A WAR of words has broken out between Education and Environment over school spending. Education minister Martin Ozanne has refuted claims made by Environment minister David De Lisle that money intended for island schools has been spent elsewhere.

‘I would like to reassure islanders that the redevelopment of Les Beaucamps and La Mare de Carteret Schools is still high on the list of priorities for the department and would refute Deputy De Lisle’s recent claim,’ said Deputy Ozanne.

‘It has always been recognised that the States did not have the ability to finance all the projects contained within the Education Development Plan at one time.

Deputy Ozanne’s words came after the Environment minister said earlier this month that he believed Education had broken promises and should be looking at extending and better resourcing the existing schools instead of building new ones.

‘The Education department is continuing to prioritise and phase its capital projects and will return to the States for funding for each development at the appropriate stage in order to fit in with the funds made available by the States,’ said Deputy Ozanne.

He said that the department also had to plan projects taking into account the capacity of the local construction industry to undertake such major projects and would continue to work with Treasury and Resources to do so.

Education is currently discussing with Environment the siting of a new Les Beaucamps.

Deputy De Lisle said eight years had gone by since the promise was made to invest in three new secondary schools.

The one at Les Nicolles is nearing completion.

‘The money was there to do the job, but the education budget has gone to other priorities instead,’ Deputy De Lisle told the Guernsey Press.

‘The Grammar School got the Sixth Form Centre and the College of Further Education got the arts centre – and then two new special need schools were built, Le Rondin, in the Forest, and now Le Murier at Les Nicolles.

‘But what happened to the promises given for the new secondary schools? The money for their building has gone into these other projects.’

Deputy Ozanne said that Education had a limited budget to maintain the Education estate which included many buildings more than 100 years old plus others which were still operating way beyond their originally intended life span.

‘The Education Development Plan to replace many of these buildings is progressing as intended at a pace in line with our own internal resources and the States’ allocation of capital funds,’ he said.

‘This does mean however that some buildings such as Les Beaucamps, La Mare de Carteret Secondary and the College of Further Education’s Countanchez site will have to last longer than originally planned for.’

Deputy Ozanne said that the States still needed to spend money on the buildings to ensure that they were wind- and water-tight and as safe and functional as possible until such time as the funding could be secured to rebuild them.

He said that the department had no intention of reneging on its promise to rebuild Les Beaucamps, La Mare de Carteret and the College of FE and would continue to make the case for those projects to be treated as a high priority for States funding.