The government is to be applauded for putting £2bn more into school building but needs to deliver on better information

Steve Beechey

Since the original (and seismic) announcement of the Priority School Ðǿմ«Ã½ Programme way back in 2012, observers across the education sector have pondered the question: what’s next? While the education secretary’s pledge to rebuild 261 schools across England was a significant one, it was clear from the outset that this positive step forward needed to act as the first building block in a wider rebuilding of the school estate.

Construction in particular waited with interest to hear whether the gaps in the programme around refurbishment and repairs were going to be filled by the coalition or kicked into the long grass of the next parliament. It was with this as background that the industry waited for news about the fate of those schools which missed out on the first round of priority funding announced two years ago. &