In response to communication from concerned Marshfield residents, AM/AC Mohammad Asghar’s office have been challenging Newport City Council on the recent school admissions consultation. Mr Asghar (Welsh Conservative Party) is the Shadow Minister for Sports and Qualities and a Regional Assembly Member for South Wales East.
Mr Asghar’s office have advised that it may be beneficial for all Marshfield parents/ residents to email their concerns directly to the Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, Cllr Bob Poole, to ensure he hears the concerns before he makes his final decision. His email address is bob.poole@newport.gov.uk and his postal address is 286 Malpas Road, Newport, NP20 6GQ.
Mr Asghar’s Case Worker, Danielle Cope says “Many parents have been telling me that they feel the Council is purposefully trying to keep them out of the loop. Cllr Bob Poole should publish his decision on the following webpage: http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=members.homepage&contentid=CONT122896.
In the meantime, I will be submitting a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request to the Council, which parents are also welcome and advised to do, to establish exactly when other schools were consulted on this issue. It seems that Ms Weston (Education Business Manager at Newport Council) is not forthcoming with this information when directly asked. This type of request is usually submitted if an authority fails to willingly offer the requested information through the normal channels or if residents believe that the Council are not being honest in their dealings.
The Council are obliged to publish any information that they have when requested in this way. However, they also have 20 days to respond and FOI requests must be very specific or the council will respond by asking for further information in order to gain themselves another 20 days before they need to respond. Details of how parents can make their own FOI requests can be found here. ”