Hopwood Hall College project in jeopardy

Only 13 out of 144 colleges have been given the green light for new building projects, and Hopwood Hall College is not one of them.

The college's £72 million redevelopment is in turmoil after an inquiry into the Learning and Skills Council's re-building programme for colleges across England found that major mistakes had been made.

Hopwood Hall has already put some of their own money towards its project but it could now be abandoned altogether.

Severe overspending left the Learning and Skills Council woefully short of being able to fund the 144 projects nationwide.

Even those projects that have progressed to the next stage towards receiving funding will now have to fulfil a value for money challenge to radically reduce the cost and scope of projects and review the sources of funding.

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen said: "Hopwood Hall have invested millions in a project which would benefit thousands of young people in Rochdale.

"Without Government funding this money will go to waste and may even threaten the financial future of the college.

"I will continue to work with the College to secure the funding needed to provide the facilities Rochdale deserves."