Taxpayers have forked out over £3m on the council’s controversial secondary schools programme.

Croydon Council has spent over £1m on the borough’s new academies and in preparing its bid to enter the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

This is on top of the £2m grant provided by the Government for turning Haling Manor and Ashburton schools into academies.

Freedom of Information requests show the council has spent £318,273 on academy consultants for the two schools.

An extra £3,397 has been spent to cover the costs of council staff employed on additional academy work.

Shasha Khan, a member of the Save Our Schools anti-academy campaign, said: “If you add up the DCSF and Croydon Council’s costs – total spend approaches a mind-boggling £3m. It’s all about privatisation at whatever cost.”

In the past financial year the council spent £63,382 on its bid to join BSF. A further £203,911 is projected for the 2009/10 financial year.

Croydon has submitted a joint £450m bid for Government funds with Kingston to transform the borough’s secondary schools.

It was hoping to be accepted into programme in July but lost out to other councils who were deemed more ready to deliver.

Croydon is expecting to be among the next tranche of local authorities accepted into the programme in October. They will then be able to start transforming the borough’s schools.

However, other local councils already in the programme have been faced with spiralling costs.

The BSF scheme is running £10bn over budget nationally and three years behind schedule with local councils forking out millions of pounds before a brick has been laid.

Councillor Tim Pollard, cabinet member for schools, said when they received the money it will be carefully managed in a “cost-controlled manner”.

He said: “The money being spent on academies in Croydon is driven entirely by our desire to raise standards in the borough’s schools and to ensure that all our young people are given the best possible opportunity to fulfil their academic potential.”

Under the plans, three new academies will be established at Haling Manor, Selsdon High and Ashburton Community School. It is still undecided whether Archbishop Lanfranc will become an academy.

In addition, 11 schools will add sixth-forms and four mainstream schools, including Archbishop Tenison’s and Norbury Manor Business School, will be rebuilt and refurbished.

Beckmead School will be rebuilt to offer state-of-the art facilities for pupils with special educational needs.

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