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Michael Gove said he understood why Sandwell Council was seeking a judicial review
Sandwell Council is to join three other Labour-run English authorities taking legal action over the scrapping of school rebuilding projects.
The £55bn Building Schools for the Future scheme was axed in July, affecting about 700 projects.
On Tuesday, Nottingham, Luton and Waltham Forest councils announced they were seeking a judicial review.
Errors in a list of scrapped schemes initially led Sandwell to wrongly believe its projects had been spared.
Sandwell Council leader Darren Cooper said: "We are taking legal action because the government's decision is irrational, unfair and shortsighted."
He questioned why the government had chosen to halt schemes which had not been signed off by 1 January 2010.
</div> "If we had been told that was the deadline, we would have met it.
"Instead we did what we were told and spent money on preparatory work in good faith.
"Given the circumstances, we believe we have no alternative but to mount a legal challenge."
In response, Education Secretary Michael Gove said he quite understood why the council felt the need to seek a judicial review.
"But the decision that was taken is a way to ensure every local authority was treated in the same way," the education secretary said.
"There will always be an authority which fell just short of the line that has had to been drawn."
When the Building Schools for the Future scheme was halted, it meant rebuilding and improvement projects being cancelled across England.
Shortly after the announcement in July Mr Gove apologised about the confusion over which projects were being scrapped, as the initial list contained mistakes.
Local authorities and construction companies were angered that they had spent money planning new projects which were then scrapped.
Councils estimated they had wasted £160m in cancelled projects, while the construction industry complained it had lost £100m.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Michael Gove said he understood why Sandwell Council was seeking a judicial review Sandwell Council is to join three other Labour-run English authorities taking legal action over the scrapping of school rebuilding projects.
The £55bn Building Schools for the Future scheme was axed in July, affecting about 700 projects.
On Tuesday, Nottingham, Luton and Waltham Forest councils announced they were seeking a judicial review.
Errors in a list of scrapped schemes initially led Sandwell to wrongly believe its projects had been spared.
Sandwell Council leader Darren Cooper said: "We are taking legal action because the government's decision is irrational, unfair and shortsighted."
He questioned why the government had chosen to halt schemes which had not been signed off by 1 January 2010.
</div> "If we had been told that was the deadline, we would have met it.
"Instead we did what we were told and spent money on preparatory work in good faith.
"Given the circumstances, we believe we have no alternative but to mount a legal challenge."
In response, Education Secretary Michael Gove said he quite understood why the council felt the need to seek a judicial review.
"But the decision that was taken is a way to ensure every local authority was treated in the same way," the education secretary said.
"There will always be an authority which fell just short of the line that has had to been drawn."
When the Building Schools for the Future scheme was halted, it meant rebuilding and improvement projects being cancelled across England.
Shortly after the announcement in July Mr Gove apologised about the confusion over which projects were being scrapped, as the initial list contained mistakes.
Local authorities and construction companies were angered that they had spent money planning new projects which were then scrapped.
Councils estimated they had wasted £160m in cancelled projects, while the construction industry complained it had lost £100m.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.