Do we need more proof?

Figures released by the Children, etc. Department reveal that the number of families appealing against the allocation of school for a child have increased .

In the Primary sector last year there were 36,000 appeals, a rise of nearly 8,000. Of the appeals 6,000 were successful, a rise of 10% over the previous years.

In the secondary sector over 53,000 appeals were made, of which 13,000 were successful, a slight percentage fall.

The department attributed the increases to families becoming aware of appeal possibilities and also to parents removing children from private schools because of the recession. (Is it possible that the department is actually losing the battle to create schools of sufficient quality to make parents content?)

There is obviously considerable dissatisfaction among parents with a large number of schools and with the allocation system which consigns children to schools unacceptable to their parents. Of the appeals in the primary sector, only about 17% are successful, and in the secondary sector the figure is just under 25%.

Michael Gove, shadow minister, seems to have the right prescription - based in the Swedish solution, to let the schools attractive to parents reveal the poor schools and force changes or closure in the latter.