Schools funding bid approved
Warwickshire County Council has given the green light to bid to the Government's national Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
BSF is the single largest investment programme in education for over 50 years and will see every secondary school in England replaced, rebuilt or renovated over the next 10 to 15 years. For Warwickshire, BSF will deliver over £500 million of investment.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has invited a number of authorities not yet in the programme to bid to enter the programme. The first project to cover the schools in Nuneaton is worth of the order of £120 million.
Councillor Alan Farnell, leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: "Warwickshire welcomes the opportunity to bid for this exciting programme that could transform our schools and communities. We agreed at Cabinet for officers to submit a bid of readiness as soon as possible to the government that should, if we are successful, release millions of pounds to invest in our children and young people.”
Marion Davis, the county council’s Strategic Director for Children, Young People and Families, said: “Building Schools for the Future is not just about school buildings. It is a programme of investment to support the transformation of education, to change radically the way children learn and the way they are prepared for life in the 21st Century. And in transforming our schools, we will help transform the communities they serve.
“BSF will not only give high quality learning environments, including ICT, for young people but also access for the whole community to first class facilities for learning, arts, sports and community crafts. There is the opportunity too to provide a range of public services from school sites.
“We will be working closely with schools, with partners and with local communities to make sure that this project is a success for everyone in Warwickshire.”