Michael Gove announces over £2 billion for more school places
19 Dec 2013 11:35 AM
Education Secretary Michael Gove has issued a written ministerial statement on funding allocations.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced £2.35 billion to create more school places up to 2017. This is in addition to the £5 billion that will have been spent on new school places by 2015.
It is the first time councils have had 3-year allocations of funding to spend on school places. It means they can plan ahead and ensure every child has a school place.
In a written ministerial statement issued yesterday, Mr Gove announced that 260,000 new school places have been created to date, and that many more were on their way.
He also announced:
- Sebastian James’s review of progress since his original report on education capital
- the dedicated schools grant for 2014 to 2015
- further information on the £150 million of capital funding to support universal free school meals
Education Secretary Michael Gove said:
This government’s overriding priority for capital investment is to ensure every child has a place at school. Demographic pressures have put strain on schools in many parts of the country. That is why we have more than doubled funding for new places to £5 billion in this parliament. By May 2013, this investment had already helped to create an additional 260,000 school places with more still to come. Today I am announcing an additional £2.35 billion to support local authorities to plan and create new school places that will be needed by 2017.
Notes to editors