Decision on £2bn priority schools building programme delayed for a second time

The government has delayed its announcement on which schools will be included in the £2bn priority schools building programme for a second time.

The list of schools due to receive funds under the programme was originally due in December, before being pushed back to January. Education secretary Michael Gove has now said there will now be no announcement until February, as the department is still considering “marginal cases”.

In response to a question in Parliament from Geoffrey Robinson, the Labour MP for Coventry North West, Gove said: “The priority school building programme is designed to ensure that as many schools as possible qualify and we will not be able to make an announcement until next month because we want to be absolutely sure that marginal cases […] are fairly treated.”

The £2bn programme was announced last year as a replacement for some of the schemes lost when the government cancelled the £55bn Building Schools for the Future programme.

It is not yet clear whether the delay to the announcement on which schools are to be included will impact on the procurement timetable, due to begin this spring.

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