Cllr Aled Richards-Jones is the Leader of the Conservative Group on Wandsworth Council.
Last week, Conservative councillors on Wandsworth Council walked out of a council meeting – the first time we have ever done so. The issue that brought things to a head was the Labour administration’s proposed closure of Bradstow School, a special needs school run by the council, and its abuse of procedure to stop us debating it. This was part of a long and disturbing run of rule abuses and changes which Labour has introduced to stifle debate since winning the council in 2022.
Bradstow School is a maintained special school, residential and care facility for children with severe intellectual disabilities who are on the autistic spectrum. The majority are non-verbal. Its quality of education has been rated outstanding by Ofsted as recently as July 2024. Wandsworth Council maintains the school, but it is located on a spacious site in Broadstairs, in East Kent, allowing an inner London borough to offer a residential setting by the sea with a rare combination of facilities, from a library and interactive storytelling zone, swimming pool, parent/carer house, interactive soft play and sensory rooms, to an interactive bicycle track, pottery, all-weather football pitch and sensory garden. Pupils from Wandsworth and other councils attend the school.
Bradstow School has been operating since 1990, when Wandsworth Council was under Conservative control. It remained open throughout successive Conservative administrations and years of Labour complaints about “Tory austerity”. But now that Labour is in charge locally as well as nationally, it wants to close this school and destroy this precious community asset.
The Labour administration cites financial pressures as its excuse. Conservative councillors have called for the council to explore ways to help the school’s financial position – including by recovering unpaid fees from other councils which place children at the school. The school’s board of governors disagrees with the planned closure and wants to work with the council to address its financial issues. A petition against the closure currently stands at 1,700.
The administration has ignored these pleas and is hurtling towards a pre-determined closure. Without intervention, the council will shut the school without all councillors ever being briefed or having the chance to debate this issue.
The Conservative group put down a motion calling on the administration to pause the closure consultation and explore ways of restoring financial viability. Instead of meeting our arguments head-on, Labour used procedural chicanery to manipulate the agenda order and ensure the motion would not be debated.
It was the latest in a blizzard of moves by Labour to shut down debate in the town hall. Since winning the council in May 2022, Labour has:
In isolation, these might feel like arcane or obscure issues. But there are real-world consequences – the potential closure of a unique and precious facility without real debate. And we can be sure Labour will keep up this trend.
It’s not just Conservative councillors who are concerned. The sole Independent councillor tweeted that Labour is acting as an “elected dictatorship.” A veteran Labour councillor wrote on his blog that council meetings are now a “formulaic, essentially pointless event. Over the years it has lost all its old spontaneity and drama and desperately needs a re-think as to both purpose and format.”
We refused to participate in a sham of a meeting, which is why we walked out. We will keep fighting for Wandsworth residents, but we won’t legitimise rigged procedures. Our residents wouldn’t expect us to.