THE man in charge of deciding who should run Southampton's two new schools has stuck by his original decision to choose Oasis Community Learning despite an eleventh hour bid to change his mind.

Conservative Councillor Peter Baillie said that 17 days after making his original decision he remained convinced that Oasis was the best choice to run the city's two new academies that will open in September next year.

The London-based Christian organisation, which is involved with five other projects to run academies across the country, is working together with a local group made up of representatives from different organisations including the Diocese of Winchester and Southampton YMCA.

Cllr Baillie was forced to justify his reasons for choosing the organisation and to reconsider his choice after opposition councillors "called in" the decision.

Both Liberal Democrats and Labour party members, supported by some head teachers, had hoped that the Southampton Education Trust, a consortium of local businesses and the city's two universities, would be chosen to run the new schools as trusts, with more local authority involvement.

They wanted to persuade Cllr Baillie to change his mind at a special meeting of the Children's Services and Learning Scrutiny Panel last night during which some governors, head teachers and councillors spoke out against the Oasis choice.

Richard Martin, who retires today from Woodlands Community School, today said: "This decision is so fundamentally wrong that it will affect every school in the city."

Professor Roger Brown, Vice-Chancellor of Southampton Solent University said the decision to choose Oasis sent out a message that the local education authority wished to "disengage" from education.

However, Cllr Baillie did not have a change of heart and said that he had taken head teachers' views into consideration alongside other information including a technical report prepared by council officers that scored Oasis highly in certain areas.

He said: "I have never been afraid to change my mind. If the weight of evidence is there and I find the arguments persuasive and convincing, my mind can be changed. I have looked again at the original scrutiny recommendations and I have to say that I do feel no reason to alter my original recommendation.

"I do believe that Oasis academies will provide the excellence, diversity, vibrancy and community we are after."

The two new schools will be created on the sites of Oaklands Community School and Grove Park Business and Enterprise College, following the closure of Oaklands, Grove Park, Millbrook Community School and Woolston Language College.

It is the culmination of nearly two years of consultation designed to revamp the city's secondary education system and reduce surplus places.

After the meeting Steve Chalke MBE, founder and chair of Oasis Community Learning, said: "We are committed to working in partnership and co-operation with the local authority, the existing education providers, local business and healthcare communities to achieve these aims."