BSF ruling has "set a precedent"
The six local authorities which won a High Court ruling against the government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme have "set a precedent" for other councils wishing to appeal against lost funding in the future. That’s according to the leader of Sandwell Council, who spoke to Insider after it was ruled the government had acted unlawfully by scrapping the £138m project so hastily.
Alongside Waltham Forest, Luton Borough Council, Nottingham City Council, Kent County Council and Newham, Sandwell council leaders brought their case to the High Court after funding for regional school projects was axed by the coalition government.
The challenge related to the rebuild or refurbishment of 58 schools. If construction work had commenced, the projects would have cost the government £1bn.
Mr Justice Holman said education secretary Michael Gove's decision to scrap the project was "an abuse of power".
Sandwell Council leader Darren Cooper said: "At the very least we have been vindicated for bringing the action. Now we have to wait to see whether the government accepts it was too hasty in scrapping the scheme. We have just got to wait with fingers crossed.
"We’re very pleased with the win, but we have no money as yet. And the amount that we receive will be key."
Gove will now be required to go through each scheme again, and decide whether funding is justified on individual merit. Cooper said that he was confident of receiving some funding, but said that he did not think Gove was the man for the job.
He said: "I have written to the Prime Minister demanding that he intervenes. I want him to come to Sandwell, see the state of our schools and see how desperately we need the funding."
Delivering his verdict, Mr Justice Holman ruled that the secretary of state's decision to stop the funding was unlawful because of a lack of consultation and a failure to consider equality issues properly.
The judge stressed that Gove must reconsider Sandwell's position with an "open mind" and pay due regard to any representations Sandwell makes.
Cooper added that Mr Justice Holman made reference to other councils whose funding was refused.
"The ruling has undoubtedly set a precedent," he said. "There won’t be a judicial review,in this case, but it has set a standard for how these challenges are taken on in the future."
Mr Justice Holman said that Gove had failed to have any regard at all to his statutory duty to consider the equal opportunities implications of his decision. He also criticised the government's evidence about this issue as "highly unconvincing".
