Like Dr James Walsh, I have a personal interest in Littlehampton Community School, which two of our children attended. But his letter (Gazette, March 20) ignored some important facts and failed to raise a couple of essential questions. These are: what will be the composition of the new governing body and how will it be chosen? What will the Woodard Trust be getting in return for its two and a half per cent of the money required to set up the new academy? But there are fundamental issues here. The government has responsibility to furnish our schools with necessary funds: why is it refusing to provide those funds for Littlehampton Community School unless plans for a controversial new academy are accepted? Why is there a policy for taking schools out of local democratic control and putting them in the hands of unelected bodies on payment of a small proportion of capital funding? Taxpayers' money is to be spent, why will its spending not be decided by elected representatives? John Roberts, White Horses Way, Littlehampton ----------------------------- Click here to return to Gazette letters. Where are you? Add your pin to the Herald's international readers' map by clicking here. Email the Gazette: roger.green@littlehamptongazette.co.uk