£45bn BSF programme being 'watered down'

Ministers have been accused of watering down a £45bn programme to rebuild every state school in the country by prioritising a handful of new schools in each local authority.

Under reforms proposed by ministers, local authorities would be asked to put forward plans for four or five schools, rather than all schools.

The move is fuelling fears that the ambitions for the project are being scaled down to fast-track new schools ahead of the general election after the programme was beset by problems, The Guardian reported.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families suggested the 2020 target to rebuild schools had been replaced by ambitions for every school to have a rebuild plan in place, the newspaper reported.

Liberal Democrat education spokesman David Laws said the government had watered down and undermined the programme.