A multi-million pound bid has been made for a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to improve Barnet's primary schools despite independent warnings of poor quality and value for money.

Barnet Council's application for £97million to improve facilities and buildings at 23 primary schools in the borough is going ahead despite an Audit Commission report last week stating PFIs offer worse value for the taxpayer than traditional building schemes.

The investigation into 17 of the first 25 schools completed nationally under PFI revealed there is no guarantee of better quality buildings or lower costs, and schools often lose out in terms of space, heating, lighting and acoustics. The Government has responded by saying PFI projects have improved since the time of the survey.

Labour's education spokeswoman Alison Moore said the PFI bidding process is expected to cost the borough up to £1m: "The investigation raises a lot of issues which concern us. I am not sure the Conservatives are aware of the risks they are taking this project will have ramifications on the whole borough for the next 30 years."

Tory cabinet member for education Lynne Hillan dismissed the criticism. She said: "We welcome the Audit Report's recommendations and we will learn lessons from the warning signs. We will have to make certain our contracts are watertight."

Barnet needs to spend £162m on primary schools alone within the next ten years to ensure building stock is operational. Headteachers from 26 schools expressed an interest in the bid but only the most urgent were submitted. If accepted, all the buildings would be completed by September 2008.

January 29, 2003 17:30