Education Secretary set to refuse funding for BSF projects that were subject to JR

The Education Secretary has revealed he is “minded not to fund” the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects that were the subject of a judicial review in February this year.

However, Michael Gove said he would indemnify the six local authorities involved – Luton Borough Council, Nottingham City Council, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, Kent County Council, the London Borough of Newham and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council – for their contractual liabilities resulting from the stage their projects had reached.

The Education Secretary said his decision was subject to further representations from the local authorities affected.

On 11 February Mr Justice Holman ruled that the Secretary of State had “unlawfully and without justification” failed to consult with the authorities and had failed to give due regard to the equality impacts of his proposed decision.

But the judge also warned the local authorities not to gain false hope over his decision, pointing out that whilst the Education Secretary had to reconsider his decision, the final decision rested with him and he could save all, some or none of the projects. Gove later maintained that the judge had ruled in his favour “on all the substantive points”.

In a ministerial statement this week the Education Secretary said: “I appreciate that the local authorities, and their representatives will be disappointed. But let me also be clear, this decision, if confirmed after any representations have been made, does not mean no new school buildings in their areas.

“They will all be eligible for support from the new programmes I am establishing to cater for population growth in the areas most in need and the worst dilapidation. And that is central to my reasoning on why I am minded not to restore their projects.”

Gove also announced that the recommendations of the James Review on school building would be broadly accepted, subject to a consultation on the details and implementation.

The 12-week consultation will look at the best model for allocating and prioritising capital, “recognising the increasing diversity of the schools estate”, and the Review’s recommendation in relation to procurement and project management, where it called for a more centralised approach to capture efficiencies and build expertise.

The Education Secretary unveiled plans for a new, privately-financed school rebuilding programme, which is expected to be worth around £2bn in up front construction costs, cover between 100 and 300 schools, and target those schools in the worst condition. The programme will be available to all publicly funded schools.

The Secretary of State said he was determined that criticisms of the previous model for private financing must be addressed and he would only agree to projects when a series of rigorous value for money tests have been passed. Information on the programme will be available shortly from Partnerships for Schools.

Gove also announced that:

• Funding worth £500m would be provided to help local authorities provide extra school places to deal with rising pupil numbers
• School Building regulations would be pared down “significantly”
• A new consultation would be launched on proposals for a “new, fairer and more transparent” school funding system. The current funding system for maintained schools will be retained for 2012/13
• A consultation had been launched with local authorities only about LACSEG (Local Authority Central Services Equivalent Grant) academy funding, “to ensure that the rapid growth in academy numbers is funded fairly and to ensure that local authorities are not double funded for services they no longer provide”.

The capital and revenue consultation can be downloaded from the consultations section of the Department for Education website. The LACSEG consultation can be viewed here.

Philip Hoult