LAs should have checked cancelled BSF list

Released 28/07/2010

Partnerships for Schools accuses DfE of ignoring advice

The chief executive of Partnerships for Schools, the agency responsible for the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, accused the Department for Education of ignoring his advice to check the cancelled list of school projects with local authorities.

Giving evidence to the Education Committee on 27 July, Tim Byles said: "When we were asked to provide a detailed list of all schools - both those in procurement and those in pre-procurement - we advised the Department [for Education] that it would be wise to validate this information with each local authority due to the inherent risk or errors. This advice was not followed and a number of errors arose."

Education Secretary Michael Gove had to apologise earlier this month after an inaccurate list of 719 English schools affected by the decision was published.

Shadow education secretary Ed Balls also spoke to the committee. He said the decision to axe BSF had been disorganised and "last-minute" and had disappointed around 17,000 children.

Additional sources: BBC

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