As a long-standing critic of the use of PFI in education and the involvement of privateering firms in LEAs, I can’t say that I’m surprised at the WS Atkins debacle in Southwark. In Haringey, following a long campaign by trade unionists, parents and community activists, a full-scale privatisation of the LEA was avoided. The small management team run by Capita that was put in place may have cost council tax payers a fair bit of money, but at least it hasn’t made matters worse.

However, I don’t expect any thanks from those councillors who variously told us that either there was no alternative to privatisation, or that the private sector performed better than the public. Most of them are in fact ineducable on the matter.

Keith Flett
Haringey Against Privatisation