ENFIELD Council is considering a legal challenge to the Government over the axing of £100m for new school buildings.

Education Secretary Michael Gove scrapped the Building Schools for the Future programme in July last year, stopping £101m which could have headed to Enfield schools for major redvelopment programmes.

However, the Government was today defeated in the High Court by six local councils, who challenged the legality of his decision to axe their money.

Councillor Ayfer Orhan, Enfield's cabinet member for education and children's services, said the successful judicial review was a “victory for local people” and is meeting with legal officers on Monday to determine if they can mount their own challenge.

She said: “I am absolutely ecstatic they have won, it is a victory for natural justice and a victory for local people.

“It signals that we can explore our options, because the impact of the decision to take away the money has not changed.

“It has been felt right across the borough because we are not talking about pocket money, we are talking about £100m of investment which would have come to Enfield.”

Aylward Academy, in Edmonton, Broomfield School in Southgate, Edmonton County School, and Oasis Academy Hadley, in Ponders End, were all set to benefit from the now-defunct programme, which Mr Gove labeled “wasteful and inefficient”.

The minister said money would be spent on new school buildings, but he wanted more to be spent on the actual projects and less on consultancy fees and red tape.

Many local councils who lost out when BSF was axed will be looking closely at today's judgment, but may be put off by a warning they could have missed their chance to challenge the Government.

Mr Justice Holman, in his ruling, said: “Other local authorities than these claimants will no doubt read this judgment and may consider that they are in the same or a sufficiently similar factual position to claim the same relief.

“The decision is now, however, over seven months ago, and in my view any other authorities would now be far too late to apply for judicial review.

“I do not mean to trivialise so important an issue, but it may be said that fortune has favoured the brave.”

Cllr Orhan said, despite this, she was determined to explore all option available to the council, and said the idea of a judicial review by Enfield was floated in July, but it was decided the authority should wait to see how the other councils fared at the High Court.

She added the council continues to petition the Government for the return of £2m which had been spent in Enfield preparing for the aborted BSF funding bids.