School building project referred to FoI watchdog

SANDWELL Council is calling in the Freedom of Information watchdog to get to the bottom of the Government’s refusal to explain why it would not fund plans to rebuild crumbling schools in the borough.

Council chiefs say the issue is too important to generations of children to be allowed to remain secret.

They have lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office over the Department for Education’s (DfE) claim the decision-making process – affecting ten schools – is exempt under Freedom of Information rules.

The move is the latest twist in a long-running battle over the fate of Building Schools for the Future (BSF), a £55bn scheme axed by the Government last summer.

Sandwell and five other local authorities took the Government to the High Court over the decision – and claimed victory after the judge ordered the DfE to reconsider the merits of each axed school project.

However, Mr Gove later dashed hopes by saying he was “not minded” to fund BSF – his reason was he could not compare the state of Sandwell’s schools with that of others across the country.

This prompted the council to submit its FoI request seeking evidence of how the decision was reached, including copies of reports, submissions, minutes of meetings and discussions, notes, emails, letters and any other relevant documents.

Cllr Darren Cooper, council leader, said: “We want to know how they came to such a bizarre decision not to let BSF go ahead; the Government was told by the High Court to look again at our schools not at others elsewhere in the country.

“They they wouldn’t tell us, saying they didn’t have to, but to my mind that is wrong; this is not about policy-making, it’s about a decision affecting generations of children and we are entitled to know the reasons behind it.

“This is too important a matter to let drop, not for me or the council, but for all the young people whose future is at stake.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office has a range of powers including compelling the disclosure of requested information.