Threat of government legal action forces Greenwich Council to keep schools open

The leader of Greenwich Council has said he has “no choice” but to ask schools to remain open following threats of legal action from the government.

Threats

The local authority has agreed to withdraw its advice to schools in the south-east London borough to move to online learning for the last few days of term amid rising coronavirus (Covid-19) rates in the capital.

The decision comes after education secretary Gavin Williamson told the Labour-run council on the evening of 14 December to keep schools open to all pupils until the end of term or it will face legal action.

Statement from Cllr Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Council on our response to the Government regarding school closures due to COVID-19…https://t.co/nXni5cqjAY #COVID #COVID19

— Royal Borough of Greenwich (@Royal_Greenwich) December 15, 2020

In a statement, Greenwich Council leader Danny Thorpe said:

With Covid-19 cases rising rapidly in the borough, I cannot agree that this is the correct choice for our schools.

However, I also cannot justify the use of public funds to fight the decision in the courts.

Consequently, I have no choice but to ask our schools to keep their doors open to all students rather than just continuing with online learning.