Assembly Members Wade Into The Debate

Assembly members have waded into the debate over the multi-million pound bill needed to repair Swansea's crumbling schools - and accused Liberal Democrats of passing the buck.Swansea's Labour AMs have defended their party's investment in school buildings, and called on Lib Dems to accept their "record of failure" to improve local schools.

In a joint statement, Labour's Swansea East AM Val Lloyd and Swansea West AM Andrew Davies said: "The Lib Dems must take responsibility for their own decision-making in Swansea - they are receiving record investment from the Assembly, but to not contribute any money themselves to the mounting crisis of school buildings is both ignorant and insulting to the people of Swansea.

"It is usual Lib Dem tactics, looking for someone to blame for the state of school buildings. To suggest the Assembly has not made the necessary resources available to local authorities to tackle the problem is simply untrue."

The pair also pointed out the Assembly Government had provided Swansea Council with around £19 million this year, including the School Building Improvement Grant and a £9 million lump sum to fund five school modernisation capital projects.

"The Assembly Government cannot deliver this commitment alone, and local authorities must take their share of responsibility in dealing with the state of school buildings locally," they added.

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