9th July 2010

Angry About BSF

I was bitterly disappointed with the government’s decision to cancel the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.  Chantry and Stoke High Schools have worked hard to design new buildings that will inspire local children and parents.  They had hoped that BSF funding would soon make these dreams a reality; those hopes have now been put on hold.

Why has the BSF programme been stopped?

BSF was a massive programme to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in the country by 2023.  Like any big government project, BSF had attracted the usual crowd of consultants, advisers, jobsworths and bureaucrats that we have come to know and loath – each of them taking their cut.

You will be able to spot two problems already.

First, BSF was over-ambitious: it lacked any sense of priority with the result that some schools that could have waited were completely rebuilt whilst others that desperately needed a new building, like Chantry, were left to wait.

Secondly, the scheme was hopelessly complicated.  Any school wanting to get BSF money had to fill in, file or comply with more than 60 official documents.  On average it took nearly 3 years from the start of a BSF scheme to the point where the first concrete was poured.

As a result, every BSF school cost twice what it cost to build an equivalent school in Ireland.  And the programme was seizing up: of the 200 schools programmed to have been rebuilt by the end of 2008, only 35 were actually completed.

In short, we were spending too much money and too much time building too few schools.  This waste of time and money now was making it less likely that we could build new schools in years to come.  BSF was effectively stealing from the children of tomorrow to pay for the previous government’s election promises today.

Yet none of that changes the reality for Stoke and Chantry, which is that they do not have the new schools they were promised.

I am very angry about this.

Whilst I can understand why BSF was cancelled, we now have no idea when these schools can expect badly-needed work to begin.

I have already told ministers that this is unacceptable.  I explained that we need a plan – and soon – to show when the money allocated for new school buildings will come to Ipswich.

BSF was clearly no good.  But I will not support its cancellation until a credible alternative takes its place.  And I shall do all I can to ensure that Chantry and Stoke get the new schools they deserve.

Unfair Maiden

Questioning ministers on BSF gave me the first opportunity to speak in the House on your behalf.  I have to admit that I was petrified: I am happy giving speeches but speaking in front of other MPs and on camera is another thing.  When eventually I was called to ask my question, I got the full blast of yelled abuse from the other side, which strangely steadied my nerves.

On Tuesday I gave my first proper speech – my maiden speech.  I spoke about the investment in roads and rail we so badly need in Ipswich and about prison reform – of which more another time.

The convention in these speeches is for the new MP to pay tribute to the previous MP and to describe, with great praise, the new constituency.  It was a genuine pleasure to do both – and a great honour to commit myself publicly, in Parliament, to your service over the years to come.