Work will take seven years to complete

The Welsh government has confirmed that a planned £1.4 billion spend upgrading its school estate will go ahead.

Half the money will be supplied by councils in a programme which has been scaled back since the summer because of funding problems.

The government said funding for the initiative, called the 21^st Century Schools programme, was necessary to bring the standard of school buildings up to scratch. The government is hoping it to eventually spend £4 billion on the scheme.

Among the schemes announced in the first wave include £82 million being earmarked for five primary and four secondary schools in the Torfaen area of south-east Wales and a further £93 million for seven schools in Neath Port Talbot on the south Wales coast.

Education minister Leighton Andrews said: “Securing capital investment in these difficult economic times is essential not only for better education outcomes but for the continued support of our construction industry.”

The initial phase was supposed to be completed in three years but will now run across seven.