Cllr Henry Smith's School Buildings Legacy

I recently exposed a damning insight into the current situation of school buildings across West Sussex after years of Tory neglect. The current estimated backlog of repairs for school buildings is £82m. This includes leaking roofs, faulty electrics and unreliable boilers. The backlog estimate will be revised following a programme of condition surveys that will be complete by April 2010.

I was astounded to learn that the current estimated backlog of repairs for school buildings in West Sussex stands at £82m. This will be one of Cllr Henry Smith’s legacies of his Tory leadership of West Sussex County Council (above). Not only was Thatcher the “milk-snatcher” but successive Tory Governments of 1979-1997 left a long-standing legacy of crumbling schools.

I welcome West Sussex County Council’s “Expression of Interest” for funding, submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, for the Building Schools for the Future programme to improve school buildings in Worthing.

Although the Labour Government first launched the Building Schools for the Future programme in 2005/06 it has emerged that it took West Sussex County Council until November 2008 to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request – three years following the launch of the programme.

The Worthing area has been prioritised for West Sussex County Council’s Expression of Interest. The £80m bid, if successful, would see six schools benefit in Worthing. These schools would include:

Worthing High School
Durrington High School
Davison CE High School for Girls
St Andrew’s CE High School
Chatsmore High School
Oak Grove College

The Freedom of Information request reveals that if successful the county council will be outlining detailed proposals for each school, including a review of the Age of Transfer for pupils in the Worthing area.

The Labour Government has pumped money into improving school buildings and enhancing standards in our schools. If you ask any Head Teacher they will tell you how funding per pupil has drastically increased under Labour – an increase in 87% in real terms, with £5,430 spent on every pupil every year. Only this could be achieved under a Labour Government.