Nine months ago, with great fanfare, Simon Jupp amongst others announced that, at last, Tipton St John Primary rebuild had been included in the school rebuilding programme. [In 2015 the Environment Agency (EA) declared that there is a ‘risk to life’ of the children attending the hub and that it must be rebuilt outside of the flood zone.]

There is now an urgent crisis in schools across the country needing fixing to stop pupils being crushed by crumbly concrete. Ministers have said that they will “do what it takes” to fix the problem.  However, the treasury has made it clear that “no new money” is available.

So inevitably, it looks to Owl, as though there will have to be some radical re-prioritising and rescheduling of the capital expenditure programme within the Education Department.

In these circumstances the easiest “savings” to make are on those projects not yet committed, even though they may have been scheduled or, indeed, “promised”.

We need a clear statement that Tipton Primary will not be affected by the current crisis.