Liberal Democrats win major u-turn on Beaumont School places

On Tuesday the 5 March, Daisy Cooper MP for St Albans wrote to the Secretary of State for Education. In her letter, Daisy Cooper asked the Secretary of State for Education to urgently intervene to facilitate an arrangement that allows Beaumont to offer the 240 places they were prepared to provide this coming academic year, and a plan to provide sustainable places for children in the local catchment area in the long-term.

Following Daisy Cooper’s urgent letter, and persistent lobbying from local Liberal Democrat Councillors, Hertfordshire County Council and Beaumont School have held productive discussions with the Department for Education and agreed that Beaumont School will offer additional places for this September.

This arrangement was confirmed at a meeting of the school's trustees yesterday (Thursday 7 March), following Hertfordshire County Council's agreement to provide revenue funding to support these places for this year (24/25).

Following Daisy Cooper’s urgent letter to the Secretary of State for Education, and persistent lobbying from local Liberal Democrat Councillors, Hertfordshire County Council and Beaumont School have held productive discussions with the Department for Education and jointly agreed that Beaumont School will offer additional places for this September.

Daisy Cooper MP for St Albans, said:

“This decision will be a huge relief to a number of families in the local area, but it should never have taken a letter from me to the Secretary of State to secure it. There are serious questions for Hertfordshire County Council to answer about why this was handled so badly and why it took an intervention at the highest level to secure this screeching u-turn.

‘’I will continue to work with Liberal Democrat County Councilors to ensure that such a fiasco cannot happen again and that we can secure commitments for keeping this 8th class, beyond September, for future years as well.”

Anthony Rowlands, Liberal Democrat District and County Councillor, has said:

"’I am incredibly pleased that we have reached such a positive outcome. The breakdown in communication between the Conservative controlled Hertfordshire County Council and the Department for Education caused an understandable mounting storm of anger from residents. This never should have happened.

‘’We’re very lucky here in St Albans and have a number of really good schools, but issues with proximity and lack of choice left parents facing really challenging decisions. We will continue to work with Beaumont School to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.’’

Chris White, County Councillor and Leader of the St Albans City and District Council, said:

‘’A large number of parents contacted me, very distressed about this situation. This should never have been allowed to happen. Thankfully it’s partially solved by the announcement today. I think we all need reassurance that the County Council will learn from this fiasco and that we won’t be here again this time next year.‘’