Academies Bill [Lords]

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

I have visited some of the most run-down and socially disadvantaged areas in the country—as other Members on both sides of the Committee will have done, and as the Minister will no doubt be doing—and seen the transformation that can be created by the building of a new school, at a cost of perhaps £30 million. Local people have told me, “This is the first time for years that the state has invested any significant sums in our community.” We tend to say, “Perhaps we can save a bit of money here and save a bit of money there”, but the symbolism of those schools in those areas cannot possibly be underestimated. That, I think, is what my hon. Friend meant when she said that Building Schools for the Future was not just about buildings, but about transformation and improving opportunities and life chances.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

The fact that 26 of our schools in Liverpool missed the boat and had their BSF projects cancelled was not due to the bureaucracy to which Government Members keep referring. A detailed reorganisation ensured that we now have the right number of schools for the right number of students in the right areas. We do not need any more schools in Liverpool, but we do need schools with suitable buildings in which young people can learn. It is an absolute disgrace that young people in Liverpool will miss out on those suitable premises on the whim of this untested, untrialled free school process on which there has been no consultation.

May I ask my hon. Friend—

[The Second Deputy Chairman]

Briefly.

[Luciana Berger]

May I ask my hon. Friend, very briefly, whether he agrees with what was said the other day by the hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes)? The hon. Gentleman said:

“It would be a nonsense to take money that could be used for improving existing schools to create new schools where, on the ground, the will of the local community is for the existing schools to continue.”

[Vernon Coaker]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the devastating impact of the cuts in the Building Schools for the Future programme on Liverpool, although, of course, it can be seen throughout the country. She is also right to draw attention to the comments of the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, who asked why money should be withheld from perfectly adequate existing schools to create new schools. That is a question that the Minister responsible for schools will have to answer.