If parents in Ravenscliffe and Greengates consider that their children are being badly served by the schools review, they have every democratic right to use whatever legal options are available to them to challenge that review.

Given the apparent strength of feeling in the area, the parents' application for Legal Aid to press for a judicial review into the relevant changes in Bradford North schools is quite understandable. They deserve a full hearing for their concerns. It is unfortunate that the Council has failed to convince them on this issue. Now they feel they have been left with nowhere to go but the courts.

However, it is important that this outstanding issue, concerning one pocket of Bradford, should not be allowed to cause further delays to the entire review. It has been through the full consultation procedure. Countless words have been said and written. The review itself has been thoroughly reviewed again. The process has created uncertainty and a degree of disruption.

Now there is a pressing need to move forward. The future of all Bradford's children is at stake. The return to a two-tier system needs to be implemented as swiftly and as smoothly as possible to give them the best possible chance of settling in to the new framework and making the most of it.

The outstanding matter of Ravenscliffe and Greengates should be hived off and dealt with in isolation. It could be very destructive if instead it was allowed to cause a further delay to the whole review pending any court decision.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.