£2.2bn secondary schools programme launched

The government anounced its £2.2bn Building Schools for the Future programme this morning. The initiative aims to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England.

Around 180 schools will benefit from a share of the capital investment, due to commence in 2005/06. A total of 14 local education authorities (LEAs) have won funding:

• Bradford
• Bristol
• Gateshead and South Tyneside
• Knowsley
• Leeds
• Manchester
• Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• Newham
• Sheffield
• Solihull
• Southwark, Greenwich and Lewisham
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Sunderland
• Waltham Forest

School standards minister David Miliband said: "Building Schools for the Future will deliver tailored classroom facilities to support innovative teaching styles; high quality facilities to support subject specialism; and integrated ICT; all to help deliver personalised learning tailored to the needs, interests and aptitudes of every child.

"Strategic investment will now occur across local education authorities, not just in individual schools, allowing them to plan and build for the whole secondary estate in the area, cutting through legal and design bureaucracy."

A new body, Partnerships for Schools, will work with each LEA and a private sector partner to develop the local school estate concept and construct, maintain and operate the new facilities, supporting head teachers in creating new schools and allowing teachers to focus on what they do best.

Miliband also unveiled the exemplar designs that will form the basis of the work.

Second and third waves of the programme will follow in 2006/07 and 2007/08.