The Department for Education has announced that Dunraven’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project will take place as planned.

Last month, the Liberal Democrat – Conservative government announced sweeping cuts to the BSF programme affecting three schools in the Streatham constituency: La Retraite, Bishop Thomas Grant and Dunraven.

Following this announcement, Chuka tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament protesting against the BSF cuts which has been signed by 30 MPs, spoke up for our local school building projects in Parliament and set up an online petition against the cuts which now has over 400 signatures.

As a ’sample’ school, Dunraven’s project faced a review but will now go ahead. Chuka will continue to pressure the government to reverse its decision on La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant schools’ essential projects.

The Save Streatham’s School Building Projects petition can be signed here.

This week, Chuka spoke in an adjournment debate in Parliament on the Liberal Democrat – Conservative government’s cuts to school building projects, making the case for the government to reverse its decision and for the crucial projects at Dunraven, Bishop Thomas Grant and La Retraite to go ahead.
You can watch Chuka’s speech here (it starts at 52m20s in).

To read the speech in full, follow this link

In our area, La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant secondary schools, which were due to benefit from new, state of the art buildings, have seen their BSF projects stopped. As a result La Retraite will remain the only school with post-16 provision in Lambeth without purpose-built sixth form buildings.

The other project at Dunraven School – as one of a handful of ’sample’ projects nationally – has been put in doubt and placed under review. It is crucial that the government announces the time scale and terms of this review, which it has completely failed to do so far. Chuka has tabled a number of Parliamentary questions to Ministers seeking clarification on this for constituents.

Last week, the Liberal Democrat – Conservative government’s Education Secretary Michael Gove announced cuts to the previous government’s ambitious school building programme, Building Schools for the Future (BSF).

School building projects at three local secondary schools are affected, with major rebuilding projects axed at La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant schools and Dunraven School’s project placed in doubt.

To put pressure on the government, Chuka is campaigning alongside students, parents and teachers for the projects to go ahead and for the cuts to funding for new school buildings to be reversed.

He has set up a petition to save Streatham’s school building projects and demand answers from the government – please sign it here.

Chuka has also tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament on the issue, condemning the government’s cancellation of school building projects and calling for answers on projects subject to review such as Dunraven’s. The full text of the EDM and a list of MPs who have signed it can be read here.

Two out of three school building projects in Streatham agreed under the last government have been axed with another put at risk by the Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition, Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced.

Crucial school building projects at La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant schools will no longer go ahead, despite years of planning and preparation.

Dunraven School was listed as one of a handful of “sample projects” which are being reviewed by the government and may still be cancelled.

Since the formation of the coalition government there has been uncertainty about the future of the previous administration’s school building programme, which was the most ambitious undertaken since the Victorian era.
Mr Umunna has pressed ministers for answers on BSF since his election in May. Having asked education ministers to clarify its plans for projects at local schools in a written question on the matter, he received an evasive answer from Schools Minister Nick Gibb, who said: “I will reply as soon as possible”.

Commenting on Tory plans for schools last year, Mr Gibb said: “some of the best new schools in Sweden are set up in office blocks”.

In his maiden speech last month, Mr Umunna highlighted the importance of the BSF programme to local schools and urged the new government to go ahead with the developments.

After Mr Gove made his statement to the House, Mr Umunna rose and asked the Secretary of State to clarify what the implications were for the three BSF projects in his constituency, to which Mr Gove replied:

“Dunraven school is a sample school, and therefore falls within the group of local authority schools that we will look at. Elm Court, a special school in his constituency, has already opened under BSF. I believe that two other schools have not reached financial close, and I will confirm that in my letter to him.”

In his speech, Mr Gove also criticised the design and delivery of BSF projects. However, the innovative new sports hall at Dunraven School which was funded through BSF was a finalist in the Better Public Building awards and was praised by judges as:“an extremely cheap new facility built with remarkable speed – and it looks good.”

In the recent by-election in the Tulse Hill ward in the Streatham parliamentary constituency, Liberal Democrat literature promised “more money for schools, and the Liberal Democrat manifesto said: “We will provide a fair start for all children by giving schools the extra money they need to cut class sizes. We will invest additional money in the schools system to allow schools to cut class sizes.”

Commenting, Chuka Umunna MP said: “I am bitterly disappointed that these projects have been cancelled and I feel that local students, teachers and school governors have been betrayed by the coalition government.

“Our young people deserve the very best, and the BSF school building programme meant an education in twenty first century surroundings for all. I am concerned that because of the government’s decision this week, our children are being sold sort.”

After weeks of uncertainty, the new Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition government yesterday admitted that it would, as was feared, cut Labour’s Building Schools for the Future programme. Building projects at two Streatham schools, La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant, will be stopped as a result. Meanwhile building work at Dunraven School is under review and may be cancelled as well.

