THE Prime Minister and his former Health Secretary have stepped in to find a compromise in an escalating dispute over the future of two schools, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Darlington Borough Council has backed down on plans to force Hurworth School and Eastbourne Comprehensive into a £25m academy.

Hurworth School will be spared closure and allowed to remain in its village location near Darlington.

And the council will press ahead with plans to bring a standalone Church of England academy to Darlington, for Eastbourne Comprehensive only.

The compromise was brokered yesterday at a meeting chaired by Darlington MP Alan Milburn.

It was attended by council chief executive Ada Burns, head of children's services Margaret Asquith, council leader John Williams, Hurworth chief executive Eamonn Farrar, headteacher Dean Judson and chairwoman of governors Sam Jameson.

It came about after a secret meeting between Mr Milburn and Tony Blair, whose Sedgefield constituency includes Hurworth, and a day after the Prime Minister won a vote on the Education Bill after it was supported by Conservative MPs.

The dispute in Darlington was becomingly increasingly embarrassing for Mr Blair because the Bill promised that popular and successful schools would be allowed to expand and would be given more freedom.

Hurworth School and the village community had fought the merger plans, which were revealed last June.

Yesterday, Mr Blair and Mr Milburn hailed the compromise as a way forward.

Mr Blair, who was in the region, said: "I very much welcome the fact that a way forward has been found to maintain the excellence at Hurworth and I welcome the prospect of an academy in Eastbourne. I would like to thank Alan Milburn for helping sort this out."

Mr Milburn said: "This is a common sense way forward and represents a win-win situation for Hurworth and Eastbourne."

The borough council and Hurworth School issued a joint statement yesterday.

It said: "The council has listened carefully to the wide range of views expressed about an academy for Darlington that would bring together Hurworth and Eastbourne schools. It is acknowledged that for the academy to succeed it needs the willing involvement of all concerned, and with the support of our MP, Alan Milburn, we have met to determine how best to proceed."

The council will submit a formal expression of interest in the Eastbourne academy with the Department for Education and Skills in the near future.

Councillor Williams said: "We now have a clear route forward towards obtaining a new academy for Darlington, which has been our intention from the beginning, and we will have the Church of England as its sponsor."

The governing bodies of both schools were last night celebrating the news.

Ms Jameson said: "This safeguards the excellent education on offer at Hurworth School and also gives Eastbourne and the town what it needs."

Veronica Copeland, chairwoman of Eastbourne governors, said: "I am very relieved that there has been a resolution. All this has made everybody feel very unsettled."

Hurworth headteacher Dean Judson said: "This ends the uncertainty and I am thrilled for both schools."

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