Cornwall College have been awarded a £2 million Enhanced Renewal Grant, which will enable a £6 million investment in the Camborne and Rosewarne sites. This announcement comes after George petitioned Further Education Minister, John Hayes, in parliament last month.
Demand for the grants was extremely high with the Agency receiving 129 applications totalling over £200 million. All applications went through a rigorous assessment and moderation process by the Skills Funding Agency against the needs based criteria, which were consulted and agreed with the Association of Colleges’ Capital Reference Panel.
With the Renewal Grant allocations (most of which were paid to eligible colleges in November) the total funding available for allocation from the Comprehensive Spending Review for the current and next financial year is £100 million.
George Eustice said, "I am delighted that Cornwall College has been awarded this grant which will help it to continue to go from strength to strength. I have been really impressed with the change delivered to the Tamar Building and as I said to the Minister in Parliament, I believe that priority should be given to those institutions who are looking to improve and refurbish existing facilities at a fraction of the cost of a rebuild. I am glad that the Department has recognised this in their decision."
The Chief Executive of the Skills Funding Agency, Geoff Russell said:
“The Government's willingness to make this additional investment is an indication of the crucial role that Further Education colleges can play in providing skills training to regenerate local communities and the economy. The standard of bids received was extremely high and we are pleased that some of the most innovative projects have been chosen with the result that more young people, adults and employers will benefit from up-to-date, inspirational learning facilities.”
George is pictured outside Cornwall College's newly refurbished Tamar Building. The College will now be able to use similar methods to revitalise its other buildings.