Sunderland MP Bridget Phillipson stresses Government's commitment to building new schools for city's children

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was speaking about the Government's increased investment in schools both in Sunderland and across the country.

Transcript

00:00Okay, and Bridget, how's the feel of being here today then to open a new building then?

00:04It's fantastic. I mean, it's a brilliant new building and, you know, children in Farringdon

00:08deserve really fantastic facilities. It makes such a difference to children's learning to

00:13have first class facilities and alongside that, the crucial importance of the teachers

00:18and the team in delivering a brilliant education.

00:21And can a learning environment really inspire children to race for the top and improve performance?

00:27It can. I mean, I think having a really great building and first class facilities does make

00:30a big difference, but also when, you know, facilities are run down or crumbling, that

00:35also I think really damages children's learning and life chances. I think the investment that

00:39we can make in school buildings doesn't just give children a great learning environment.

00:44I've seen the fantastic facilities here, but it also demonstrates that we really value

00:49their education and everything that they can go on to achieve.

00:53I know the new building for schools programme was stalled, I think it was back to 2016,

00:58due to funding, due to austerity. I mean, I know money's tight at the moment for the

01:02government. Is it something that the government's hoping to invest in and building new schools

01:05both here in Sunderland and across the country?

01:08We have faced a really big backlog where it comes to rebuilding and also the condition

01:12of lots of schools. We've seen the rat crisis where schools were crumbling, but it goes

01:17beyond that. Lots of schools are just beyond their design life. Back in 2010, when the

01:21Conservatives were first elected, they scrapped Labour's Building Schools for the Future

01:25programme. And that means that we haven't, over the last decade or so, really been investing

01:29in the way that we should have done in our schools. At the budget that we've just had

01:33in October, the Chancellor did set out significant additional investment going into schools capital,

01:39so making sure we can rebuild and refurbish schools. But alongside that, we also delivered

01:44a pay rise for teachers, because buildings are crucial, but so are the people that work

01:48and deliver a brilliant education for our children.