BUDGET cuts are to hit schools in Stroud despite the county councils pledge to cut funding to speed cameras, road improvement schemes and advisory services in order to reach its target of £7.2 million savings.

Maidenhill School in Stonehouse had been due to merge with the Shrubberies Special school once it had been re-built and refurbished through the Building Schools for the Future scheme (BSF.) However, the Department for Education has cancelled all the projects that have not yet been ‘financially closed’ as part of their reform of the ‘dysfunctional’ BSF system.

Geoff Black, BSF project manager for GCC, said: "The rebuild of Maidenhill and Shrubberies was to take place through BSF, which has now been stopped.

"We were looking for a figure of around £80 million for all six schools identified for BSF in Gloucestershire, but until further work was done we couldn’t say how much Maidenhill and The Shrubberies would have been awarded.

"We will look at alternative sources of funding but circumstances for capital generally will not be clear until after the government's review of schools capital is complete in the autumn.

"In the meantime we will continue to work with governors who are responsible for funding day-to-day building improvement and repair work to ensure that the schools remain sound and safe."

Maidenhill narrowly survived closure last October following a Government review of underachieving schools, but was able to show that it had a bright future, which included the new building project.

It was widely recognised that Maidenhill had progressed significantly since been put into special measures in 2007.

In October Jo Grills, director of learning and development at GCC, used Maidenhill’s example to say: "The Government should have real optimism in the progress of Gloucestershire’s schools."

But it was claimed by Secretary for Education Michael Gove that BSF was no good for schools and has been responsible for 'massive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy.'

He said: "It is perhaps no surprise that it can take almost three years to negotiate the bureaucratic process of BSF before a single builder is engaged or brick is laid. There are some councils which entered the process six years ago which have only just started building new schools. Another project starting this year is three years behind schedule."