back to article UK.gov's axing of school building plan 'unlawful'

The government's decision to dump England's school building programme has been overthrown in the High Court, with a judge describing education Secretary Michael Gove's plans as "unlawful". Mr Justice Holman said today that the coalition's actions to end the scheme in July 2010 were "an abuse of power", reported the BBC. The …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    unlawful

    I'll tell you what's unlawful - the amount of money wasted on this whole farce.

    Yes, lets build and improve schools and infrastructure. But what we don't need are paying for consultants, telling us what we know, or coming up with wacky ideas which won't work.

    One I worked with came up with the idea of giving every pupil an iPad. He couldn't produce any figures which showed they would benefit education. he also had nothing to say when I asked who would foot the bill for repairs, or the evidence that other schools which had given their pupils netbooks had needed to take on an extra technician full time to handle repairs and warranty returns, not to mention the issues with pupils forgetting to charge them or leaving them at home.

    Then we move onto the buildings. Yes, "shopping mall" style glass atriums and open plan workspaces look beautiful, but they don't work in a school. Putting aside the huge costs to heat in winter and cool in summer, you get one disruptive pupil in a classroom and its contained there. But in a open workspace *everyone* stops to watch the fun.

    Then there's the open raised walkways. Again, in a shopping centre they're nice. But in a school its just a place to lean over and spit, throw bags or other rubbish on pupils below.

    1. JimC

      Sadly

      Misplaced optimism and misdirected idealism resulting in arrant incompetence isnt illegal... If it were they'd need to repurpose a few schools as gaols for a significant proportion of the educational establishment.

    2. JaitcH
      Happy

      In Toronto, Canada, they actually built a school in a shopping centre ...

      so that all the 'drifters' who should be in school instead of hanging around malls actually had a school to attend. It's on Dufferin Street just north of College Street.

      The classrooms were actually converted vacant stores so it was a win-win situation for everyone.

  2. RichyS
    Thumb Down

    Alternatively

    Or, you know, a few of these councils could have acted responsibly and maintained these schools as they went along; rather then letting them fall into rack and ruin...

    And unlawful due to the sex/race/disability discrimination acts? Sounds a bit tenuous to me.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      actually ...

      on reflection the government could be well fucked ...

      ISTR something about EU rules being applied to all public works over so many euros. Once you get to that point, you need to undergo all sorts of checks to ensure no discrimination (on the grounds above). If that's the, case, the UK courts are simply following EU law.

      1. John Angelico
        Joke

        I say, what's happened to the empah, suh?

        "If that's the, case, the UK courts are simply following EU law."

        That's what's happened, Featherstonehaugh! The ruddy froggies have won after all.

        Nine hundred and fifty years of keeping them off our soil, and look at us!

        ...

        Pass us another whisky and soda, would you? There's a good chap...

    2. Is it me?

      Genius

      You should stand for your Local Council and show them how to do it. Unless you happen to live in one of those districts where the council actually has the income to carry out all their statutory duties without skimping.

      Oh wait there aren't any. Very easy to make this kind of suggestion if you don't understand Local Government finance, I suspect you'll find they spend it on maintaining other vital services, that other districts neglect.

      1. RichyS
        Thumb Down

        Yes, it's you

        I wonder how Wandsworth manage to provide a very decent service for half the Council Tax rate as neighbouring Lambeth. Even more so bearing in mind that Lambeth's services are generally thought of as pretty poor.

        But then I don't understand local government finances. But I don't suppose most local governments do either.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Building Schools for the Future is important"

    It would be very difficult to gainsay such a sentiment. Building what Schools and equipping them are really the issues.

    Nowhere near enough thought has been given is some cases and far to much dreaming dressed up as thought in others. I've been around a couple of Schools near me and they are 'interesting' buildings. I'm not sure they are necessarily good in an educational context and I (in my ignorance) don't think they are best practice in anything other than an architectural context. For what they cost and the quality of finish they do not appear to represent any form of 'best value'. I've sacked builders off site for better work!!

    Every un-necessary PC, printer, software license, Lamp, door, window, desk or other physical asset represents an un-necessary continuing operating cost. Every design frivolity is another book not bought or pupil not taught well enough.

    The procurers have lost credibility and that is a big problem for the future.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why not

    Sort out the teaching/discipline problem first. I bleed myself dry every month to send my kids to fee-paying schools, one of which quite frankly looks like a dump (they have a "Harry Potter" dining hall i.e. decrepit). It still manages to be the best school in town with no discipline problems (despite having a large intake of children with special needs - ADHD, Autism etc) and superb results, and the kids always come home full of excitement and happy. Strangely enough, the parents are much more concerned with making sure their kids work as hard as possible and to take advantage of every opportunity given to them.

    No amount of shiny is going to improve things unless it gets the buy-in of those who are to taught and those doing the teaching.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    the government is always right

    tax money is always well spent and they would never waste money, how could any government spending plan ever be bad?

    When i left school they were just in the initial stages (about 20% of the classrooms done) of a plan to upgrade every classroom replacing the "old outdated" whiteboards that needed pens to write on with the latest greatest technology of projectors and some touch board things (digital whiteboards they called them) which i bet the power company loved, the main thing i remember about that was the wasted lesson time every time the computers messed up leaving the teachers unable to even write on the board (it was rare they used them for anything other than the "whiteboard" paint type program)

    i wonder if they ever did anything about the paint peeling off of the walls, when i left there were still no plans to deal with that, not enough money apparently...

  6. Jedibeeftrix

    glad its canned!

    "Gove's actions were considered unlawful on the grounds that he failed to discharge relevant statutory equality duties under the Sex Discrimination Act, Race Relations Act and Disability Discrimination Act."

    really! can these get scrapped next?

    the schools building program was used to muscle independent schools into ditching selection, and schools that complied in order to get 'access' to the money swiftly found that it didn't really exist in the first place, seriously, back in 2007 lots of schools realised they had been placed on an endless waiting list for DFS money.

    it was a nasty and dishonest political tool, and not a mechanism that was going to improve schooling up and down the country.

    good riddance!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Decision not challenged, methods challenged?

    Or as Bananarama so elegantly put it

    It's not what you do it's the way that you do it

    That's what gets results.

    All the law seems to say is that due process was not followed.

    The usual answer/consequence is: due process is followed, same result but with a lot of additional costs to the tax payer. Lawyers will not mind too much though?

  8. JaitcH
    Pint

    My Primary School is still standing and in use by students!

    Unbelievably the county primary school I attended is still actually standing, mainly unchanged, to this very day. It was new when I was first enrolled.

    Gove, a regular 'air head' from Any Questions is like so many people promoted to a new position: He has to let EVERYONE he has ARRIVED.

    Gove, since actually - for unknown reasons - becoming a minister set about fulfilling this goal. By introducing so many controversial acts and regulations has managed to offend almost every sector of the public.

    Dogs do this. They urinate on every lamp post and post box so every other dog knows THEY HAVE ARRIVED.

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