Having spent the last two months pushing for the government to reveal its intentions in this area, Chuka asked Education Secretary Michael Gove in Parliament yesterday what the cuts would mean for Streatham schools. He criticised the government for refusing to disclose the full details of the BSF cut:

“We are in the absurd position of constantly having to ask the Secretary of State to read from his list. I know precisely which schools in my area have not reached financial close, but I do not know if they have got to the close of dialogue stage. Those three schools are La Retraite, Dunraven and Bishop Thomas Grant. Can he tell me from his list whether they will go ahead?”

Failing to clarify the situation, the Secretary of State gave the following reply:

“Dunraven school is a sample school, and therefore falls within the group of local authority schools that we will look at. Elm Court, a special school in his constituency, has already opened under BSF. I believe that two other schools have not reached financial close, and I will confirm that in my letter to him.”

Only in his letter to Chuka did Mr Gove confirm that building work at La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant would no longer go ahead. The cuts come after years of planning and preparation, will pull much needed investment out of the local economy in Streatham and represent a bitter blow to the children, parents and governors of the schools in question.

In this video, Chuka discusses Labour’s delivery for education locally outside Lambeth Academy in Clapham, which opened in 2004.

Continuing a more detailed look at the Labour Manifesto we highlight our provisions for a better and fairer education system: Fairer funding for schools with a high intake of students from more deprived families, no pupil left behind and a continued emphasis on the importance of Sure Start.

Frontline spending on Sure Start will continue to increase under Labour – it is such an important institution that we must ensure that it continues to flourish. Labour is committed to extending and improving the services offered by Sure Start, expanding education for under fives at children’s centres.

Labour is leading the way in pledging to provide greater flexibility in the provision of childcare, making sure that parents have the options that suit them.

Labour has pledged to extend the number of free early learning places to two-year olds from disadvantaged families, a step on the way to creating universal free childcare for this age group.

Although the number of underachieving schools has decreased over the last 13 years, Labour will not tolerate any schools that are not providing the best possible education for our children.

Struggling schools will be taken over by local school leaders, creating school groups and federations and where parents are concerned about a school’s leadership they will be able to ballot for a change in leadership. The introduction of school report cards will give parents full information about schools’ parental satisfaction levels, behaviour records and students progress.

Labour will ensure that no child is left behind in education. The commitment to giving disadvantaged families free access to broadband, ensuring that no child’s education suffers because of disadvantage. Labour will expand specialist teachers to help children with dyslexia and increase teacher training for children with autism.

Finally, free school meals will be extended to include a further 500,000 primary school children from families on low incomes and universal free school meals for primary children are being piloted in areas across the country.

If you are interested in reading the manifesto in more details then you can download it from the education manifesto page of the Labour Party website.

In this video, Chuka discusses Labour’s delivery for children and families in the Streatham constituency outside Sunnyhill School and Children’s Centre, of which he is a governor.

Last month, the Prime Minister and Ed Balls visited Streatham to open the country’s 3,500th centre.

To find out more about the Sure Start programme and the difference it has made locally, follow this link.

School building projects at four local schools could face the axe if the Conservatives win power, it has emerged this week.

Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb has admitted that under a Conservative government, only school building schemes at the ‘financial close’ stage of development would be guaranteed funding.

This would mean that over 750 school building projects across the country could be scrapped, which would include planned developments at St Martin in the Fields, Dunraven, La Retraite and Bishop Thomas Grant schools.

Lambeth has benefitted from more than £280 million in educational funding through the government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The money is being used to expand school places, provide new state of the art classrooms and learning environments and facilities for students.

Last year, an innovative and environmentally-sustainable new sports hall at Dunraven School built with former shipping containers and funded through the BSF programme was opened.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham said: “The Conservatives refuse to guarantee our programme of improving school buildings in this constituency which is deeply concerning.

“Schools in our area have been transformed since I went to school here myself in the 1980s and our excellent new school buildings and facilities have played a major part in this. If we are to provide the best education for our children, this investment must continue.”

Ed Balls said: “This revelation means hundreds of new school buildings right across the country face the axe if the Tories win the election.

“It’s particularly shocking that even building projects which are already a long way down the track could be cancelled by the Conservatives in just a matter of weeks.”

Labour is expanding the number of school places for local children.

An extra 300 reception class places will be made available across Lambeth over the next three years after the council received £9 million from the government to boost school places – part of a major investment programme helping local authorities under pressure from increases in school numbers.

Classrooms are being created at the most popular schools to meet short-term demand, including Jubilee, Hitherfield, Crown Lane and Immanuel and St Andrew schools.

The Woodfield Centre in Dingley Lame, an unoccupied former special school, is being converted to provide an extra 420 primary school places by 2016. It will operate as a federation with thriving Henry Cavendish Primary School.

In our manifesto, Labour is pledging:

• A choice of good schools for parents in every area.

• An expansion in out-of-hours provision at primary schools, so that childcare and activities are available from 8am to 6pm at a local school for all parents.

• To extend free school meals so that an extra half a million primary school children from low-income households can benefit.