The Catholic Education Service today (Monday 7th) publishes a consultation document on continuing the Plater tradition.

In January 2005, the Governing Body voted to close the college and the Archbishop Trustees expressed their unequivocal intention to maintain the Plater tradition. Since then, the CES has been co-ordinating an extensive process designed to ensure this, including a meeting at Plater College and invitations to interested individuals and bodies to make their own suggestions. The publication of the consultation document is designed to generate the widest possible debate within and beyond the Catholic community.

The document sets out three broad options for how the Plater mission can be continued. They are: 
•    the establishment of a place of study and/or residence to promote access to Further or Higher education;
•    the endowment of academic study or research focusing on the church’s social teaching and its application in Christian life; and
•    the provision of scholarships or bursaries to facilitate access to Further or Higher education.

Respondents are invited to comment on which area might be most suitable. They should consider the original Plater Trust Deed, the changing nature of education and society since then, and advice the CES has received from the Charity Commission.

The decision to establish a consultation procedure reflects the Archbishop Trustees’ desire to be open and transparent about the future of the Plater mission. It is an opportunity for everyone with an interest in Catholic education to consider how to best interpret the original Plater mission for the twenty-first century.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Birmingham and spokesman for the Archbishop Trustees said, “Plater College has performed a great service to the Church over many decades. It is important that we seize this opportunity to continue the Plater mission in a way which is fit for the changed educational and social circumstances of the twenty-first century. The Bishops are clear that we need to continue the teaching and application of Catholic social teaching.”

Plater consultation to be returned by 13th December.

Notes for editors
1. The consultation can be downloaded from the CES website at www.cesew.org.uk/plater. Responses should be returned to the CES by 13th December.
2. The Archbishop Trustees are Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster), Archbishop Vincent Nichols (Birmingham), Archbishop Patrick Kelly (Liverpool) and Archbishop Peter Smith (Cardiff).
3. Further information is available from Peter Walsh, pwalsh@cesew.org.uk, 0207 901 4854.