COUNCIL chiefs have written to the government outlining their opposition to the opening of new grammar schools across Lancashire.

Prime minister Theresa May outlined her plans to lift the ban on new grammar schools over the summer.

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Forty councillors at Lancashire County Council voted in favour of a motion brought forward by lead member for schools Cllr Nikki Hennessy who said reintroducing them into the education system is a ‘bad idea’.

However, 31 councillors voted against the motion with one calling for the return of grammars to the Pendle and Burnley area.

Cllr Hennessy said: “The grammar school system has a proven track record of separating young people by their educational capabilities but most importantly, also by their social capabilities.

“Richer families are far better equipped to ensure their children pass the necessary exams.”

She said figures show only 2.6 per cent of young people attending one of 163 grammar schools in England qualify for free school meals whereas 26 per cent of pupils in the education system qualify for free school meals.

“There is enough evidence to show that lifting the ban on new grammar schools will only increase social division rather than tackling it,” she said.

Calling on the government to work with the existing system to ensure all children receive an excellent education, she said opening new grammars would condemn ‘70 per cent of children to a secondary education’.

But Cllr Paul White said he wanted to ‘see a system where everybody has the opportunity to access the very best education’ and said there was a ‘huge gap’ in Burnley and Pendle.

“Everybody should have the right to be the very best they can be,” he said.

“There are some real positives to the new system. They will be asked to help other local schools.

“I would like to see us offering dual school sites with grammar and comprehensives on one site.”

He said when he was younger many passed the 11 plus but were unable to go to a grammar school because the nearest one was in Skipton.

“That meant some spent their life savings and moved to the catchment area, but the majority could not afford to do that and did not have the option to go to grammar school. I think that is completely wrong.”

He added it would be the most ‘radical reform to our education system in a generation’.

Cllr Hennessy added although the motion does not mean grammars will be stopped from opening, it does ‘express our concerns that reconsidering grammar schools represents a setback in our education system’.