£20M SCHOOL REVAMP AT ISSUE

24 August 2005

Parents demanding to know how the council will fund a proposed £20 million revamp of a Swansea comprehensive are still being left in the dark. Bishop Gore School could be given the multi-million pound facelift as part of a massive shake-up of the city's education system.

There are concerns the expensive plans could mean cuts to other budgets.

The authority insists it is confident the money will be available to carry out the work.But it is refusing to specify exactly where the cash will come from.Campaigners battling to save Dylan Thomas School, which has been earmarked for closure under the proposals, have questioned how the authority will be able to afford the refurbishment.

Their children will be sent to Bishop Gore if the plans to close Dylan Thomas are approved.Mike Day, cabinet member for education, insists that the money would be found.

But he would not specify where the cash would come from - saying only that it would be part of the "capital programme".

Money in the capital programme pays for major projects like new roads and buildings - the council produced a four year plan earlier this year with no mention of the £20 million school.

Work at Bishop Gore is unlikely to start until 2007, if it is given the go-ahead, and Councillor Day believes that the extra time will help the authority work out where to get the extra cash.

"We will need to incorporate it into our capital programme when it is next formally reviewed, a process in which we look at all actual and likely variations in both expenditure and financing," he said.

"Some of the additional expenditure on Bishop Gore will go into the time-frame beyond the current capital programme and this will make it easier to manage the extra cost."

Councillor Day also defended the consultation process conducted by the council on the future of Swansea schools.

The administration - made up of an alliance between Lib Dems, Conservative and Independent councillors - had come under attack from both Plaid Cymru and Labour politicians for ignoring the results.

"We have listened to pupils, parents, governors, teachers, and other groups during the consultation," said Councillor Day.

"The feedback has been vital in helping to shape our proposals.

"We believe the best option is to transfer pupils to Bishop Gore where the curriculum can meet the needs of all pupils."

The proposals will be discussed by the cabinet tomorrow.

If agreed, the council will consult on the proposals to operate a single school on two sites to enable the refurbishment work to progress at Bishop Gore.

Dereck Roberts, chairman of governors at Dylan Thomas, said: "The authority is clearly hoping that something will turn up.

" The only way they can afford this is by borrowing and that will then put a burden on the council to repay that debt for as long as it takes."