A project that could 'transform lives' has been put on hold - but ministers promise answers are coming

Oldham will get answers about a major project to bring an Eton-backed school to the town centre ‘early next year’, a minister has said. The project was put on hold on October 23 after the government called for an overhaul in the way schools are funded.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service during a visit to Oldham College, Dame Jacqui Smith said money needed to be ‘refocused’ on existing schools ‘just to prevent the roofs from leaking’.

The Eton Star Academy Oldham is one of 33 new free school projects around the country currently ‘under review’. The school, which would support pupils from 'disadvantaged backgrounds', was days away from securing its spot in the town centre on land currently home to Tommyfield Outdoor Market.

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But ministers decided to pause the project ‘due to the challenging situation inherited from the former government’.

Dame Smith said: “Schools and colleges have been allowed to crumble. The RAAC issue that the last government failed to get to grips with means there are large numbers of schools that need investment just to prevent the roofs from leaking.

“It’s a tough decision but we just need to look really carefully at these [free schools] and make sure they really are adding value and places that are definitely needed.

“We need to be refocusing the money to make sure all schools are fit for students to learn in.”

Oldham bosses remain optimistic about the project getting the go-ahead. Council leader Arooj Shah previously suggested she is ‘lobbying hard’ to get the government to see the value the school would add to the area.

The school has divided opinion since its inception. Many parents interviewed by the LDRS earlier this year were excited by the prospect of ‘powerful Oxbridge Eton’ coming to Oldham, to give ‘clever kids a chance’ to 'transform their futures'.

But James Kewin, the deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form College Association, raised concerns it would become an ‘expensive, selective boutique school’ that would ‘cherry-pick’ students from Oldham’s ‘existing high-performing schools’, with a knock-on effect on the existing education offer.

Eton College did not want to respond to the comment from Dame Smith but a spokesperson previously said: "Eton and Star are totally committed to the Eton Star Partnership in the long term and its vision of working to improve social mobility for young people across the country. We have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline.”

Oldham council declined to comment, a but sources say bosses are confident they had a ‘strong case’ to put to the government.