THE man in charge of the region’s doomed school rebuilding programme has rejected Government allegations that costs had ballooned out of control.

Tim Byles, head of the Partnerships for Schools (PFS) agency, said studies had shown that the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme was “best in class” for delivering complex building schemes.

The chief executive rejected Education Secretary Michael Gove’s claim that BSF schools were three times as expensive as private procurements – his central justification for axeing the programme.

Mr Byles also said much-criticised consultants’ costs were only 2.8 per cent of the overall bill – and that his agency had succeeded in slashing costs by 30 per cent in recent years.

The evidence, to the education select committee, contradicted Mr Gove’s statement to Parliament that BSF was “characterised by massive overspends”.

When he axed the programme – including 79 projects in the North-East – Mr Gove said: “BSF schools cost three times what it costs to procure buildings in the commercial world.”

The clash prompted Graham Stuart, the committee’s Conservative chairman, to ask if Mr Byles was making his “farewell appearance” – before being sacked.

Mr Gove sparked widespread anger when he scrapped the revamp of 715 secondaries, including seven in Darlington, 15 in County Durham, 17 in Stockton, 15 in Redcar and Cleveland, six in Hartlepool, a further 14 in Sunderland and five in Gateshead/South Tyneside.

A review is paving the way for much of future capital spending to be allocated to independent free schools – many of which are likely to be built in London and the South-East.

In his evidence, Mr Byles partially accepted Mr Gove’s criticism of “bureaucracy and waste” in the BSF programme, blaming EU competition rules that required two different plans for each proposed school.

But, rejecting the allegations of soaring costs and long delays, he told MPs that targets for signing deals with contractors and openingschools had been met in each of the past three years.

And he warned that axeing BSF would have a “significant impact” on schooling.

Mr Gove will give evidence to the inquiry today.