LEADING figures have met education minister David Laws in a bid to secure extra funding for school builds, in a bid to meet an unprecedented demand for places.

Labour MP for Harrow West, Gareth Thomas (pictured), arranged a meeting with the Liberal Democrat minister and the headteachers of Vaughan and Marlborough primary schools on Wednesday, June 12, after recently visiting Marlborough himself.

Julia Drozdowskij, headteacher at Marlborough School, in Marlborough Hill, Harrow, said: “It was an excellent opportunity to put forward the school’s case for a new build and our willingness to work in partnership with Westminster.

“We are on the government’s list of priority schools, meaning that the condition of our building is poor, but what people don’t realise is that conditions have deteriorated to such an extent that a rebuild is the only sensible, cost-effective and safe option for the school, and the sooner the better.

“We don’t think he was very impressed with what we have to put up with.”

Mr Thomas said: “We had a good meeting with the minister. He was sympathetic to the need for Marlborough and Vaughan schools to expand and be rebuilt, and he made a point of listening carefully to the concerns of both headteachers.

“Not surprisingly he did not give us any guarantees, as much depends on the outcome of the government’s spending review. I hope to hear more by mid-July.”

Plans have been approved by Harrow Council to demolish the buildings at Marlborough Primary School in three stages and build a three-storey replacement.

The application for Vaughan school, in Vaughan Road, West Harrow, has divided the local community, however, with hundreds of people signing petitions both in favour and against the proposed £8.9million redevelopment scheme, which is required to accommodate an expansion from two to three forms of entry from September.

The decision on the application was deferred by the planning committee in April.

Catherine Doran, the council’s director for children and families, and the council’s director of finance, Simon George, were also at the meeting.

Ms Doran said afterwards: “These schools are extremely popular among parents and there is a huge demand for places, so we are working to secure extra funding to carry out the new building work as quickly as possible.

“The minister was very supportive of our situation and said he would investigate all possibilities.”