'I asked the question minister is now denying,' says advocate

EDUCATION categorically assured the St Andrew's PTA that the school would be safe if the board decided to keep it open, a leading advocate has said.

The row between the department and the PTA reached boiling point when, in Saturday's Guernsey Press, former PTA chairman Alasdair McLaren said that Education minister Carol Steere and director of Education Derek Neale had given assurances that the issue would not go to the States for debate if the department decided to save the school.

Mr McLaren said the pair had responded to a specific question during July's meeting with PTA representatives.

But, in a letter printed in today's Guernsey Press, Deputy Steere insists the question was never raised.

'Mr McLaren makes no reference to who answered,' she said. 'This is because there is no record of the question being asked or responded to. I therefore take great exception to the inference that I, or the director of the Education Department, have misled the representatives of the St Andrew's PTA.'

However, Advocate Rob Shepherd, a partner at Ozannes, yesterday confirmed Mr McLaren's recollection.