Downing Street has denied claims that Sir James Dyson has been blocked by officials from donating £6 million to his local state primary school.
The billionaire businessman said he had been trying give a grant to the Malmesbury C of E school through his charitable foundation to help with the expansion of its new science and technology centre.
But his stipulation that the Wiltshire school expand its pupil intake prompted warnings from the council that other primary schools in the area could be forced to close, leading to opposition to his plans from ministers and education officials, according to Sir James.
There is a formal process that rightly needs to be followed, a decision hasn't been made
Asked why the Government was stopping him from building the new science and technology centre, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters on Monday: “That’s not an accurate characterisation.
“There is a formal process that rightly needs to be followed, a decision hasn’t been made. Certainly we are extremely grateful for Sir James Dyson’s generosity.
“We’ve been dealing with that request to expand the school as quickly as possible since it was submitted over the summer.”
Sir James, writing in a letter to The Times, described it as “a tragic example of how politicians’ actions fail to match their rhetoric” in wanting to turn the UK into a science and technology superpower.
“If the government is serious about being a science superpower and levelling up, then I implore the education secretary to intervene and give parents what they want — and the country the sort of investment that will help deliver the superpower status the government says it craves,” he said.
His donation is conditional on the Department for Education’s regional office approving the expansion of the state primary school’s pupil numbers from 420 to 630, the newspaper reported.
Sir James wrote: “Land is available at no cost and 94 per cent of local people support the scheme but the local authority and Department for Education say no, citing the risk of other schools having insufficient numbers.
“They would rather hundreds of Malmesbury’s children commute unsustainably, by bus, to outlying village schools and deny parents the choice to send their children to this outstanding local school.”
It is not the first time the founder and chief engineer of Singapore-headquartered multinational technology company Dyson has criticised the Government.
Sir James previously claimed Rishi Sunak’s pledge to make the UK a science and technology superpower was a “mere political slogan” and accused ministers of a “short-sighted” approach to business.
Mr Sunak’s ambition of turning the UK into a science superpower post Brexit has been central to his premiership, with the Prime Minister creating a new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
