News story
26th February 2002
MP Attacks "Disgraceful" Government
Decision Over Bradley Stoke Secondary School
Northavon MP Steve Webb has today (Tuesday) attacked
the announcement that the Government has refused
out-of-hand a £92 million bid by South Gloucestershire
Council to improve the area’s secondary schools and
to build a much-needed secondary school in Bradley Stoke.
The MP, whose constituency includes part of Bradley
Stoke, has raised the issue in Parliament over a period
of years and last Summer secured a special debate on
secondary education in Bradley Stoke. During that debate,
the schools minister, Stephen Timms, encouraged the
Council to put in a bid under the Private Finance
Initiative to raise the funding for the new school [see
note to editors].
Now, the Council has followed that advice and has been
turned down at the first hurdle. The Department for
Education encouraged South Gloucestershire to put in a
comprehensive bid for funding covering most of the
authority’s secondary schools, but has now turned
down the whole bid, citing the fact that councils around
the country had bid for four times as much money as was
available. The Government rejected the option of simply
scaling down the bid which could have allowed priority
areas such as Bradley Stoke secondary school to go ahead.
Commenting on the announcement, Steve Webb said:
“To refuse funding for Bradley Stoke Secondary
School is an absolute disgrace. The area is crying out
for a secondary school. Even if the go-ahead had been
given today it would have been several years before a
new school could be opened, and hundreds more children
would have had to travel out of their community to go to
school. Now there may be even more delay and the people
of Bradley Stoke have every right to be heartily sick of
these delays. What is particularly disgraceful is that
the Council has jumped through all the hoops set for it
by the Government, has put together a bid based on
partnership with the private sector as required, and has
been refused point blank.”
*** ENDS ***
Note to editors: On July 4th 2001, Schools Minister
Stephen Timms MP said, in reply to a debate led by Steve
Webb: “Guidance to all authorities will be issued
shortly in which it is proposed to invite bids by LEAs
for the funding of PFI schemes. Bids are expected to be
received during September. The total capital investment
in PFI schemes nationally includes more than 800 new or
refurbished schools…. Those projects, valued at over
£2 billion, will have the additional benefit of fully
maintained buildings as part of the contract and high
standard services for the lifetime of the contract. It is
important not to discount the significant advantages of
the PFI route for such developments, although it is not
the only route available.”
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