More school building cuts

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Following the Government’s controversial axing of Labour’s flagship education programme, Building Schools for the Future (BSF), Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced that an additional 75 planned rebuilding projects for academy schools will not go ahead.

Mr Gove described BSF as bureaucratic and unaffordable when he abolished the scheme in July, bringing an end to planned building and regeneration projects at over 700 schools. “In the light of the public finances, it would have been irresponsible to carry on regardless with an inflexible and needlessly complex programme”, he said.

However, the scrapping of BSF was fiercely criticised by opposition sources and many working in the education sector, with Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, Ed Balls, describing the move as “another blow to schools and communities across the country”.

Mistakes, initially published in the Secretary of State’s list of schools whose building plans were not affected by the cuts, also resulted in further disappointment and anger for many schools and councils who originally thought their projects were safe. Mr Gove later apologised for the errors.

The Education Secretary’s latest announcement covers around 150 schools whose building projects were still under review when the original cut backs were revealed. Of these, 75 rebuilding projects will now be shelved or scaled back, while a similar number will go ahead as planned.

Mr Gove also restated his intention to ensure firm control over spending on new projects, saying that his department would “work with councils, sponsors and the construction industry to ensure we bear down on costs and bureaucracy so every new school is built in as cost-effective and efficient a way as possible”.

SEN News Team
Author: SEN News Team

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