David Smith MP: Berwick’s children deserve a new school; not more excuses

And I am a great believer in honesty.

So, I want to be frank with families in Berwick about my concerns over the way the long-promised new school has been handled

I sincerely hope Northumberland County Council (NCC) proves me wrong. I hope NCC deliver a phenomenal new school, properly equipped and fit to serve generations of children and young people.

But hope is not a substitute for competent action. And there are serious questions that need answering.

Northumberland County Council first committed capital funding “to replace the ageing Berwick Academy buildings” as early as 2019. The on-the-record expectation from officers at the time was that it would hopefully open in the 2022/23 academic year.

We are now looking at an anticipated opening no earlier than 2028/29.

Think about what that means. At least six separate year groups affected by the uncertainty surrounding a school they were promised years ago.

More recently the promise of a new SEND unit has hit delays. For children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, delays to suitable

provision can have particularly serious consequences. Families need certainty, appropriate facilities and the confidence that their children’s education is being treated as a priority.

Instead, they have faced one disappointment after another.

Another concern – according to NCC – is an apparent £13 million funding shortfall.

For some time, assurances were given that the new school would be fully funded by NCC. Yet we are now told that the project is “at risk” without an additional £13 million in Government funding. This amount is an arbitrary figure, taken from a recent Condition Survey, which is the cost of bringing the current school building to good standard.

Yet, only last year Guy Renner-Thompson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Northumberland County Council, stated that Northumberland County Council would “provide the full £51m needed” for the new school.

That raises an obvious question: what has changed?

What, precisely, is the £13 million needed for? Which elements of the project does it cover? And why was this funding requirement not identified and addressed much earlier?

I have repeatedly sought a clear explanation from NCC of the figures on behalf of local families and been met with bluster.

The normal way that Academy School rebuilds are funded is through something called the Schools Rebuilding Programme (SRP), a national government initiative.

There are questions why NCC failed to even apply for this funding the last time the SRP opened to applications in 2022. Instead, NCC only applied to the SRP for Berwick Academy in April 2026, with the outcome expected for all SRP applications in the first half of 2027.

This means that the process to build Berwick Academy is well underway, long before we will know whether the SRP application is successful or not.

Of course, Government funding matters. And I will continue to champion the school’s funding bid with Ministers, as I have already done.

And it is commendable that the Local Authority committed all those years ago to build a new school. But in doing so, it should have had a plan to pay for it. Simply announcing a commitment, allowing years to pass and then blaming the government for the uncertainty of the project will not wash.

Responsibility for explaining the council’s decisions, its financial planning and the delays to this project cannot simply be passed to Westminster.

And it certainly cannot be passed to parents.

The desperation families feel is entirely understandable.

That was brought home to me at a recent meeting hosted by Berwick Academy, where parents spoke about the impact of the delayed temporary SEND unit as well as the wider school rebuild.

The council had promised that the dedicated temporary SEND provision would be ready for the start of the school year. Instead, families faced repeated delays with some pupils unable to attend school while the facility awaited sign-off.

Hearing the effect this has had on children and their families was just awful.

These are not abstract problems on a spreadsheet. They affect children’s education, routines, wellbeing and daily lives.

I am grateful to Berwick Academy for hosting that meeting and to Chair of Trustees Roy Jobson and Headteacher Kelly Holbrook for answering parents’ questions and continuing to support the school community through an exceptionally difficult period.

Both I and the political leadership of Northumberland County Council were invited.

One chair was notably empty.

I was very disappointed that council leader Glen Sanderson did not attend despite confirming his participation weeks in advance, and that no representative of the council’s political leadership was there in his place.

Parents who have spent years seeking answers deserve the opportunity to put their concerns directly to those responsible for the decisions affecting their children.

Planning approval for the new Academy is welcome. It is an important milestone.

But planning permission does not build a school. Nor does it clarify when pupils will finally walk through its doors.

So, I believe Berwick families deserve clear, public answers to six straightforward

questions.

 Why was the necessary funding not pursued through the earlier school rebuilding programme in 2022?

 What exactly will the additional £13 million pay for?

 Why was the school previously described as fully funded, and what has changed?

 How has a school originally expected in 2022/23 become a project that may not open until at least 2028/29?

 Will they live up to their promises to build a new secondary school in Berwick?

 And why is our elected Council so reluctant to provide answers or apologise for the delays and setbacks?

These are reasonable questions. Asking them is not playing politics. It is doing my job on behalf of families who have waited far too long.

I want to finish where I began.

I hope Northumberland County Council proves every one of my concerns wrong.

I hope Northumberland County Council delivers an outstanding school, not the shell it risks becoming; and that they work constructively with staff and families, communicate openly and honestly, and show the urgency this project deserves.

Nothing would please me more than to see that happen.

But until there is a clear plan, a credible funding position and a realistic timetable, I will keep asking the questions that Berwick’s parents deserve to have answered.

These children have waited long enough. It is time to deliver.