Legal challenge on way to £55bn buildings axe

John Roberts

LOCAL councils are launching legal action to challenge Education Secretary Michael Gove’s decision to axe a 55bn school- building programme.

The coalition Government announced earlier this year that it was scrapping rebuilding schemes which had not been signed off, meaning projects at 700 schools across the country were cancelled.

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This included plans for new buildings in six education authorities in the region: Bradford, Doncaster, Kirklees, North East Lincolnshire, Rotherham and Wakefield which missed out on more than 1bn in expected funding through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Now several councils affected by the cuts have announced that they are prepared to challenge the Government’s decision.

Nottingham Council said it was prepared to take “whatever actions are necessary” as it started a legal challenge to Mr Gove’s decision to halt the BSF initiative, which meant funding to refurbish two of the city’s schools was cut.

Waltham Forest Council, in north east London, also launched legal action, saying the decision to pull the funding would have a “catastrophic effect” on pupils.

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Mr Gove axed the BSF initiative in July, and announced a review of all capital spending on schools.

Nottingham Council said: “We have sought counsel’s advice on whether to take legal action to resolve this dispute and our decision to push ahead with legal proceedings has not been taken lightly.”