SCHOOLS Minister Jim Knight has denied claims that a multi-million pound project to transform secondary education across Bournemouth and Poole could become a casualty of the recession.

Nine schools have been earmarked for massive improvements in the first phase of the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF), a huge £45 billion national project.

The project is due to be partly funded by private finance and it is now feared that the current economic climate could mean firms have less cash available to it through.

Mr Knight, Dorset South MP, acknowledged that some private companies initially interested in helping to fund BSF have now backed out but added: “We are continuing to find new interest from private lenders although we are not completely out of the woods.

“The commitment from government to continue with Building Schools for the Future is undiminished and we are continuing to deliver.”

Sir John Butterfill, Bournemouth West MP, said: “This government is very good at spending money but it seems to think there is a bottomless pit.

“A lot of independent commentators do not believe the government will be able to borrow enough for the Building Schools for the Future project.”

Much of BSF is to be funded by Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) where private companies fund the rebuilding of a school and the local authority repays the costs over 25 to 30 years.

The construction industry was expected to fund major parts of the project but Graham Watts, chief executive of the industry’s council, said: “The sharp rate of decline we are experiencing is unprecedented.

“There’s no shortage of people wanting to be involved but a number of those are struggling to raise the private capital they require.”

Building Schools for the Future has seen Bournemouth and Poole councils join forces to identify schools most in need of assistance.

Schools chosen for the first phase include Kings High, Oakmead College of Technology, Bishop of Winchester, Glenmoor and Winton Arts and Media College in Bournemouth and Rossmore Community College, Ashdown Technology College, Montacute and Winchelsea in Poole.

A spokesman for Bournemouth council said the project is continuing as planned in Bournemouth and Poole.