Gove tells councils he is sorry over BSF

9 Jul 10
Education Secretary Michael Gove has extended his apology over the school building fiasco to local government leaders
By Vivienne Russell

9 July 2010

Education Secretary Michael Gove has extended his apology over the school building fiasco to local government leaders.

Addressing the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Bournemouth yesterday, Gove said that the confusion that surrounded his decision to scrap Building Schools for the Future showed he had ‘failed’.

‘It was my failure to provide totally accurate information on a school-by-school basis about which schools would be affected. I’m the person responsible, and accountable, for that and I do apologise,’ Gove said.

‘I wish in particular to apologise to people in those local authorities such as Sandwell, who are doing such a great job, where schools were wrongly informed their rebuilding would proceed under BSF when, sadly, it will not. I want to apologise to them unreservedly.’

Sandwell councillors called the BSF confusion ‘bizarre and disgraceful’ and said they intended to challenge the decision. Other local authorities have said they intend to lobby ministers for future assurances over capital investment.

But Gove told the LGA that the end of BSF did not mean the end of new school building.

‘My department will work with you to identify how we can allocate capital more quickly and fairly in future,’ the education secretary said.

‘Many schools, including in areas where BSF has been halted, will receive capital in due course for refurbishment and rebuilding. Making sure that money was in your hands has always been my aim and that is the principle which will guide our policymaking.’

Gove said he wanted to scrap BSF because it was ‘insufficiently respectful of the expertise [local authorities] have, and was wasteful of the limited resources you have at your disposal’.

He added that he expected the team that is reviewing BSF to come up with a system that places much more power in local hands.

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