Classrooms hit by rebuilding plan delays

CRUMBLING school classrooms are deteriorating rapidly after severe delays hit Gordon Brown's £45billion rebuilding plan, a report warned today.

The Government had promised 200 new or refurbished secondary school buildings by the end of last year but only a quarter have been completed. The fund was intended to rebuild or refurbish every state secondary school in England by 2015. But delays and procurement problems have forced ministers to put back the target date to 2020.

As ministers opened a new school in Lewisham today, the Government's own report warned about facilities. The evaluation of the Building Schools for the Future scheme by PricewaterhouseCoopers said the programme had made "significant progress" to improve efficiency, but that old facilities were deteriorating quickly. Schools Minister Jim Knight said it was "unacceptable" for buildings to be allowed to get worse.