Blunkett promises £250m to save crumbling schools

Education Secretary David Blunkett announced a quarter of billion pound cash windfall to help repair some of Britain's crumbling schools.

Mr Blunkett told the House of Commons during the budget debate that the money would be allocated to specific schools that have been waiting for funds to make repairs.

"This will ensure that a further 3,000 schools will have investment for dealing with leaking roofs, windows that let in the cold and wet and temporary classrooms," he said.

Mr Blunkett outlined exactly how he intended to spend the extra money promised to Britain's education system by Chancellor Gordon Brown on Tuesday.

Mr Brown's budget promised almost £4.5 billion extra money for the nation's schools.

Mr Blunkett also announced £60 million to support proposals for new City Academies and to transform failing schools through the Fresh Start programme.

He announced that £33 million was being made available to extend the Excellence in Cities programme from September to other towns and cities including Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent, Bristol, Nottingham and Hull.

A further £25 million will be made available to enable primary schools in existing Excellence in Cities areas to employ learning mentors and provide more programmes for able pupils.

Under the programme secondary schools are given support for gifted pupils, learning mentors, disaffected pupils and new learning support units to remove disruptive pupils from the classroom.