There is no doubt that the argument against the hugely costly Building Schools for the Future programme has been won. With £3 million already spent by Worcestershire County Council in just the bureaucratic nightmare created by the Labour government, the huge cost implication for the Wyre Forest BSF programme was immense. It has always been blindingly obvious that money should be spent on the buildings and not on consultants employed to facilitate talking shops. And it was also obvious that the schools themselves should have as much control over their internal spending – not given under Labour’s BSF / PFI arrangements.
However, Wyre Forest is part way through a major schools rebuild that sees over 50 three-tier first, middle and upper schools amalgamated into just over 30 two-tier primary and secondary schools. This has caused major upsets amongst the educational community and with the schools building programme on hold, it is vital that the arguments in favour of Wyre Forest’s schools building programme is pushed forward. That is why Mark is championing the Wyre Forest schools in Westminster to ensure progress is made and that Wyre Forest gets a good representation when the choice is made during the comprehensive spending review, due to be published in October.
Mark will be meeting with all heads affected by the postponement during the September party conference recess.