Gove under pressure over schools blunder
Updated on 07 July 2010
Education Secretary Michael Gove has apologised to the Commons for what Channel 4 News political correspondent Cathy Newman calls a "really embarrassing blunder" over school building projects.
Education Secretary Michael Gove made his Commons statement over incorrect information contained in a Department for Education list setting out which school building projects are to be scrapped.
The publication of the list followed Mr Gove's Commons announcement on Monday that the £55bn Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF) is to be abandoned. He said the programme had been beset by "massive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy".
He told Commons Speaker John Bercow: "I'm grateful to you and to the whole house for granting me the opportunity to make this statement, and once again to unreservedly apologise.
"In particular there were schools which were listed as proceeding, when in fact their re-build will not now go ahead," he said.
"That confusion caused Members of this House and members of the public understandable distress and concern, and I wish to take full personal responsibility for that regrettable error."
The comments led Labour MPs to shout "resign".
Impact of schools building project cancellations by BSF authority
- Download the original list
Shadow education minister Vernon Coaker thanked Mr Gove for "finally" apologising for the "serious errors" he had made in his statement on Monday.
"It is right that he has apologised to this House but he should also apologise to all the pupils and parents and teachers expecting new buildings who have now had them cruelly snatched away," Mr Coaker said.
"The chaos and confusion around this statement was frankly astonishing."
The first DfE publication, which appeared after Monday's Commons statement, detailed how the building plans of 1,500 schools would be affected.
715 schools were told their rebuilding projects had been cancelled.
'A really embarrassing blunder'
This is a really embarrassing blunder by the department, particularly as MPs are super-sensitive about school projects being cancelled in their areas, says Channel 4 News political correspondent Cathy Newman
Mr Gove certainly made a pretty grovelling apology. He apologised repeatedly to the Commons, first for failing to put that full list of school rebuilding projects that are going to be cancelled in the Commons library, so he didn't tell MPs properly. And then for the errors in the list - he said he was given the wrong information, but he did take full personal responsibility.
But this is much bigger than a merel political spat, though, because the fact is that MPs of all political persuasions are deeply concerned about their schools rebuilding projects being axed. This is a real litmus test for the cuts the government wants to push through. Are they brave enough to push ahead with this in the face of all this anger?
Labour MP Tom Watson subsequently called Mr Gove "a miserable pipsqueak" - a remark which he later withdrew.
The DfE today published a corrected list. The information errors mean several schools who thought their building projects were safe have now been told they will not go ahead.
It means that an extra 10 schools – nine in Sandwell and one in Doncaster – have had their projects stopped. A further 11 school projects are now up for discussion.
Sandwell Council Deputy Leader Steve Eling told Channel 4 News this would create "a two-tier educational system for Sandwell, of those schools which have been modernised and those which have not".
And we warned that if this was a political decision, his council would consider testing it in court.
'A really embarrassing blunder’
"We've been given no explanation as to how or why it happened," Sandwell Council Deputy Leader Steve Eling told Channel 4 News.
"What's been withdrawn from the programme, the underlying business case - work was approved for that some months ago. So it's been through all the rigour as to whether or not the programme stands up.
"We've been given no objective explanation as to why the programme is not deemed robust now. There’s been no formal explanation.
"It could well be political. My understanding is that 11 schools have been taken out of the list, compared to the one that was originally deposited. Out of those, nine schools are in Sandwell.
"If this is a political decision, then we think we would have recourse to go to the courts – and we are giving consideration to that. Clearly we will have to act on legal advice, and something is wrong.
"All those schools' expectations were raised and now they've been badly let down. The secretary of state seems to have done nothing to apologise to those schools – and they're the victims.
"We ought to be looking for an apology from him to those schools. It means they are not going to be the 21st century standard schools they were going to be.
"Indeed, our private sector partners in this have invested a lot of money, and they're not going to be particularly happy.
"The council and the partners have invested money. Locally, we've developed this as a complete programme, so the partners in the local education partnership – Interserve, Cambridge Education – have invested fairly substantial sums in this programme, as have we, including officer time, to produce an outline business case for Wave Five.
"This will create a two-tier educational system for Sandwell, of those schools that have been modernised and those which have not."
