Jonathan Gullis, Jo Gideon and Jack Brereton have joined forces to welcome central funding to improve the condition of three schools in the city and forty-four across Staffordshire.
Summerbank Primary Academy in Tunstall, St Joseph’s College in Trent Vale and St Augustine’s Catholic Academy in Meir will all be receiving funding for key condition improvements at their facilities.
These are among the 1,243 schools across the country that have been allocated a share of a £434million government investment to expand classrooms, upgrade facilities and improve the education of children.
The funding is part of the £1.4billion of capital funding for 2020-21 announced in April and is provided through the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).
The Prime Minister has also announced a new 10-year school rebuilding programme, which will kick-start with over £1billion for the first 50 projects in 2020-21.
Jonathan Gullis MP, said:
“I will always wholeheartedly welcome any and all Government funding that makes its way to Stoke. This investment in the maintenance of our schools reaffirms the Government’s commitment to the highest standard of educational provisions as well as a national levelling up. This time around the funding will go to the excellent Summerbank Primary Academy, but rest assured I will continue to lobby at every opportunity for more investment into the futures of adults and children across Stoke-on-Trent North Kidsgrove and Talke. We are all looking forward to schools returning to a degree of normality and this funding will ensure that when kids go back to Summerbank fully in September, it’s in tip top shape.”
Jo Gideon MP, said:
“Since my election in December, alongside Jack and Jonathan, I have fought for every bit of funding possible for Stoke-on-Trent and I am pleased to see that a local school in my constituency has been recognised. This new funding for local school improvements shows that the Government are listening. I will continue to work with our Stoke MPs, the Council and the Government to produce the very best for Stoke and push for the maximum investment in education and skills training to increase the opportunities for better employment locally. This will be particularly important as we begin to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Jack Brereton MP, said:
“This investment in our children’s education is exactly what we need in Stoke-on-Trent, to level up the skills of our school-leavers. I welcome the investment in St Augustine's Catholic Primary Academy in Stoke-on-Trent South, and I will continue to lobby Ministers for more education spending to be directed towards our city, including in our proposal for the new Florence MacWilliams Academy Free School, to be built on the former Longton High School site.”