Local MP, Justin Tomlinson has welcomed the news that the Government has announced an extra £2.35 billion to create more school places. This is in addition to the £5 billion that is already being spent in this parliament. This means that between 2014 and 2017 schools in Swindon will receive £2.2m. This is part of the Government’s long-term plan to give every young person the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
It is the first time that councils have had 3-year allocations of funding to spend on school places, so Swindon Borough Council can plan ahead and ensure every child has a school place. This Government has already created 260,000 new school places and this announcement means thousands more are on the way.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: "As a member of the cross-party Public Accounts Committee we published a report condemning the last Labour government for cutting 200,000 school places during the midst of a baby boom, absolutely crazy politics. We saw first-hand what pressure this created on local school places, so it is great news for young people in Swindon that this Conservative Government has found billions of extra funding to ensure every child has a place at school so that they can fulfil their potential. This is part of our long-term plan to create an education system that gives young people who want to work hard the skills they need to get on in life and have a more secure and better future".
Education Secretary, Michael Gove MP, said: "Labour were warned repeatedly that they hadn’t done enough to plan for a growing population – and once more it’s been left to the Coalition Government to clean up the mess. Labour cut 200,000 primary places, slashed the amount spent on areas of population growth, and let immigration soar – and all this in the middle of a baby boom. The Coalition Government has, however, taken swift action to repair the damage. We have more than doubled funding for new school places and we are also setting up great new free schools, which are giving parents a choice of high quality school places in areas Labour neglected. Ed Miliband is too weak to apologise for the shortage of school places his government left behind and too weak to stand up to the unions and back free schools".
