Investment to improve Longcroft

Graham Stuart has welcomed the announcement of important new schools investment in Beverley as Longcroft School iwill receive funding for major capital projects under the second phase of the Government’s Priority School Building Programme, which is worth around £2 billion in total.  

At Longcroft School this will enable the replacement of the Lower School Building. The amount of Government money given to East Riding of Yorkshire Council via Schools Condition Allocations will also rise from the current £5.018 million to £5.377 million in 2015/16, an increase of £359,000 or 7%.  

This means that East Riding of Yorkshire Council can confirm that planned works at local schools such as Beverley St Nicholas Primary can proceed. A total of around £4million has been allocated to renovation work on the school site over the period 2015-2017, and it is hoped the work will now be completed for the beginning of the 2017 school year. 

Graham Stuart MP said: “It’s great news that funding has been confirmed for major renovation projects at Longcroft School, which will be fantastic for pupils there. I’m also delighted that the Government has allocated extra resource to East Riding so that the long-awaited plans to consolidate Beverley St Nicholas Primary School on a single site can be realised. I want to pay tribute to the hard work of local councillors such as David Elvidge, who have campaigned for this for a very long time, and also to the excellent headteacher Liz Pollard.

Liz Pollard, the Head of St Nicholas Primary School in Beverley, said: "Our school has come a long way in the last few years and is now heading in the right direction - we were recently awarded Good school status and hope to become Outstanding.  One of the things that would really help would be to offer greater continuity of learning on one site, allowing younger children to learn alongside older pupils.”

Councillor David Elvidge said: “I have worked with St Nicholas Primary School over the last few years and cannot think of a school community that is more deserving or in more need of an improved infrastructure. The school and its main building celebrated its centenary last year and although quite an achievement the building is showing its age and is undoubtedly not fit for purpose for teaching and learning in the 21st Century."