Rescue bid for axed school projects

THE three political leaders on Warrington Borough Council – Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour – have joined forces in a new bid to “rescue” four school building projects in the town which were axed by the coalition government last year.
Council leader Ian Marks, Lib Dem, his deputy Keith Bland, Conservative, and Labour leader Terry O’Neill have signed a letter to education secretary Michael Gove, setting out the case for investment in Warrington.
They suggest that Warrington should be regarded as a special case because of its different approach, which involved a partnership with the neighbouring borough of Halton.
The building programme involved Penketh, Lysander, William Beamont and Sir Thomas Boteler high schools, which were all due to be funded as part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme initiated by the previous Labour government
Warrington’s letter comes in the wake of a recent decision by the High Court in response to a challenge brought by six other councils over the scrapping of BSF.
It explains that Warrington had entered into a joint procurement process with Halton.
As a result, at the time BSF was axed, it might have appeared that Warrington had only reached an early stage of the process while in fact it had progressed much further, through the joint arrangements with Halton.
The letter states: “The agreement with Halton was that Warrington projects would be blended into the construction programme so that our projects would immediately follow the Halton sample schemes. To this end we had completed design development, feasibility studies and site surveys.”
Because of this approach, Warrington believes it is different to other project which were halted because they were much further ahead in timescales and commitment – although this may not have been apparent at the time.
In addition, Warrington had been given support in writing to commence the Orford Park Project, which was reliant on approximately £2.4 million capital investment from BSF to provide new sports facilities for William Beamont High School.
The letter adds: “We believe that you may not have been aware of the special circumstances affecting Warrington schools when you made your announcement.
“In the light of this and the recent legal judgment, we request that consideration be given to the reinstatement of these four projects.”
Copies of the letter have also been sent to the town’s MPs, Helen Jones (Labour) and David Mowat (Conservative).
Pictured right, from the top, Ian Marks, Keith Bland and Terry O’Neill.