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Still no answer on special schools funding from the government
Mayor and MPs meet with schools minister at Westminster
Special schools in Bedford Borough which are "not fit for purpose" could be left without government funding for improvements until October.
Last Thursday the Mayor of Bedford Dave Hodgson, council council chief executive Philip Simpkins, and three of the county's MPs met with Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Michael Gove in Westminster to discuss funding after Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding, which the council was relying on to make improvements, was cancelled in the government's emergency budget.
But while Mr Gove said that Bedford Borough could expect an answer this week on funding for the planned Bedford Academy on the site of John Bunyan Upper School, he added that there would be no news on funding for special schools until October 20.
Mr Dave Hodgson said: "Bedford's three special schools are in desperate need of work, they are just not fit for purpose.
"Mr Gove was looking at a capital review and we will be submitting information to help him decide where the money should go."
He added: "I didn't expect answers about how much money would be available and we didn't get any.
"But I was glad of the opportunity to put forward the case for the schools in Bedford."
Bedford Borough Council had also been relying on BSF funding for its plans for a radical shake-up of its education system. The council had been intending to switch to a two-tier schools system, abolishing middle schools, with pupils changing schools once, at the age of 11.
Councillor Sue Oliver, leader of the Labour group at Borough Hall, claimed that plans for the new system were flawed and that vulnerable children would suffer.
She said: "I find the whole state of affairs concerning to tell the truth.
"It has been a disaster from start to finish, the whole situation is a worry because the government has clobbered kids."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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