THOSE of us that have been around a long time will confirm that 'everything that glitters is not necessarily gold'.

The very experienced Neil Holmes, for one example, gave the facts in these columns, when he detailed the effects on NHS revenue budgets in Worcestershire of the PFI-provided Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester. Our long-awaited services are under threat now at the Alexandra Hospital as are other critical NHS facilities in our county.

Officers of the Local Education Authority are already anticipating the future by initiating closures/mergers of some schools that are an integral part of local communities, when such actions make a mockery of policies such as 'extended schools', being the corner-stone of critical community development and the integration of all socio-economic groups and races.

As a member of Redditch education committee we administered schools in Alvechurch, Wythall and Redditch. As with further education students, Alvechurch children travelled the three miles or so to Redditch high schools.

Prior to the £63m PFI scheme, for reasons best known to the then Worcestershire County Council cabinet, a decision was taken to move Alvechurch and Beoley schools into the north Bromsgrove pyramid. Yet that caused a tortuous cross-country journey of up to 10.7 miles for 13-18 year olds.

Politicians of all parties, it must be said, kept quiet. I told the truth and was promptly sacked as vice-chairman of the education scrutiny panel; but kept my chairmanship of the Worcestershire standing advisory committee for religious education, so clearly my moral integrity was not in question!

Tom Wareing

Retired county councillor

Redditch

l PS Should readers wish to verify, then my questions in council dated May 16, 2002, and April 29, 2004, may be raised on the internet or by other means.