§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice his Department gave to the City206W of Nottingham on its bid under the Building Schools for the Future programme; and if he will make a statement on the quality of the bid. [152954]
§ Mr. MilibandIn July 2003, we announced guidance on the Building Schools for the Future programme which invited all authorities to apply for funding in the first wave of the programme, or to express an interest in inclusion in later waves. My officials then held a series of road shows around the country, to which all authorities were invited, where they were able to discuss the programme and the guidance in open sessions and also in one-to-one sessions with my officials.
Proposals for inclusion in the first wave of funding from 2005–06 have now been rigorously appraised against the criteria for prioritisation in the guidance, and we are shortly to make an announcement. Announcements on subsequent wave funding will be made later this year.
We propose to give detailed feedback to authorities which are not successful in applications for wave one funding.