School building projects still at risk, says Labour

SCHOOL building projects that were thought to have escaped Government cuts could still be under threat, Labour has claimed.

Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham said some of the 600 schools that escaped the cull to the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme have now been asked to make further savings of up to 40 per cent.

He also rejected claims by Education Secretary Michael Gove in a TV interview, when he said town halls were told in July there was the potential for them to have to make further cuts. Mr Burnham claimed that some local authority bosses were not told until last Friday.

The Department for Education would not confirm where any further cuts would have to be made, and denied there had been any last minute calls to councils.

A spokesman said that on July 5 Mr Gove made it clear that where projects were being allowed to proceed, the Government “would be looking at the scope for savings”.

Mr Burnham, who was raising a point of order in the House of Commons, said that following the closure of BSF and the cancellation of 700 school building projects, a further 600 had reached what was termed “financial close” and described by the Department for Education as “unaffected”.

He said: “However, last Friday local authorities received phone calls to tell them to make 40 per cent efficiencies in these projects, threatening to throw local plans into chaos.

“Councillors in Salford, Leicester, and Nottingham dispute this and it is at odds with a statement given to this House back in July that the remainder of the projects would be unaffected.

“There is a great deal of confusion in communities up and down the country about BSF. The projects matter greatly to children, teachers in those communities and to MPs.”

He called for an urgent statement from Mr Gove.

Local authorities in Yorkshire have already warned that the scrapping of BSF projects across the region will mean councils have wasted millions of pounds preparing plans which will now not take place.

There are 82 schools across the region which have seen rebuilding or refurbishing schemes axed and a further 11 which could still be shelved which will now be decided on a case-by-case basis by Ministers.

Doncaster and Kirklees have each had 22 school rebuilding or refurbishment schemes cancelled.

Bradford Council has lost funding for 16 refurbishments at existing schools and the creation of two new special needs schools for pupils with communication disorders and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

The authority has already spent 1.8m developing its latest BSF plans.

Rotherham, Wakefield and North East Lincolnshire have also seen their BSF schemes scrapped. The six councils in the region which have had projects cancelled are set to lose around 1bn.

Hull Council was seen as secure as their BSF plans were approved in March, and leader Carl Minns said he was not aware of any contact from the Government regarding further cuts to the programme.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “The Secretary of State has been clear that school rebuilding will continue but that capital expenditure on schools must be more cost effective given the current financial climate.

“We are targeting investment at schools in the most need of refurbishment despite the very tight public finances to make sure it best meets rising demand for primary places.

“The taxpayer rightly expects value for money – that’s why we’re stripping out waste and unnecessary costs from the school building programme to make funding for ongoing BSF, academy and sample projects go far further.”