A Teacher On November 27 Pimlico School Governors voted (for the second time) to reject a Private Finance Initiative scheme to rebuild the school.
The proposal would have meant giving 23 per cent of the site to a property developer for luxury housing as well as giving them control of the new building.
It's but a short step from there to have businesses like Nord Anglia, who are already getting their hands on caucallon in Westminster, provide the teachers as well.
Victory for the anti-privatisation forces, an unlikely alliance of teachers and ancillary workers, parents and local residents (Tory to a woman!) came at the end of 5-year long battle against Westminster City Council and its backers in the government. Home Secretary Jack Straw was an enthusias- position tic PFI'er, but in October was replaced as a governor by a parent who opposed the NUT sell-off.
The building is structurally sound, but suffers from a lack of maintenance dating back to 1991 and the break up of the Inner London Education Authority.
Westminster City Council prides itself COlE its low Community Charge and its lack of support for local schools was highlighted in a recent Ofsted inspection.
Westminster was one of the earliest and most enthusias- project even more. tic of the privatisers, starting with the infamous cemetery sale in the mid 1980s and the sale of council houses and the policy of shipping out homeless families designed systematically exclude Labour voters from what was galloping then a Tory marginal. This gerrymandering led to the then leader Shirley Porter being sued for £30 million by the District Auditor. can take It came as only a small sur- determined prise that Labour council- Pimlico School. lors, some of whom had tenaciously fought the Tories on privatisation and sleaze, should back the PFI scheme, which is in effect a big step towards the privatisation of Pimlico School. Their main role appeared to be whipping the Tories in for key votes.
The long battle took its toll