Building Schools for the future (BSF) announcement

Education Secretary, Michael Gove announced on 5 July that plans to transform 15 high and special schools and build a new high school under BSF would be stopped and projects at two 'sample' schools (Cardinal Wiseman and Dormers Wells) were being reviewed. A scheme to extend the West London Academy is also held up pending the review.

The news came as a bitter blow with the council which was only weeks away from finalising contracts and setting up a local education partnership with Balfour Beatty Education and BSFi (the investment arm of Partnerships for Schools).

Ealing Cabinet response

Council Leader, Julian Bell said: "We have a growing population and are in desperate need of more school places, particularly for children with special educational needs. Through the BSF programme we expected to have built classrooms for more than 3,000 extra high school pupils by 2014. We know we need at least one more high school in the north of the borough and significant investment in our existing schools. What is not clear now is how this will be funded.

"Already we have sixth form pupils sitting in temporary classrooms expecting new classrooms to be built under BSF that now won't go ahead."

Further information

View information about the BSF plans before the announcement was made.