She thinks education in the borough is in crisis and is not afraid to speak her mind. MATTHEW NIXSON meets Barnet Council's new Tory education spokeswoman Vanessa Gearson.

Tory education shadow Vanessa Gearson has Barnet's local education authority (LEA) in her sights.

The dismantling of LEAs remains key to her party's education policy. But with hundreds of jobs tied up in local government she may need to tread carefully. Or not.

"Bureaucracy does employ people in the council but what I'm primarily concerned with is producing a first-class education for the children of this borough," she says. "It's important to remove as much middle-management as possible I don't believe schools work as effectively when they are being dictated to from on high."

Taking on such an obviously demanding role opposite Labour councillor Alison Moore has certainly not cowed her. Education takes up more than half of Barnet Council's entire budget and will be a key battle ground in May's local elections.

Dr Gearson, 34, took up her new post last month just a year after being elected to the council. Already she is planning a major consultation with teachers, headteachers, parents, governors and other education professionals and is clearly keen to make her mark after succeeding experienced councillor Kevin Edson.

However, Dr Gearson, who works for Shadow Armed Forces Minister James Grey MP, admits change may be a long time coming for the borough's 46,000 schoolchildren, especially with a Labour government in power.

"The issue of LEA control is going to be very much a secondary issue when it comes to dealing with the problems we are facing," she says. "In an ideal world schools would be entirely self-sufficient but at the moment we have a number in special measures and they are going to need considerable assistance."

She believes Barnet Council's much-hyped education bill with its emphasis on life-long learning is a case of running before you can walk, papering over the cracks in the system. More pressing issues include teacher vacancies currently hovering around the 100 mark poor building stock, excessive red tape and delays in statementing children with special needs.

While supporting the bill in principle, she admits: "The fact of the matter is we don't have the infrastructure to be able to achieve these aims and objectives I think that's going to be its downfall.

"Alison Moore tells us repeatedly there is no teaching crisis in Barnet in my view that is an irresponsible and foolish statement.

"We feel it's most important to tackle the areas of crisis first. There is no point in the administration telling us there are no problems there are massive problems."

In a move likely to prove popular with teachers, she promises to support staff in dealing with unruly and abusive pupils. Exclusions, sometimes shied away from as a mark of failure, will be used where necessary, she promises.

"I'm not going to be determined by political dogma we will consider every case individually and will listen to cases made by teachers when it come to exclusion."

Dr Gearson was educated at Brooklands Infant and Junior Schools in Hampstead Garden Suburb, then high-flying St Michael's Catholic Grammar in North Finchley. While many of Barnet's schools are among the best in the country, overall she believes they have lost their cachet.

"Fifteen years ago people made life choices about coming to live in Barnet to send their children to school here," she says. "I don't think the situation we have today reflects the level of excellence we had then. One of my priorities is returning our schools to that level of excellence."

She is proud to have spoken three times on education since becoming a councillor and said almost exactly the same each time. She is not about to stop now.

"I will tell you this: I may be a bit like a dog with a bone but I'm not going to let go."

November 5, 2001 16:29

MATTHEW NIXSON