Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced the go-ahead for a series of new school projects. Thirty-three LA "sample" school projects in 14 council regions will now proceed in Barking and Dagenham, Blackpool, Camden, Derby City, Ealing, Halton, Hartlepool, Hertfordshire, Lambeth, Oldham, Poole, Somerset, St Helens and Wandsworth.
Another 119 academies – schools being given new sponsors to raise attainment for the most disadvantaged – are also intended to go ahead. Ministers have been working with sponsors to ensure they can move forward with their academies, each designed to raise standards in areas of particular need. The 44 academies at the most advanced stage in their capital planning with Partnerships for Schools will receive capital now. Capital allocations for the remaining 75 will be decided in the Spending Review. Sponsors of these academies will be working with the Department to reduce costs over the next few months.
To ensure best value for money in school projects, the Government has begun working with major companies from the construction industry to help reduce building costs, which, alongside the independent capital review will provide a genuinely robust, efficient and fair system for future school building projects.
Last month the Government announced the creation of a capital review led by Sebastian James, Group Operations Director of DSG International plc, to look at all areas of the Department’s capital spending. Views are being sought from all interested parties including schools, LAs, construction industry and academy sponsors.
The call for evidence runs from 6 August to 17 September 2010 and can be accessed at the Department’s consultations website. The Capital Review Team will report to ministers in mid-September and a forward plan for capital investment during the next spending review period will be produced by the end of the calendar year.
Further information:
For more information read the full press notice published on 6 August 2010.
The list of schools whose projects are going ahead is available to download from this page.
Details on the independent capital review and the original announcement on BSF can be found in the press notice 'Overhaul to England's school building programme'.
The BSF process resulted in some schools being treated as sample schools. Where the BSF scheme was the first to go forward in its area, the contract tendering exercise involved detailed design work by shortlisted bidders on a small number of schools within the group - usually two schools. The LA for the area chose the schools - often one school due to be built new or rebuilt together with one due for refurbishment. These are known as sample schools.
