THE coalition Government's decision to abandon the previous administration's Building Schools of the Future (BSF) programme is causing concern and distress throughout the education sector.

The political fallout from the botched announcement by Education Secretary Michael Gove should not hide the real problem of badly maintained and out-of-date buildings not being replaced by buildings fit for learning in the 21st century.

Also, very significantly, the previous Government's academy programme has been changed from its social justice and social inclusion agenda to one that could be termed a social exclusion agenda.

Academies were introduced to provide a fresh start to schools which had failed over a considerable period of time and were located in areas of high deprivation.

While our research at Hull University Business School shows that investment in areas of social and educational failure was showing considerable success, the new regime of academies is deeply disturbing.

Now the highest performing schools will be able to become academies and opt out of local authority control and be funded directly from Whitehall.

Thus resources will be directed towards the best schools and not the ones in most need.

Indeed, local authorities will be left with under-performing schools.

This effect will be compounded with another of the new Government's initiatives – that of free schools.

Here, parents and other groups will be able to form their own schools, taking money away from the local authority budget, and be funded direct from central government.

Most commentators see this as a way of middle class groups removing themselves from local control, again leaving the under-performing schools with the local authority.

What will be the result of this?

Certainly, it will result in the death of local authority control of education. Instead, local authorities will be left with the worst schools.

It will certainly mean a two-tier education system which will exacerbate social division.

A brave new world indeed.

PROFESSOR BRENT DAVIES Lincoln.

The Bishop of Lincoln, Dr John Saxbee, calls for increased taxes (July 29) to allow the previous Government's school building programme to continue.

His call shows commendable compassion, but a rather poor grasp of economics.

It may seem obvious that you can increase government revenues by raising tax rates. But it is a law of diminishing returns.

Beyond a certain level, higher tax rates will cease to increase revenues, and may even reduce them.

This is because taxpayers change their behaviour, high-flyers go abroad and investors look elsewhere.

So excessive tax levels reduce revenues in the short term, and depress economic activity and growth in the medium term.

It may be counter-intuitive, but there are examples from dozens of countries over decades to show that decreasing tax rates often leads to increased revenues – and increased economic growth.

The Government is steering a careful course between the risk of over-borrowing, and creating a Greek-style crisis; and the risk of excessive austerity, which might cause a double-dip recession. As the Prime Minister has said, we are all in this together and we will all feel the pinch.

Appeals from special interest groups, however worthy, to be spared the cuts suggest that they haven't realised the scale of the problem.

ROGER HELMER MEP Conservative, East Midlands.