- Cymraeg
- English
 |
Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
 |
Assembly Member meets Minister to seek explanation on under-funding of Swansea schools
April 4, 2009 12:00 AM
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, has met with the Education Minister to demand an explanation as to why Swansea was at the bottom of her list for handing out capital grants to repair our schools.
Mr. Black was concerned that out of £114 million handed out to local Councils just over a week ago, Swansea only received £2.8 million, of which £1.1 million is new money in 2009-10. This was despite submitting a list of fully-worked up bids, the vast majority of which met the Minister's strict criteria for funding.
"It is bizarre that despite Swansea being one of the few Councils with a full assessment of the condition of its local schools and a clear plan as to how to proceed to tackle a £147 million backlog, the Government treat it so badly," said Mr. Black. "We are Wales' second City and the third largest Council and yet the capital grant that has been made available to us is derisory. Furthermore there was not a penny to help the City's two Further Education Colleges either.
"One of the decisions I was questioning was the failure to provide any money for the project at Pontarddulais Primary School, which was second on the Council's list of priorities and met all the Minister's criteria. I have been promised a written note on that issue.
"Although the Minister promised that Swansea would do better in the next tranche of funding in June I am concerned that she has failed to grasp the urgency of the need to invest in the City's schools. There appears to be less money available for school buildings than there was last year and some of us have the very real impression that this issue is no longer a priority for the Welsh Government.
"It is time that the Welsh Cabinet Ministers who represent Swansea also weighed in and demanded an explanation as to why the Labour-Plaid Cymru Government are refusing to provide money to invest in the City's schools."
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats
-
Help out or donate
-
Tell us what you think