Brent Should Top List For College Cash - Teather

4.37.22pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 24th Apr 2009

Local MP Sarah is urging the Labour Government not to go back on their promise to North West London College

Local Liberal Democrat Brent East MP Sarah Teather has urged education ministers to place Brent's North West London College first in this list of areas set to be bailed out after a government cash bungle deprived them of funding.

Last year the college were promised capital funding to revamp old buildings, and have spent £4.2million hiring contractors and moving into temporary accommodation in anticipation of the building work. But the government promised money to more colleges than they could actually afford, and therefore told the College of North West London that all building work must be suspended.

Sarah has supported a Liberal Democrat parliamentary motion calling for the government to bring forward money for colleges in the budget. The government have now caved in to pressure and announced that "a limited number of the most urgent schemes" will be bailed out.

The College of North West London project is part of Brent Council's regeneration plans for the area in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:

"It was outrageous for the government to promise our local college cash, and then swipe it away again once they realised they had got their sums wrong. After the banks had their bail out, it surely isn't unreasonable that vital educational institutions should expect the same.

"This is the worst possible time for the Labour government to be messing colleges around and threatening construction jobs. As recession takes hold, more and more people are looking to retrain and boost their CV. Our local college could be facing a rising intake just as it is forced into cramped and unsuitable temporary buildings.

"Tourists from all over the world will arrive in Wembley in 2012 for the Olympics. They should be able to see the best of Brent, not a building site. If North West London College loses out again there will be real implications for the whole borough.

"It's good that education ministers have responded to our calls to fix the problem they created, but deeply disappointing that lots of colleges will still be left out in the cold. Brent should be at the very top of the list to receive the cash it was originally promised."

Related Link:

Liberal Democrat Early Day Motion on College Funding