Local MP Jack Lopresti has put in a good word for a Patchway school during a parliamentary debate on Education.
In a session dedicated to topical questions, the Filton and Bradley Stoke MP asked Education Secretary Michael Gove:
“My right hon. Friend will be aware that his Department has received a bid from Patchway Community College in my constituency for investment under the Government’s Priority Schools Building Programme. Given that the school was overlooked by the previous Government’s Building Schools for the Future Programme, will he look seriously at Patchway’s deserving bid? I must tell the House that one of my children still goes to that school.”
The parliamentary exchange follows a recent decision by South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet to back bids by a number of local schools for a share of the £2billion Government programme.
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme, aimed at helping schools in the worst condition or in desperate need of additional places for pupils, requires successful schools to enter into a 25+ year facilities management agreement with the private contractor that provides funding.
The Government says it is aiming to inform schools of the outcome of their applications by December 2011.
Related link: SGC Cabinet Meeting Agenda, 3rd October 2011
