24 October 2003
Liverpool City Council is hoping to pay for a £120m schools upgrade with funding from a new government programme for deprived areas.
The council's Cabinet met on October 17 to discuss an application under the Department for Education and Skills' Building Schools for the Future programme, which identifies local education authorities in need of cash to improve school buildings and facilities.
Schools minister David Miliband launched the fund earlier this year. The department uses various indexes, linked to deprivation factors such as the number of pupils receiving free school meals and low attainment levels, to determine which LEAs qualify for cash.
Liverpool plans to upgrade up to 20 schools under the initiative, which is funded directly by the DfES and does not involve any controversial financing plans, such as the Private Finance Initiative.
A spokesman for the council told Public Finance: 'We're keen to get the funding. What must be considered by the [council's] Cabinet is the most appropriate use of the cash something the DfES is keen to ensure.'
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