Scandel of 548 Ealing children with no high school places

11.05.59am GMT Thu 17th Mar 2005

548 Children in Ealing don't know what high school they will go to

Cllr Jon Ball has discovered that the parents of 548 Ealing children were told on 1st March that no high school places could yet be offered to their children. The 1st March deadline by which places should be found for all children under the new co-ordinated admissions system was introduced with a great fanfare but the Labour government has failed to live up to its pledge, after IT failures at various Councils have caused chaos.

In a response received on March 16th to a written question asked by Cllr Ball, the Labour Councillor responsible for education in Ealing's Cabinet said, "On 1 March, 548 Ealing residents received notification advising them that no high school place could be offered as yet. However, some of these applicants would have received news of an offer from local education authorities (LEAs) that were not able to be part of the co-ordinated system.

"Some applicants were left without an offer because nine LEAs were unable to supply details of their offers to other LEAs. These LEAs all used the Capita computer system."

Cllr Ball commented, "Once again, the Government has come up with a slick new scheme that has failed to work in practice, causing worry and confusion for the public. The people who have suffered in this case have been local parents and children."