Clash over funding for Berwick Academy rebuild as Government accused of 'stonewalling' progress
A row has broken out over funding for the multi-million pound rebuild of Berwick Academy.
Northumberland County Council has requested a £13 million contribution from Westminster towards the £50 million scheme.
The money represents a maintenance backlog at the school, which is the responsibility of the Department for Education.
The council has proposed instead using this money to help fund the rebuild of the school, but so far the Government has declined to confirm whether or not it will provide the cash.
North Northumberland MP David Smith has claimed the council and the school did not apply for funding during the 2022 Schools Rebuilding Programme, and argued the outcome would now have been known if it had.
However, Northumberland County Council’s Conservative cabinet member for education, Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, has pointed out consultation work was still ongoing at that time and accused the Government of ‘stonewalling’ the scheme.
It comes as the planning application for the school has now been submitted, with hopes the first spades will be in the ground by the end of the year ahead of the school welcoming pupils in 2028.
Schools in the area are moving from a three-tier to a two-tier education system.
Cllr Renner-Thompson said: “I have been working on this project for 10 years now since Belford Middle School was forced to close. The 2022 round for the ‘Schools Rebuilding Programme’ was open from the 3 February 2022 to 3 March 2022.
“At that time, we were still consulting with the community on whether they wanted two or three tier education, and consulting on the proposed closures of Norham and Scremerston First Schools. A huge amount of time and effort has gone into engaging with the community and schools in the Berwick community since then.
“In 2022 we didn’t know what sort of school we would be building or how many schools in the partnership would be remaining open. To suggest that the council somehow failed to apply for funding in 2022 is disingenuous in the extreme.
“We can’t apply when we don’t know what we’re going to build or how much it would cost. The next round opened on February 12 2026, and we immediately applied for it.
“We have been in discussions with the DfE about a contribution to the Berwick Academy re-build since 2024. They can give us the money if they want to, they’ve done it for other projects in Northumberland and the North East, but we are being stonewalled by the Government on this issue.
“I only want what’s best for the children. I don’t care where the money comes from.”