£13.2m given to upgrade Lancashire colleges

More than £13.26m is being given to Lancashire colleges as part of government funding to upgrade and improve facilities across the country.

The government has announced 175 colleges will benefit from the funding that can be spent on improvements such as repairing leaky roofs and fixing broken windows to updating worn-out heating systems.

Colleges will be given the flexibility to decide how the funding is spent, so it can be directed where it is needed most.

Each one will receive individual allocations in the summer, ranging from £6,000 for smaller institutions to £7m for large college groups for the next academic year.

Blackpool and The Fylde College will be receiving £2.6m which is the highest amount in Lancashire, followed by £1.9m going to Burnley College.

The figures for each college are listed below

• Runshaw College: £1,837,272.13
• Preston College: £1,595,452.85
• Myerscough College: £1,586,702.45
• East Lancashire Learning Group: £1,586,303.4
• Blackburn College: £1,512,436.11
• Lancaster and Morecambe College £574,822

Skills Minister Jacqui Smith said: “The young people in these colleges are the engineers, bricklayers and designers of the future, and they and the dedicated staff teaching them deserve the best possible environment to learn and succeed.

“This £307m investment will repair and modernise facilities across all 175 colleges in England, giving young people the spaces they need to build the skills they need for good careers, helping to drive economic growth.”

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive, Association of Colleges, said: “This funding for college estates is sorely needed, and we are pleased to see that every single FE college will benefit, and crucially, that individual colleges will be able to decide how the money is spent.”

It follows the announcement of £570m to increase capacity in colleges to train the next generation of skilled workers.