BSF Programme Accelerates

Barnet, Bolton, Hampshire, Peterborough, Sunderland and Wigan are to join the BSF programme, Schools Secretary Ed Balls announced today.

These projects have been assessed as fully ready to deliver and will join more than 1000 individual building, rebuilding or renewal BSF projects already under way across 80 local authorities in England

It means the six can immediately start planning with around £500m funding released from 2011-12. The project in Sunderland, already in BSF’s first wave, is worth £100m and the remaining five worth around £80m each.

Mr Balls also announced another six local authority projects will join the programme in three months time and another six in the last quarter of the 2009-10 – maintaining the current pace of delivery.

Momentum has built quickly this year with 86 schools which have benefited from BSF investment now open, more than double the number in December.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: "The Government's unprecedented investment in school buildings and new facilities has benefited every school in every area of the country. As well as transforming the education of children, our investment is supporting local jobs and businesses, particularly in the construction industry. That's why we have brought forward almost £1 billion of capital investment for schools this year to support the economy during the recession.

“BSF is the most ambitious public building programme for decades, revamping the entire secondary school estate. The progress is undeniable – and BSF is building momentum rapidly month-by-month, term-by-term with superb facilities across the country transforming the way that teachers teach and young people learn.”

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said: “Repeated independent evaluations show that BSF is delivering – with the National Audit Office making it crystal clear that it is making it easier for local authorities to invest and plan for the long-term; that the project has strong management in place and costs are under control.”