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Wolverhampton schools hit by big cuts
Friday 17th December 2010, 4:00PM GMT.
Devastating funding cuts will hit plans to rebuild and refurbish every secondary school in Wolverhampton, it can be revealed today.
The £370 million Building Schools for the Future scheme for all 26 city secondary schools survived the axe by the coalition government.
Areas like Sandwell had theirs scrapped completely.
But it has now emerged the projects will be dramatically scaled back due to the government demanding cuts of up to 40 per cent.
Wolverhampton City Council today admitted it was considering abandoning plans to rebuild some schools as well as providing only minor, rather than major, refurbishments to others.
Bosses are also pleading with the government not to cut the budgets for Coppice, Wednesfield, South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy and Braybook schools, which have already received planning permission.
Projects where work has already started to create new buildings for Highfields Science Specialist School and Pennfields Special School, and the refurbishment of King’s School and Tettenhall Wood School, will not be affected.
Tim Westwood, the council’s programme director for BSF, said today: “The efficiencies we will be able to make will vary from one school to another and will very much depend on the needs and requirements of the individual school.
“It is clear schools in need of major refurbishments will have to take priority over schools in a better condition, but we want to ensure that every BSF school in Wolverhampton will still receive great benefits from the programme, even if the work we are able to do may be slightly reduced.”
Wolverhampton South East Labour MP Pat McFadden this afternoon warned the funding cuts would be “hugely damaging”.
EXCLUSIVE by Daniel Wainwright
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But as a country we can still send £37 billion abroad as foreign aid… but we can’t teach our children in high quality buildings – disgrace
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well said johnny ..can’t agree with you more!!!
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spot on, we have no priorities when it comes to our own people
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Annual foreign aid budget is less than £10 billion… the fact is as a country we should have a longterm plan for public sector property renewal (NHS, Education, etc) and not be reliant upon different governments coming in with different objectives and ideas on funding. In the end the tax payer will always pick up the bill and cost of renewal whether it’s done by PFI or government taking on loans.
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Well, that £9.9 billion could be better spent here.
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Will all the rebuilding, extending and improvements to schools that has now been either cancelled or reduced affect the plans to have places for children who the Govt intend to keep in full-time education up to the age of 18? Maybe they think they can all be placed into construction and build the accomadation as they go. Who said anything about joined-up thinking?
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I bet St Edmunds & St Peters will end up with nothing … again.
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