Schools shake-up - will you get a vote?

The poll idea, backed by the majority of members of Worcestershire County Council last month, will be considered when the council's decision-making body, the cabinet, meets this morning.

County Tories have indicated the five Conservative members of the cabinet will use their block vote to throw out the poll idea, put forward by Labour.

Poll supporters said such a snub would be undemocratic but its opponents have said a poll was fraught with practical problems, expensive and would increase anxiety among staff.

Tory cabinet member and education portfolio holder, June Longmuir, said the shake-up had become an "electoral issue" for Labour.

Her claim was rebuffed by Marc Bayliss, who put forward the poll idea and is Labour's choice to stand in Wyre Forest for next year's expected general election.

He said: "If it was voted down, it would show the cabinet are frightened of democracy. I hope good sense will prevail and the cabinet will support what the full council voted for."

In papers handed to the 10-member cabinet, officers raised fears over carrying out a vote, which would ask residents if they wanted a two or three-tier school system.

Only the edited register of voters in Wyre Forest could be used, which was 61 per cent of the electorate, the report said, meaning a "significant" publicity campaign would be needed to get more people on board.

Parents whose children attended district schools but lived outside Wyre Forest would also be denied their say and the poll would cost between £50,000 and £100,000.

It said "extensive and thorough consultation" had taken place and questioned whether delaying the final decision would be "in the best interests of children, staff or schools".

A change to a two-tier set-up of primary and secondary schools was approved by the cabinet in July but will be reconsidered today after the decision was called in for debate at full council.

The council agreed on October 21 to recommend cabinet vote for a poll.