandstanding at the Council Meeting as planted questions from their Liberal friends were dealt with comfortably. Cllr Dodds said that time was running out and it was time that the Liberal/Labour alliance stopped playing politics with children’s lives.

Cllr Dodds said:

"After the announcement by the Schools Adjudicator that Castle Hall should remain open, I asked for the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Service to make a statement on the impact that decision would have on the future of North Kirklees BSF. At Council Cllr Ken Smith who spoke for over ten minutes, never once mentioning an alternative plan which would extract the current administration from the mess that it finds itself in.

"The Conservatives launched their second North Kirklees BSF plan in January last year. This plan had been carefully crafted after listening to the many voices of complaint about not only Castle Hall, but Sixth Form provision in Dewsbury and Single Sex education in Batley. If that plan had been allowed to go out to a referendum as we had promised North Kirklees BSF would now undoubtedly be signed sealed and delivered. Instead we are back to stage one with no alternative proposals in sight and the deadline for having an acceptable plan running out. The Conservative proposal is still available and can be instigated at very short notice.

"Whilst I was Cabinet Member for CHYPS I held regular all party BSF meetings, although it is was unfortunate that directly after two of those meetings confidential information was leaked to the press which put the whole proposals into jeopardy for no apparent reason. Since January 2009 when the Lib/Lab administration took over there has not been one all party meeting despite many request by my group for them to be resurrected.

"The pathetic written questions at Council from the Lib Dems to the Cabinet Member with regards BSF were nothing more than ‘Grandstanding’ and it was obvious that Cllr Smithson had actually written the answers to his questions for Cllr Smith. It is time to stop playing politics with our Children’s education, let us listen to the people and let us have open and honest all party talks on BSF – although I doubt that is possible with the Lib/Lab alliance."