Labour blames Lib-Dem delays

LIBERAL Democrat delays have been blamed for Oldham’s £266million scrapped schools fiasco.

Lib-Dems reviewed the plans when they came to power, saying they had been rushed through by the previous Labour administration.

This included the location of one of the academies and the new Roman Catholic school.

But Councillor Hugh McDonald, Labour’s former Cabinet member for children, young people and families, said: “My view is if the process hadn’t been delayed we could have been well into it.

“Effectively, by delaying, we have lost those schools. Some of these schools are going back to the 1950s. They weren’t built as substantial schools, they were built for a boom of children coming through. Primary schools have got a boom now so the impact of this is going to go on and on.”

l ALL 19 schemes for rebuilds or refurbishment in Rochdale have been approved and will go ahead as planned. In Tameside, 12 out of 20 have been given the green light, seven have been stopped and one, Alder Community High, Hyde, has been completed.