A PARLIAMENTARY candidate has called on the government to release funds for a new sixth form at Workington Academy, as he accuses the current Workington MP of 'playing political games'.

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Whitehaven & Workington, Josh MacAlister, has called on the Government to release funding for a new dedicated sixth form building at Workington Academy to free up space for more students to attend the school.

His comments come after Workington's Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson raised the issue of pupils not getting in to their preferred secondary schools, and laid the blame for a lack of places at the feet of the Labour-led Cumberland Council.

Cumbria Education Trust, which runs the academy, has submitted a request to the Government for urgent consideration of capital investment to continue delivering a quality 11-18 education offer across its academy sites, which it says are nearing capacity. Sixth form numbers are expected to double in the next four to five years.

Mr MacAlister said he has written to Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education, asking that the department 'urgently releases the capital investment needed' from the underspend in its existing budget, saying that approximately £10million is needed and The Department for Education has an underspend of at least £830million for 2023-24.

He said: “It is great to see local schools doing so well but frustrating for parents who want their children to attend and can’t get in. I have visited Workington Academy and heard directly from the school leadership about the capacity challenges they’re facing."

He claimed that Mr Jenkinson is 'incapable of challenging his own government on anything', and said that it is 'nonsense' that the council is to blame for a lack of places.

“The Department for Education is responsible for capital funding for schools and Cumbria Education Trust has already put in a bid for investment," he said.

“Mr Jenkinson should stop playing political games and join me in pushing the Government he is a member of to release the funding we need.”

However, Mr Jenkinson has said that candidate is 'deflecting' from what he believes is a Labour-run council's failings, and said that the duty to provide school places 'falls entirely at the feet of the council'.

Mr Jenkinson said: “Honesty matters in politics. While Sir Keir’s parachuted candidate would like to deflect from his council’s failings, the Education Act is clear that the duty to provide school places falls entirely at the feet of the council - who are provided additional capital funding automatically every year based on their pupil planning, without the need to bid.

"The council is also expected to raise additional funding from housing developers through section 106 agreements. This has been the status quo for the last 30 years.

Workington needs an MP who will stand up for their constituents, and who is not afraid to take on those who have a responsibility to provide for residents. Instead, all we have is deflection."