High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/063861c0-c4b4-11e3-9aeb-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2yymIubNZ
April 15, 2014 6:13 pm
Gove criticised for appointment on Birmingham schools probe
By Helen Warrell, Public Policy Correspondent
©Charlie BibbyMichael Gove
Michael Gove, education secretary, has come under fire for appointing a former counter-terrorism police chief to probe 25 Birmingham schools thought to be at risk from an alleged takeover plot by Islamists.
Peter Clarke, who led the investigation into the 7/7 attacks on the London Underground in 2005, was named on Tuesday as the head of a new inquiry into fears that some conservative Muslims were planning to take control of governing bodies and oust headteachers at secular schools.
More
ON THIS TOPIC
Earlier this week Birmingham city council announced its own inquiry into the allegations, and the Department for Education stressed that the investigations should be carried out “impartially and without pre-judgment”. But just one day later, Mr Gove said he was “extremely concerned” about suggestions of a threat and announced he was appointing Mr Clarke to conduct the inquiry.
“I have already asked Ofsted to inspect a number of schools of concern and these investigations are ongoing,” the education secretary said. “But wider, more comprehensive action is needed. These allegations need either to be substantiated and firm action taken, or to be shown to be baseless. We cannot allow uncertainty for parents or pupils to persist.”
However, the move was immediately criticised by Chris Sims, chief constable of West Midlands Police, who called Mr Clarke’s appointment “desperately unfortunate”.
“Peter Clarke has many qualities but people will inevitably draw unwarranted conclusions from his former role as national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism,” Mr Sims said.
Sir Albert Bore, the council leader, also expressed his concerns. “I think the problem we have, and Peter Clarke will have to work very strongly on this matter, is he will have to build a relationship with . . . the Muslim community of Birmingham,” Sir Albert told the BBC. “And coming with a background which is that of counter-terrorism doesn’t make for a good starting point.”
Mr Clarke will report back to the education secretary this summer but it is unclear where his appointment leaves the council’s own inquiry. Sir Albert had already expressed his “frustration’’ that under the two-tier school structure, academies involved in the probe report directly to the Department for Education, rather than being within the local authority’s remit.
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and a member of the opposition education team, added that he wanted the inquiry to look at the “free-for-all education system with hundreds of academies and free schools answering directly to Michael Gove”.
“I’m really worried that there’s been a lack of oversight because there are some community schools, some academies involved, and that’s why I think the full picture has taken so long to emerge, and that has got to be front and centre of Mr Clarke’s review,” Mr Byrne said.
April 15, 2014 6:13 pm
Gove criticised for appointment on Birmingham schools probe
By Helen Warrell, Public Policy Correspondent
Michael Gove, education secretary, has come under fire for appointing a former counter-terrorism police chief to probe 25 Birmingham schools thought to be at risk from an alleged takeover plot by Islamists.
Peter Clarke, who led the investigation into the 7/7 attacks on the London Underground in 2005, was named on Tuesday as the head of a new inquiry into fears that some conservative Muslims were planning to take control of governing bodies and oust headteachers at secular schools.
More
ON THIS TOPIC
- Probe widens into Islamist school claims
- Private schools boost UK by £12bn yearly
- UK pupils score highly in problem solving
- Rich rewards for private tutors
Earlier this week Birmingham city council announced its own inquiry into the allegations, and the Department for Education stressed that the investigations should be carried out “impartially and without pre-judgment”. But just one day later, Mr Gove said he was “extremely concerned” about suggestions of a threat and announced he was appointing Mr Clarke to conduct the inquiry.
“I have already asked Ofsted to inspect a number of schools of concern and these investigations are ongoing,” the education secretary said. “But wider, more comprehensive action is needed. These allegations need either to be substantiated and firm action taken, or to be shown to be baseless. We cannot allow uncertainty for parents or pupils to persist.”
However, the move was immediately criticised by Chris Sims, chief constable of West Midlands Police, who called Mr Clarke’s appointment “desperately unfortunate”.
“Peter Clarke has many qualities but people will inevitably draw unwarranted conclusions from his former role as national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism,” Mr Sims said.
Sir Albert Bore, the council leader, also expressed his concerns. “I think the problem we have, and Peter Clarke will have to work very strongly on this matter, is he will have to build a relationship with . . . the Muslim community of Birmingham,” Sir Albert told the BBC. “And coming with a background which is that of counter-terrorism doesn’t make for a good starting point.”
Mr Clarke will report back to the education secretary this summer but it is unclear where his appointment leaves the council’s own inquiry. Sir Albert had already expressed his “frustration’’ that under the two-tier school structure, academies involved in the probe report directly to the Department for Education, rather than being within the local authority’s remit.
Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and a member of the opposition education team, added that he wanted the inquiry to look at the “free-for-all education system with hundreds of academies and free schools answering directly to Michael Gove”.
“I’m really worried that there’s been a lack of oversight because there are some community schools, some academies involved, and that’s why I think the full picture has taken so long to emerge, and that has got to be front and centre of Mr Clarke’s review,” Mr Byrne said.