Barking and Dagenham schools share �270million windfall

THE FUTURE looks bright for children in Barking and Dagenham after the government positively received the Building Schools for the Future program. If the council s plans for education in the borough are accepted we will be on the receiving end of an un

THE FUTURE looks bright for children in Barking and Dagenham after the government "positively received" the Building Schools for the Future program.

If the council's plans for education in the borough are accepted we will be on the receiving end of an unprecedented �270million investment.

Council leader, Liam Smith, moved a motion welcoming the funding and calling it "the biggest fundamental change in peoples' lives".

The transformation, if investment is agreed, will take place over years with schools like Sydney Russell and Dagenham Park being the first to benefit from new facilities.

Cllr Smith said: "I am very excited about seeing this transformation which will secure the future of generations to come."

However Conservative opposition leader, Cllr Terry Justice, queried where this vast amount of money was coming from in a time of economic strife.

But Cllr Smith rebutted his comments saying: "There is never a bad time to invest in the future of our children".

The motion was carried unanimously.