Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
It’s really important that we get all the cash that we need to the front line as efficiently
and effectively as possible.
The problem with the Building Schools for the Future scheme is: far too much money was
spent on consultants, far too much money was spent on bureaucracy, and that meant that
we didn’t get schools built quickly, and we didn’t get schools built to a high quality
because unfortunately the cash wasn’t going to the front line.
It’s quite wrong to say that schools which are falling down or in a bad state of repair
won’t get cash. We will prioritise those schools which are dilapidated, and really
need cash. But we’ll make sure that the money they get comes without the strings attached
that meant that local councils and headteachers and so many other people had to spend time
on bureaucracy rather than on teaching.
One of the things that I’m really keen to do is to make sure that we have a good school
place for every child. One of the problems with the old Building Schools for the Future
scheme is it just targeted secondaries. But we know that there are many, many more children
who are arriving in primary schools in the next few years without a school place at the
moment because the last Government didn’t plan properly.
Well we will. And we’ll make sure that there is more cash available so that good primary
schools can expand to take account of the growth in population.
The reason we ended this programme is so that we can give more money to all schools more
effectively and more cheaply.