THE council has been successful in its bid for an extra £16m to rebuild and refurbish its schools.

Every secondary school in the country will eventually be rebuilt or refurbished under the Government's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

In Waltham Forest some new schools, including Frederick Bremer, in Siddeley Road, Walthamstow, and Walthamstow Academy, in Billet Road, have already been built, while others such as Kelmscott School, in Markhouse Road, have been refurbished.

The next phase of the BSF programme in the borough will see two large schools created through mergers (Cann Hall and Tom Hood in Leytonstone and George Mitchell, Beaumont and Norlington School for Boys in Leyton).

The council will now receive an extra £16.6m from the Government for its BSF projects, bringing the total to £248.5m.

Council leader Chris Robbins said: “Our Building Schools for the Future programme represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild and refurbish local secondary schools.

“The new world class learning environments will help raise educational attainment and aspirations and ensure our young people get the best possible start.” BSF projects almost always involve private finance initiative (PFI) schemes.

Under PFI schools are built by private firms, who are then contracted to maintain them under long-term contracts.

Critics say PFI schemes cost the taxpayer more than projects funded by the public sector directly.