The Government has scrapped the district’s multi-million-pound school rebuilding project in a national cull of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The decision leaves the district facing an education crisis with its school population forecast to boom.

Education Secretary Michael Gove pulled funds for the £337million final stage of Bradford Council’s secondary school rebuilding and refurbishment programme as he announced that 58 BSF projects nationally, covering nearly 700 schools, would be cancelled immediately.

He said rebuilding and refurbishment projects may go ahead under future capital investment programmes shaped by the capital review.

For the Bradford district it means 16 existing schools lose expected investment: St Joseph’s, Ilkley Grammar, Bingley Grammar, Nab Wood, Oakbank, Belle Vue Girls’, Belle Vue Boys’, Carlton Bolling College, Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College, St Bede’s, Thornton, Holy Family, Challenge College, Parkside, Feversham College and Immanuel College.

Elaine Shoesmith, principal of Nab Wood School at Cottingley, said: “We’re working in an outdated, 40-year-old building that doesn’t give the same opportunities to children in new state-of-the-art buildings.

“A significant number of young people in Bradford come from deprived areas and it’s important they don’t go into a deprived situation at school. It is important for their education to compensate.

“We’ve put a lot of time, effort and money into this new building and we have adapted staff to meet the needs of that process.”

In addition, a Communication and Interaction School and another for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties will not be built.

Mr Gove said: “In the light of the public finances, it would have been irresponsible to carry on regardless with an inflexible, and needlessly-complex programme.”

Councillor Ralph Berry, Bradford Council’s executive member for children’s services and education, reacted angrily.

He said: “My reaction is absolute and utter devastation. There is no way this is going to do anything but cause significant, ongoing damage to thousands of children in the district.

“It’s the most brutal decision I have ever seen from government. You have only got to look at Buttershaw to see how achievement has rocketed there with these new facilities. The Government hasn’t shown a fig leaf of respect for the people of this city.

“It’s going to put thousands of people out of work. I’m calling on MPs to act in the best interests of the children of Bradford and I will seek assurances that they will vote against this.

Coun Jeanette Sunderland, the Council’s Liberal Democrat group leader and education spokesman, said: “Clearly this is not good news and I will be making strong representations to the Minister, particularly around the C&I schools and for schools where refurbishment is of significant importance such as Carlton Bolling. This effectively leaves Bradford short of some 3,000 places at secondary level.”

Coun Adrian Naylor, education spokesman for the Council’s Conservative group, said: “The main point here is that Bradford is one of only a handful of places in the country that has an increasing young population. There is a way forward through future capital investment programmes and I will be pressing to make sure that Bradford is brought to the Minister’s attention and is kept there.”

Speaking ahead of last night’s announcement, Mary Copeland, head teacher of Belle Vue Girls’ School, Heaton, said: “It would be disastrous if it was axed because we already have rising rolls. We wouldn’t be able to accommodate rising numbers this September and those that are projected over the next five years.

“Some of our accommodation needs serious repairs that we’ve put off waiting for the building programme. We’ve spent a lot of time and a considerable amount of money with architects and builders developing the designs.”