A FORMER school governor has raised concerns about proposals to create a new academy trust in Pendle.

Craig McBeth, who was a former school governor at Park Primary School, said he was ‘dismayed’ at the proposals.

Earlier this month six schools including Colne Park High School, Blacko, Laneshaw Bridge, Lord Street, West Street and Colne Park primaries announced they would create the largest multi-academy trust in Lancashire called the Pennine Trust.

In a letter to the trust Mr McBeth said: “The stigma of turning failing schools into academies still remains and, whilst a fresh approach might be suitable for failing establishments, there is no evidence to suggest simply changing a successful school into an academy makes any difference to end results.

“Three of the schools named have only recently had their Ofsted rating upgraded to ‘good’ and I fear that without this safety net and oversight from the local authority that the Trust and schools could be ‘left to their own devices’ with no accountability to parents or the local community, leading to a mass deterioration of results performance.”