Slow going but contractors shortlisted for faculty building programme
Six contractors had been shortlisted by the dep. for Education for the £2bn Priority School Building Programme.
However, local authorities have hit out at delays to the programme, and plenty of schools are still none the wiser when their approved work will actually start.
The government deploy the £2bn Priority School Building Programme after it scrapped the Building Schools for the longer term (BSF) project installation under Labour.
Ten months have now passed for the reason that DfE named the 261 schools selected for funding out of the 587 schools that applied but no work has started.
However, contractors have this week been shortlisted to tender for the capital grant funded batches in certain areas. The shortlisted bidders are:
- Northwest 1 – BAM Construction and Carillion Construction
- Northwest 2 – BAM Construction and Willmot Dixon
- South – Interserve Projects Services and Kier Regional
- East – Kier Regional and Wates
- Midlands 2 – BAM Construction and Kier Regional
- London – BAM Construction and Kier Regional.
Meanwhile, research by the Local Government Association has revealed that many local authorities are having to embark on a programme of emergency repairs to maintain schools open while looking forward to work-proper to begin.
Devon County Council has estimated it’ll need to spend £2.5m on “urgent health and safety works” for eight of its schools which are because of receive Priority School Building funding, while North East Lincolnshire has already needed to spend £1.4m on maintenance works in 2011/12.
Suffolk County Council has spent £1.1m on essential works for the 2 worst school buildings inside the county. Bury Council has put aside a £2m contingency from its emergency fund to hide the capability cost of essential repairs at three of its schools while it awaits news on essential government support.
Cllr David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA’s children and adolescents board, said: “The announcement of much needed funding to mend hundreds of the country’s most crumbling schools was as a favorable move, but that was last summer and lots parents are still none the wiser about when their child’s school can be pointed out to scratch.
“This example is now unacceptable and threatens to severely impact on our children’s education. Councils are stepping in to maintain schools running while government struggles to get its act together. Local government is already engaging in basic repairs but lets deliver a lot more with funds which are currently tied up in government red tape.
“Within the current tough financial system we all know it is not going to be possible to rebuild every school from scratch and councils aren’t soliciting for gold-plated taps and state-of-the-art luxury staffrooms. But heads and fogeys are telling us that the condition of a few schools is so bad its entering into the manner of providing an honest education. Despite the labor of teachers, the chance that youngsters could excel in such poor surroundings is a challenge too far.”