I WRITE in response to Bob Crosland's letter on the closure of Christ's Church School in Harwood.

As a school governor, I fully understand Mr Crosland's anger and I am sure that, in his position, we would all fight equally as hard in defence of a school we cared about.

However, I do not agree with Mr Crosland that the long term future of the school was by any means certain.

It is a fact that intake had been falling for a number of years, and this ultimately means that the cost per pupil of running the school was going up.

I would remind Mr Crosland that the Local Education Authority have a duty to ensure the equity of funding across the borough, and must think about the provision to all our schools. Ultimately, Christ's Church continuing with its falling rolls would have reduced the level of funding per pupil available to other schools.

Although Mr Crosland is angry, disappointed and looking to apportion blame, the demographics of our communities change and we must ensure that the provision of schools matches demand.

Unfortunately, as a result of the demographic forces at work, demand for places at Christ's Church was dwindling. This is a fact which we cannot escape.

It is wrong of him to say that the Labour Executive Member should be responsible for the decisions of the Lib Dem Executive taken when the Labour group was in opposition.

I do, however, agree that the previous Lib Dem administration could perhaps have handled the issue better.

If a Labour Executive had been in power, we would have wanted to enter into a more honest dialogue with the school, its governors and the community it served.

I can understand Mr Crosland is frustrated, but he is aiming his fire in the wrong direction.

Moreover, once the Labour group had come to power, the situation had become irretrievable.

Once again I would like to thank the governors and staff of Christ's Church School for their hard work over many years.

Linda Thomas Executive Member for Children's Services