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(Not) Building Schools for the Future?

Richard Moss|13:56 UK time, Sunday, 23 May 2010

Crumbling window frame at Hurworth SchoolWe should get more detail this week about just where the axe may fall in terms of cuts, but already there are plenty of people worried.

They include head teachers in schools which thought they were next in line for money from the Building Schools for the Future campaign.

Schools in Cumbria, Darlignton, Gateshead, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton, North Tyneside and Durham are waiting to complete contracts for more than £1bn.

Many thought their new school buildings were all but approved, but a change of government has thrown that into doubt.

The Politics Show visited Hurworth School near Darlington this week. A school which has waited for years for a new building.

Consequently, its building is not looking good, but what now are its chances of an upgrade?

The mood music from the new coalition isn't great.

They want to review all of Labour's spending commitments, and that's likely to include the school building programme.

On the Politics Show today, the new Conservative MP for Stockton South, James Wharton, insisted that doesn't mean all the projects will be stopped.

James Wharton MPInstead, he said they'll be reviewed case by case.

But he believes Building Schools for the Future hasn't always delivered for communities.

He points to the strings attached to some projects, including the controversial plans to put a new school on the site of Preston Park in Teesside.

Instead, he believes some communities - including in his own constituency - might benefit more from the Tories' Free Schools programme.

This is where groups could be free to set up their own new schools. He's already talking to a group of parents in Stockton South who are interested in doing just that.

For Labour though, it's straightforward. The money for new schools was promised and budgeted for and should be delivered.

It does though look like the golden age of school building has come to an end.

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