Chancellor speeds up school building to beat recession

The Chancellor has said that £3bn worth of capital building projects set for 2010-11 will be brought forward a year.

This will include secondary school building projects through the Building Schools for the Future initiative as well as planned primary school building work during that period.

Darling told the House of Commons that he had looked in detail at all projects during that period and the change in timescale was achievable.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls said: "The decision means that building and refurbishment projects, particularly in primaries, already costed, designed and ready to go can now start as soon as possible."

Other measures announced include tax breaks for small businesses such as nurseries, including a cut in VAT from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent and a freeze on corporation tax.

Although he renewed his commitment to public spending laid out in the latest Comprehensive Spending Review, the Chancellor said he was looking to find around £5bn in efficiency savings during 2010-11.