Stop hoarding vital cash for school buildings - Kirsty Williams

3.20.00pm GMT Wed 26th Nov 2008

As thousands of children across Wales are being taught in schools which are unfit for purpose, the Welsh Liberal Democrats will today push for the Labour-Plaid Government to release vital cash from the Strategic Capital Investment Framework to invest in school building improvements.

The Assembly Government has £400 million set aside for the Strategic Capital Investment Framework, which is supposed to be used for projects like this, but so far most of it has not been allocated.

Kirsty Williams, Welsh Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson said:

"It is an absolute disgrace that children across Wales are being taught in classrooms unfit for purpose. It is not fair that children and teachers have to be in a school with crumbling walls, collapsing ceilings and cold draughty windows. The school inspectorate Estyn reported the many benefits of teaching in refurbished buildings, from improved teaching quality, better exam results and positive impact on behaviour.

"The Labour Party has long promised they would bring the buildings up to scratch but it is clear that, now with their Plaid Cymru coalition partners on board, this is not going to happen.

"There have been no firm commitments from the Labour-Plaid Government on how much money they plan to invest, how many schools they hope to improve, to what standard these schools will be improved, or on how long this will take.

"The One Wales delivery plan simply says that 'Upgrading will continue through the planning period with increased funding in the budget.' This is a very typical vague commitment from the Labour-Plaid Government on what should be one of the Government's top priorities.

"The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling on the Assembly Government to use a significant amount of its Strategic Capital Investment Framework to fund the school buildings programme. The SCIF is £400 million in total, and so far the Assembly Government has only committed itself to spending £66.3 million of this.

"Upgrading school buildings is necessary to improve educational standards in schools, but in the current economic climate, there is a great need for the Assembly Government to invest in large scale building programmes. This doesn't have to be just about schools, but hospitals and housing as well.

"Bringing school buildings up to scratch needs to be a large-scale co-ordinated programme, and to do this, the Assembly Government needs a significant amount of money."