Axminster Community Primary Academy is to receive Government funding to improve fire safety in its buildings, following a successful bid to the Department for Education.

The latest allocations from the Government’s Condition Improvement Fund for schools were announced on Monday (May 22).

The MP for Tiverton & Honiton, Richard Foord, has welcomed the news for Axminster, but said the South West had received only a small proportion of the overall fund.

Just 24 per cent of bids for funding from South West schools were accepted – the lowest rate in the whole country and a third less than the level awarded to the South East.

Mr Foord said: “This year’s allocation saw £23million being awarded to schools across the South West, compared to schools in the Conservative heartlands of the South East, which secured the lion’s share of the funding and will receive £106million.

“This announcement is an insult to schools across the West Country and shows that the Conservatives are continuing to take our rural communities for granted.

“The South West saw the lowest rate of bids being given funding, while the South East took the largest amount of funding in the whole country – almost five times what the West Country was given.

“I am glad to see that Axminster Community Primary Academy was successful in their bid; when I toured that school with the excellent leadership team there, I could see that they were facing budget shortfalls. Yet, I know first-hand that there are many other schools across our communities that are in urgent need of help.

“Many are trapped in ageing, failing buildings that are creaking at the seams. Primary and secondary schools are struggling with repairs – using all of their patch-up budget for the whole financial year within a few months, given how urgent many of the repairs are.

“We need to see real attention paid to schools in the West Country, so they have the resources they need to give all our children the quality education they deserve. This is the only way we can unlock every child’s true potential and enable them to thrive throughout their lives.”