Crawley MP, Henry Smith, has today welcomed the news that the Government has announced an extra £2.35 billion to create more school places. This is in addition to the £5 billion that is already being spent in this parliament. This means that between 2014 and 2017 schools in West Sussex will receive £28,043,045. This is part of the Government’s long-term plan to give every young person the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
It is the first time that councils have had 3-year allocations of funding to spend on school places, so West Sussex County Council can plan ahead and ensure every child has a school place. This Government has already created 260,000 new school places and this announcement means thousands more are on the way.
Henry commented:
“It’s great news for local young people that this Government has found £28 million of extra funding to ensure every child has a place at school so that they can fulfil their potential.
“The last Labour government ignored the fact that rising birth rates meant we’ll need thousands more school places in the coming years, and did nothing to prepare.
“This comes as part of the Government’s long-term plan to create an education system that gives young people who want to work hard the skills they need to get on in life and have a more secure and better future.”
Follow Henry daily via:
Notes
Department for Education, 19 December 2013, link