A triple whammy for communities

By Krupesh Hirani

The scrapping of the revolutionary Building Schools for the Future programme serves as a triple whammy to families around the country and represents a false economy from the education department.

First and foremost, it is a cut aimed at the group in society who had no say in the election: children. Instead, the coalition government has rushed through the Academies Bill, advocating a ‘Free Schools’ policy aimed at schools already doing well and ignoring the issue of there being a too few school places to meet demand and the need to improve our failing schools. Every child should have the right to a decent standard of education in a respectable environment, and these cuts will mean that children will continue to be educated in dilapidated buildings, unfit for the twenty-first century, without enough school places to meet the shortages.

Secondly, the building works programme provided an opportunity for stimulus in the building and construction trade. Many are still feeling the effects of the recession and the forthcoming VAT rise will increase the price of building materials, affecting profit margins and thereby adding greater financial pressure in the sector.

Thirdly, schools serve as community hubs. The scrappage deprives young people of decent quality activity centres. School buildings can be utilised by local authorities to provide after-hours services for young people. Better standards in buildings and halls also boosts the commercial potential of schools. Many hire out school halls for private functions and parties and this generates income, putting money back into the public pot.

The education department’s permanent secretary admitted in a letter to Ed Balls that the programme had Treasury approval and had not received any objections. We know the money for our schools is there. After all, where will the money for the free schools policy come from?