Fears of £1.5bn cuts as schools crumble

Council bosses in the region are warning that plans to replace or refurbish crumbling secondary schools which have not yet been signed off by Ministers are vulnerable to cuts expected in a spending review.

Education leaders say halting the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme now would mean rural areas of Yorkshire being denied the massive investment which has already been spent in some of the region's inner-cities.

The Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors has also warned the widespread withdrawal of BSF cash could risk the regional economy's "tentative" recovery as jobs depend on it. There are six education authorities in Yorkshire with school rebuilding plans already in the pipeline which could now be at risk.

Bradford, Doncaster, Kirklees, North East Lincolnshire, Rotherham and Wakefield Councils were all expecting to receive more than 1bn in BSF cash.

None of the schemes have reached "financial close" with the Government which they need to allow them to start building. Some have not yet reached agreements with building contractors.

They are now facing mounting uncertainty as the coalition Government sets out the need for major cuts in public spending.

There are also four councils in the region – Calderdale, East

Riding, North Yorkshire and York, which are still on a waiting list to join the school rebuilding programme.

The head of Calderdale's highest priority school for rebuilding said he expected "the BSF plug to be pulled" while North Yorkshire's County Council's executive member for schools Jim Clark said he expected radical changes to the scheme later this year.

Hull Council is another authority which could be affected by Government cutbacks in spite of already having its had 430m plans to transform secondary schools signed off in March.

Roger Tilbrook, a regional spokesman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, said that the education sector had become a major market for Yorkshire's construction firms and property professionals.

David Cameron told MPs last week that BSF matched the new Government's plans and passion for providing new schools. The Department for Education said decisions would be taken in the autumn.