Six local authorities (LAs) in England have succeeded in their High Court bid to challenge the Government’s decision to scrap Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in their areas.
Mr Justice Holman judged that the Education secretary Michael Gove had acted unlawfully as he failed to consult with the authorities concerned over the proposals. Mr Gove has been ordered to reconsider a total of 58 BSF plans across the six authorities.
Following the verdict, the Government claimed that it had won the case on the most important issues. “We are delighted that the judge did not call into question the decision to end the wasteful and bureaucratic Building Schools for the Future programme”, a Department for Education statement claimed. It went on to say that Mr Gove, “will now look again at his decision with regard to these authorities with an open mind, taking representations from them.”
