Michael Gove axes funding for upgrades of nearly 200 schools in London

"Judgment call": Michael Gove tore up Labour’s refurbishment scheme
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Nearly 200 schools in London today had funding slashed as the cuts programme began to bite.

Education Secretary Michael Gove tore up Labour's Building Schools for the Future programme this afternoon.

Boroughs hardest hit are set to be Wandsworth, Ealing, Newham, Camden, Waltham Forest, Barking, Hillingdon and Lambeth, according to Labour sources.

Each of them are expected to see funding for at least a dozen school upgrade projects shelved.

Department for Education sources insisted that some of the schools may still get funding once capital spending is decided after the comprehensive spending review in the autumn.

They also stressed that funding would be prioritised to deal with the shortage of primary school places, which is a major problem in parts of the capital, and to rebuild very rundown schools, rather than Labour's aim to achieve educational "transformation" through improving the teaching environment.

"Michael Gove's judgment call is it is more important to invest in high-quality teaching, and high-quality teachers, than it is to invest in architect designed landmarked buildings," said his Cabinet colleague Philip Hammond.

"What Michael Gove is talking about today is cancelling a programme of new schools building. That is not cutting."

The move means about 700 schools across the country will no longer get funding through the refurbishment scheme.

Shadow education secretary Ed Balls warned that ditching the school upgrades would be "disastrous news for hundreds of thousands of teachers, parents and pupils". He defended the £55 billion programme which aimed to renew 3,500 secondary schools across England.

But ministers accuse Mr Balls of reckless budgeting when he was in charge, including allocating money under "end of year flexibility" which they claim he could not guarantee.

This afternoon Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander announced £1.5 billion in cuts across four key Whitehall departments.

Education loses the lion's share of the cash, with £1 billion in cuts, while the Department for Business loses £265 million, the Department for Communities £220 million and the Home Office £55 million.

Mr Alexander said that it was Labour's fault that it had promised the projects without having the money to pay for them.

The Department for Education said that the £1 billion reduction would only mean £156 million cuts because some projects would be slipped into next year.

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