A BLAME game has erupted after the shock news that the promised 6th Form provision at Bohunt School will not now go ahead.
The long awaited plan, which would also have included additional Year 7 places and SEND provision, followed two petitions and a hard fought campaign by residents of Finchampstead.
The facility was due to open this September and would have given much needed provision for an additional 200-300 pupils.
But the ruling LibDem party on Wokingham Borough Council conceded this week the project was being cancelled – with all parties blaming each other.
In a statement on the Finchampstead & Barkham Community Facebook Page, local LibDem councillors, David Cornish and Ian Pittock offered what they called “a sincere and painful apology to the parents of pupils at Bohunt School.”
They admitted they had “failed to deliver” on an election pledge and “for the consequences of not doing so.”
“When we stood for election in May, we promised that we would ensure the delivery of a Sixth Form option at Bohunt for this September. Until last week, we were confident that this would happen, but on Thursday evening, we were made aware that it almost certainly wouldn’t.
“That is a failure which we take personally but which is of far more serious consequence to pupils who thought they had a Sixth Form option there but now do not.”
But the pair also laid blame with the Bohunt Trust adding it was “disgraceful” pupils and parents had been let down.
“We are told that this was the decision of the Bohunt Trust, with no prior consultation with WBC Officers. A list of alternative Sixth Form places has been issued to Bohunt by WBC. Bohunt has yet to pass these onto parents.
“We will go into the whys and wherefores of this in the days to come, but it is disgraceful that the needs of parents and pupils have become pawns in a power game between the Bohunt Trust and Wokingham Borough Council over money.
“As said, more will be shared on the background to this asap, but for now, if any Bohunt parent needs help, please do contact us straightaway.”
The Wokingham Borough Conservative Group on Bohunt School hit back accusing the LibDems of “duplicitous and dishonest” behaviour.
In a statement, Cllr Charles Margetts (Finchampstead North) and Cllr Graham Howe, Shadow Executive Member for Schools and Children’s Services, said they repeatedly warned the project was at risk and that a lack of action by Wokingham Borough Council was wasting time and causing costs to increase.
“This is a damning indictment of the Liberal Democrats running Wokingham Borough,” claimed Cllr. Margetts.
“These kids and their parents deserve better. My local Conservative colleagues and I have campaigned for years to secure this desperately needed extra provision for children from Finchampstead, Arborfield and Barkham.
“Failure to deliver the SEND provision means kids with special educational needs and disabilities will be travelling unreasonable distances just to get to school. Aside from the significantly damaging effect this will have on their education and the stress this will cause parents, the cost of travel will be a significant extra expense to the council.”
“The previous Conservative administration were on target to deliver the extra places by 2023. I repeatedly warned that the total lack of meaningful progress and the glacial pace the Liberal Democrat Council was letting down pupils, parents and staff.”
Cllr Graham Howe, Shadow Executive Member for Schools and Children’s Services, added: “This is the same pattern we see with the Lib Dems, they are all talk but when it comes to actual delivery they sit on their hands and then blame others.
“The previous Conservative administration delivered the first school to be built in the Borough for half a century and we were on track to deliver the new Sixth Form. What confidence can residents across the Borough have that the Liberal Democrats can do anything but wring their hands and procrastinate?”
Executive member for Children’s Services on Wokingham Borough Council, Cllr Prue Bray, said: “The situation with Bohunt Sixth Form is complicated and as a result there has been quite a bit of misinformation on social media about it. The truth is that we are still working with Bohunt School to try to find the best way for it to provide a sixth form.
“It is entirely up to the Multi-Academy Trust whether to open a sixth form or not and it could do so in September this year within its existing facilities. But we completely understand that the school needs to be confident that a new facility can be provided when needed in the future and that is where there are problems: spiralling building costs and failing supply chains are making it very difficult to plan and pay for large building projects.
“We have previously committed some funding for a new sixth form facility at the school with the agreement that the Bohunt Trust would contribute some money themselves. But that is no longer likely to be enough to pay for what we had all hoped to provide.
“We are in discussion with the school and hope to provide an update on the project at the Executive meeting in July. We expect that will only be an update, and not a final decision, as the situation is still evolving.
“If the school decides that this doubt over the long-term sixth form building is too problematic and therefore does not open its sixth form in September, we can at least reassure those parents and pupils affected that there is capacity in most of the borough’s other sixth form schools.”
Article updated on July 18, 2023 to include a comment from Cllr Prue Bray
