Background

The Department for Education and Skills, under the then-Minister Beverly Hughes, judged that Stoke-on-Trent had too many children in the care of Social Services, many of whom had to be moved outside the city, and that (apart from certain faith schools) schools were performing below the national average.

The Government assigned control of education in Stoke-on-Trent to outsiders.

The City was afforded a strictly limited choice by the Department for Education and Skills over who would take control. The City Executive opted for the private company Serco, which, among its many manifestations, also controls education in Walsall and Bradford (1). The contract is valued at £5,000,000 over three years, "with the potential for substantial growth". What does that mean?

The Elected Mayor for Stoke-on-Trent, Mark Meredith, said: “This is a good choice and we are very happy with the outcome. We believe the Serco team is right for Stoke-on-Trent ..." (2). To whom does "we" refer?

Serco boasts "We are also the strategic partner with Stoke-on-Trent, providing the leadership and management of the entire Children and Young People’s Services Directorate"(3). Some partnership! Did not partnership at some time imply equality?

Serco is into "place shaping of communities" (whatever that is), and supposedly is "working with and across the whole local community to make citizens' lives better". The "with" bit does not seem yet to have arrived in Stoke.

Serco Education & Children’s Services is based in Bristol. Its Managing Director has "the overall responsibility for Serco’s ... education and children’s services contracts in ... Stoke ..." (4). As the crow flies, Bristol is about 110 miles from Stoke. A bit remote to be "working with the whole local community".