NLL Academy receivesMicrosoft and Mandarin awards


NEWLine LearningAcademy has become one of only 12 schools worldwide to be named a Microsoft Mentor School The multinational corporation awarded


this status to NLL for demonstrating strong school leadership, innovation and successful change. As a Mentor School for the Innovative Schools Programme, NLL will engage in a variety of initiatives with Microsoft, which includes attendance at the Worldwide Innovative Education


CRUNCHtalks about parish council fund- ing cuts were due to be held as the Downs Mail went to press. Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) chiefs


were meeting parish representatives last week to discuss reductions in concurrent function grants. The scheme gives funding to


parish councils to pay for the services that they provide, but which in non-parished areas are otherwise provided by the bor- ough council. The system has been in place


since 1974. The current annual cost to MBC is £424,000 for 35 parishes. But local authorities are under in- tense pressure from Government to tighten their belts - and Maidstone leader Cllr Chris Garland said parishes should be prepared for "significant" cuts to their grants. A few months ago, parishes were told


they faced cuts of 50% in 2011-12 and fur- ther 25% cuts in each of the following two


Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. The school, in Boughton Lane, Maid-


stone, will also participate in Virtual Uni- versity training sessions hosted by leading educators, which will be conducted as we- bcasts over the next 12 months, and or- ganise three local or regional Innovative Schools events. The academy has also become a centre


of excellence for the teaching of Mandarin to non-native, non-background learners


years. MBC's plan caused outrage as parishes said they would be left with two choices - huge rises in their own money- raising precepts or the end of services they have provided with the grants. Earlier this month, Independents onMBC proposed a motion to full council that the grants should be re- duced by only 10% in each of the next two years. Cllr Mike Fitzgerald (Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton, left) said they acknowledged


the borough council’s financial constraints but they also identified with the “parish councils’ sense of betrayal”. Deputy mayor Cllr Brian Mortimer (Cox-


heath and Hunton, right) supported the mo- tion. He said the cabinet proposal was “not fair and had not been thought through”. He added: “Why should parish councils


MAIDSTONE Borough Council's total budget for concurrent functions grant in 2010-11 is £424,000 for 35 parishes. The level of grant paid to parishes ranges from £3,521 (East Sutton) to £47,011 (Boxley), with an average of £12,105. The formula used is a fixed amount to each parish (£2,261) plus a per capita payment of £6 based on the electoral register. A briefing note to the full council explained


the main purpose of the grant. It is to avoid 'double taxation' where the costs


of a certain service are charged twice to local taxpayers because the parish provides a service but the borough still charges parishioners (via its universal council tax) for the equivalent serv- ices it provides in unparished areas. Examples of services that can be legitimately


paid for with the grant include allotments, bur- ial grounds and cemeteries, bus shelters, CCTV,


Objection to plans


for 14 new homes STAPLEHURST Parish Council has objected to plans for the de- moliton of a large house and its replacement with 14 homes in Headcorn Road. The plan for Parisfield was given outline per- mission in October 2007, and the recently submitted plan sought to discharge issues of layout, scale, appearance and landscaping. Parish councillors noted the concerns of residents, which in- cluded a recent road accident in- volving a vehicle emerging from the adjoining site. The objection was also based on an increase in traffic movements since 2007, ad- verse impact on existing homes, the loss of a significant large home and backland development.


and for its outreach work with schools. Hanban/SSAT Confucius Institute granted the award, which means NLL will now be able to further develop its Man- darin provision and outreachworkwithin the community. It will also receive addi- tional resources, materials, software and teaching support from Hanban. All Year 7 students at the academy are taught Mandarin as a compulsory subject until the end of Year 8.


Showdown talks on parish grants


be asked to raise their precepts - which means double taxation - just so they can pay for similar services that are supplied in non- parished areas? “To cut concurrent functions by 100%


over three years is just not acceptable; even the Government is not going that far - they are saying 25% cuts over four years.” But Cllr Garland (Shepway North) said it was “rather fool- hardy” to expect an extraordinary council meeting to decide on budget lines. He said he had previously warned parish councils that cuts


were coming this year and told them: “We are all in it together”. The council, he added, had just heard it


had to cut £2.4m from its budget next year, of which it had identified £2.1m, leaving a further £300,000 to find. Cllr Garland said this was an “extremely onerous and com- pletely unprecedented” position and that


Explaining the concurrent functions system parish councils would have to


commons and open spaces, footway lighting, grants to bus operators, off-street car parking, play schemes, litter bins, public clocks, public conveniences, recreation grounds, traffic calm- ing and safety issues, village greens, village halls and community centres, and war memorials. However, the briefing note said the "discre- tionary nature of the way the grant is spent means that the original purpose of allocating funding to provide the same level of service in parished areas without resulting in double tax- ation is no longer achieved consistently across all parishes". In the present financial climate, Maidstone council's objective is to ensure that reduced re- sources are focussed on its priorities and "there- fore more rigour will be introduced into the process for allocating external funding to part- ners and other organisations, including parishes".


take some of the pain. He also comparedwhat Maid-


stone spends on concurrent functions (£424,000) to Ton- bridge and Malling’s £180,000 and Canterbury’s £269,000. An amendment to hold talks


with the parishes was carried. An MBC team of Cllr Garland, cabinet member Cllr John Wil- son plus senior officers were to meet the Maidstone branch of the Kent Association of Local Councils last Monday. Cllr Garland said they would approach the talks "with an open mind". * MBC's budget strategy will


be decided by cabinet on De- cember 22, with a final rubber- stamp by full council at the end of February.


Brownies give MP Helen a taste of Question Time


BROWNIES from Staplehurst met Maidstone MP Helen Grant during a visit to the Houses of Parliament. The girls and their leaders from the 1st Sta- plehurst troop were treated to a tour of West- minster before meeting Mrs Grant in a special House of Commons committee room, where theMP answered a range of questions from the group. “I had just attended a lively Prime Minister’s Questions session, where David Cameron re- sponded to an array of varied questions from all parties,” she said. “Iwas able to empathisewith the Prime Min-


ister as I tried to answer to some very interest- ing and pointed questions fromthe girls. It was great to see their enthusiasm.” Following their special “Question Time”,


the Brownies had their photographs taken with the MP, before embarking on further sight-seeing of London.


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