Malmesbury Primary School may have to turn down £6m donation

Downing Street has denied claims Sir James Dyson has been blocked donating £6m to his local state primary school.

Sir James wants to give the money to Malmesbury Primary School for a new science and technology centre.

Writing to The Times, he said it was a "tragic example of how politicians" fail to match their rhetoric".

The government denied it has blocked the money and said there is a "formal process that rightly needs to be followed, a decision hasn't been made".

Sir James, who lives in the area and has a huge company base in the town described trying to donate the money as a "battle" and has asked the education secretary to intervene.

"Britain's state schools are desperate for investment," he said.

"I am ready to give money for a scheme that would make Malmesbury the rival of any private school."

The school's head teacher, Steve Heal, said: "It seems crazy not to take this opportunity."

To put the donation in perspective, he said the school's budget was around £2m a year.

Wiltshire Council is worried the extra places in the school might have an impact on other local primaries.

Cabinet Member for Children's Services at Wiltshire Council, Laura Mayes, said there were already enough places in the three local schools for expected demand.

"We have expressed our concern that a potential 210 additional places at Malmesbury Primary school would have a severe impact on neighbouring schools, reducing their pupil numbers and putting their future sustainability at risk," she said.

Mr Heal said while the concern about numbers was "understandable" they were not planning to expand the school any faster than the town of Malmesbury grows.

"This is about building for the future. This will not be detrimental to the other schools," he said.

"What we're finding is that the system is not really designed for this situation. But this is a gift, it's not taxpayer money."

Mr Heal said the donation is about science, technology, the arts and mathematics, "which is a vast part of the curriculum".

"It's the opportunity to enthuse children while they are young," he added.

Ms Mayes added that Wiltshire Council "is committed to ensuring all our school pupils have access to opportunities that excite and inspire them to achieve the very best".

Meanwhile, the Department for Education confirmed it received an application earlier this year and said it has been "dealing with the request as quickly as possible".

In a statement, it also said it is "extremely grateful for Sir James Dyson's generosity".

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