CONSERVATIVE councillors from North and East Yorkshire are right to warn of the dangers in forcing schools to become academies (The Press, May 2).

That Labour under Tony Blair initiated the academies policy should set alarm bells ringing. It is a clear centralising power grab by Whitehall that is bad for schools and children’s education.

There is no evidence that academies produce any improvements better than council “run” schools – and some indications they do worse.

In years of observing government blunders, I’ve never seen a policy that has so little justification.

If correctly quoted I am sad to see York’s council leader Chris Steward apparently supporting the academies policy. Councillors of all parties should be very wary of supporting a policy that diminishes local government.

Academies are unlikely to save money overall. An army of civil servants monitor academies’ every action.

And the government’s own National Schools Commissioner reckons that each multi academy trust with 10 or more schools will have a chief executive on a salary of £150,000.

With the loss of local democratic accountability and many academy chains I can safely predict inflationary chief officer salaries and dubious financial practice. And we the taxpayers will have to foot the bills.

I hope other Conservative councillors will join in opposing this government madness. It is not too late.

Roger Backhouse, Orchard Road, Upper Poppleton, York