Conservative councillors have tonight (Weds 5th February) walked out of a full meeting of Wandsworth Council following the refusal of the Labour administration to allow a debate on the proposed closure of a special needs school.
The row centered on Bradstow School, which caters for children with severe and complex special needs. It had been repeatedly rated OFSTED “Outstanding”, most recently in July 2024. Labour-run Wandsworth wants to close the school and sell its site.
A petition featuring 1,700 signatories opposing the closure has been formally submitted to the Mayor of Wandsworth.
The Council began an official consultation process on closing Bradstow School in December 2024. Parents of children at the school have said Wandsworth Council has a “moral and societal duty” to keep the school open.
This evening, Conservatives tabled a motion opposing the school’s closure. Such motions are always debated at a council meeting but, on this occasion, Conservative councillors found it had been placed too far down the agenda to have been debated by the meeting’s 10:00pm cutoff time.
The Conservative group’s motion argued that residential provision, like that at Bradstow, was something most councils are “desperate” to have. Closing the school could lead to Wandsworth children being put in placements “less suitable, even further away, and possibly more expensive”.
After multiple calls from Conservative councillors to move the Bradshaw School motion up the agenda, the Council voted by 30 to 21 to prevent the debate being brought forward. Every Labour councillor voted against.
After restating their dismay, all Conservative councillors walked out.
Cllr Aled Richards-Jones, Leader of the Conservative Group said:
“Labour has badly let down the children and parents of Bradshaw School.
“For the past 18 months, Labour has either ignored the Council’s procedural rules to stop the Conservative Group raising issues on behalf of residents in the Council chamber.
“Tonight, Labour burned the rule book to prevent us discussing their proposal to close Bradstow School. We tried to engage and we have sought compromises, which [were] sadly dismissed out of hand.
“This [was] a sham meeting in which Labour’s members [abused] their majority to silence debate. The residents who sent us here, did not send us here for this. It’s anti-democratic.”
