MP slams Govt ‘neglect’ as Tiverton High School rebuild still years off

Tiverton continues to be taken for granted according to local MP Richard Foord as the Government confirms the work to rebuild the crumbling Tiverton High School will not begin until at least April 2025.

In a letter from the Department for Education, Tiverton High School was revealed to have been classified as ‘Group 2’. This means the work on the school is not regarded as ‘urgent’ and rebuilding will not begin for almost another two years.

Despite remarks in recent weeks from a Conservative MP in Somerset that funding was “arriving imminently”, this letter confirms that rebuilding work will not get underway until after the next General Election.

In response to the announcement, Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton & Honiton Richard Foord has criticised the Government for continuing to neglect the town and called for the long-promised rebuild to get underway immediately.
Since being elected last June, Mr Foord has been a vocal advocate for the need to rebuild the school. He's repeatedly lobbied Ministers to get the project moving and has shone a national spotlight on the shocking state of the existing school buildings.

Richard Foord MP said:

“For more than a decade we’ve heard repeated promises from the Conservatives that they intend to replace the crumbling school buildings at Tiverton High School. At every election this commitment is trotted out, only to be quietly pushed back afterwards. 

“With the news that rebuilding will not get underway until at least April 2025, I am deeply concerned that this vital build will once again be used by the Conservatives as an electoral bargaining chip. 

“Local children have spent years learning in crumbling classrooms and had their learning disrupted by flooding. This is unacceptable - the fact Ministers are approaching this at a glacial pace shows how little they care. 

“Their neglect for our rural communities must end. We need to get spades in the ground now, not in two years’ time or more. I will do all that I can to help speed up this work and get Tiverton the safe and modern buildings we have been long been promised.”