Money is tight at the moment as everybody knows including central government. The Learning and Skills Council was trying to fund 173 projects when the reality is it only has the cash to fund 13 scaled back projects, one of those 13 getting some funding is Furness College. That means another 160 colleges will not have the funding they wanted, many with a better arguments to get it ahead of Furness College.

The money available to groups such as the LSC is being squeezed and the pots are shrinking it because the money is simply not available. The Building School for the Future pots are being squeezed as well with some projects being delayed or scaled back. So what does waffle all mean?

Well as we have stated money is tight. Under these circumstances what are the chances of a small town like Barrow getting £100 million in education funding? £45m for the academy, £48 for Furness College and £7m+ for Walney and St Bernards? We do not think that two projects involving one institution will get full funding. The College proposals need to be scaled back but surely the academy proposals will need to be also. The chances are that the shiny new academy will suddenly become the same old buildings with a coat of paint. Unless the new buildings appear before the academy opens they will not be built. The promise of £45m investment for the town academy simply will not appear. The council will get their hand on the land they wanted for an absolute pittance, sell us out anyway and get their reward regardless.

The wheels might be falling off with the lack of investment but the academy still trundles on. Those supporting it might not be so keen when they realise the smart new buildings will not appear and all of the upheaval will be pretty much for nothing. That is assuming the academy plan does go through! The Camden result is due and could have implications for the Furness academy. Watch this space.