It seems strange to build a State school with private sector cash, but that's what's happening in Peacehaven.

East Sussex County Council arranged for the secondary school, which opens next year, to be built under a private finance initiative.

Under this scheme, a consortium will build the school and maintain it for the next 25 years. The council then pays the private sector.

Brighton and Hove is building its new library under a similar scheme while improvements to the Brighton Centre could take the same route.

Private sector finance enables schemes to go ahead that would otherwise have been impossible for years.

The efficiency of the private sector may enable this school to be run well, and Peacehaven parents are glad it's under way. But we won't know for some time whether this new venture is worth emulating for other local schools.