Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Education and Skills – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 27 October 2005.
Jacqui Smith
Minister of State (Schools and 14-19 Learners), Department for Education and Skills, Minister of State (Education and Skills) (Schools and 14-19 Learners)
10:30,
27 October 2005
I do not accept my hon. Friend's final point. There is a specific factor relating to the independence of academies that leads to the particular VAT issue that we are considering. I do not know the details of the school to which my hon. Friend refers, but we should remember that such things are happening in Newcastle and other authorities in the context of considerable extra investment not only through academies, but through the building schools for the future programme, which will increasingly lead to new build and much higher quality school buildings—including across our entire secondary estate—over the next 15 years. But where there are specific, small, technical but nevertheless important issues that prevent us from achieving modernisation and community use of such facilities, we will of course work across government to sort out the situation.