Peter Lazenby
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THE government has made a fanfare announcement of £1 billion of spending on the refurbishment of schools, but the cash represents yet another real-terms cut, according to the National Education Union (NEU).
Education Secretary James Cleverly said today that 61 schools would receive funding to improve their buildings, with work due to start immediately.
While welcoming the cash injection, NEU joint general secretary Kevin Courtney highlighted that, in real terms, the sum was still £1.9bn less than was provided in 2009.
“It needs to be compared against what has been cut, which is 50 times larger,” he pointed out.
“Capital spending was the largest cut to education and was imposed immediately after the 2010 election.
“If the government had not cut Labour’s school rebuilding programme, £27bn more would have been spent on school and college buildings.”
Mr Courtney said that the National Audit Office has estimated that schools need £13.8bn to be restored to a “good” condition.
