Government names schools to receive delayed Priority School Building funding

Repair, rebuilding or refurbishment of the schools, which were selected from 587 applicants as having the "greatest need", will begin immediately with the first new schools set to open in 2014, the Government said.

Of those schools, 42 deemed to be "in the very worst condition" or those for children with special educational needs will receive share of a Government capital grant to complete the work. The remaining projects will be funded by way of a £2 billion private finance initiative (PFI) model, to be "aligned" with the results of the Government's ongoing review of PFI.

In a written ministerial statement, education secretary Michael Gove said that unsuccessful schools with "significant condition needs" will have their needs met through additional Government funding made available for maintenance or would be prioritised in the next funding round. The Department for Education (DfE) is currently collating information about the condition of every school in the country, a project which was last completed in 2005.

"We have had to take difficult decisions in order to target spending on those schools that are in the worst condition," Gove said. "In order to ensure that the process was robust and fair, a qualified surveyor has visited every school for which an eligible application was received to verify the condition of the buildings. This was necessary to make sure the schools being taken forward are those with the greatest overall condition need."

The PSBP is intended to address the needs of the schools in the worst condition in the country, with funding resources allocated from a set budget according to need. The Government has been criticised for its delays to the programme, which replaces the previous government's £55 billion Building Schools for the Future scheme, which was cancelled in July 2010. Following an application process which began in July 2011, schools had expected to hear if their applications had been successful last December.

David Simmons, chair of the Children and Young People Board at the Local Government Association (LGA), said that although the funding would "go some way" to addressing the needs of "some of our most dilapidated schools", more than 300 applicants had only now discovered they were unsuccessful after "lengthy delays".

"With councils stretched education budgets having already suffered a 32% cut there is little room for manoeuvre at a local level," he said. "Schools can wait three months to repair a leaky roof if they know that at some point it will be fixed, but the very suggestion that schools should wait several more years for answers ... threatens intolerable delays that could severely impact on our children's education."

Infrastructure law expert Kate Orviss of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com welcomed the announcement, but called on the Government to confirm further details.

"In the current climate any announcement of new schemes, addressing the dire need for improved education facilities in some of the worst schools in the country, must be a positive step forward," she said. "Given that the precise details of how these schools will be procured have not yet been shares it is imperative that the Government quickly follows up with specific detail."

Gove said that the programme would take a "more efficient, faster, less bureaucratic approach" to building schools than the "wasteful" processes of the past. Part of this will come from a standardised "baseline design" approach for new school buildings, as well as reduced regulations and guidance. In addition, schools are to be given "greater flexibility" to manage their own cleaning, catering and security arrangements.