WORK on the next wave of new schools in Blaenau Gwent will start in the autumn, a council report has revealed.

The authority plans to spend £11 million on the second phase of its 21st Century Schools programme – half of which will be match-funded by the Welsh Government.

The costliest project will be the 360-place new build primary school in the Ebbw Fawr area, which could cost £9 million.

But the scheme that will be tackled first is the £1 million Welsh medium seedling school which will aim to satisfy “unmet demand” in the county borough.

Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Helyg is currently the only Welsh medium school in Blaenau Gwent.

The education and learning scrutiny committee report says the proposals are “timely” given that the Welsh Government recently approved the authority’s Welsh Education Strategic Plan (WESP), which advocates increasing Welsh learning opportunities across the region.

The council has also applied for further grant funding of up to £7 million to support the priorities within the WESP, including improvements to Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Helyg.

The council will launch a formal consultation on the new seedling school during the autumn term, with construction work expected to finish in September 2020.

A similar consultation will be launched for the new build primary at the same time, with a business case expected to go before councillors next month.

An 18-month construction period has been planned by the council from April 2021, with the aim of having the school ready to go in September 2022.

The final scheme is the ‘remodelling’ of secondary schools, which will use the remaining £1 million from the spend plan.

The report says the scheme will be taken last due to the “complexity” of remodelling live secondary school sites.

This project would also require the council to secure further funding through prudential borrowing for works costing more than £1 million.

Since 2014, Blaenau Gwent council has completed work at Tredegar Comprehensive School and Abertillery Primary School as part of the first phase of its 21st Century Schools programme.

Other projects expected to be completed by 2019 include a new build school at Six Bells and remodelling work at Ystruth Primary School in Blaina.