The James Review on school building is a further illustration of the tension between the localism agenda and the need for cost efficiencies.
Centralising procurement as proposed by the Review is arguably diametrically opposed to the concept of locally based decision-making. The proposed centralisation of procurement outlined by the James Review will make responding to local conditions and need more difficult.
There is a danger that centralised procurement will give rise to a large bureaucracy which draws funding away from frontline school building delivery – so repeating one of the core criticisms of the Building Schools for the Future initiative. Despite James’s statements about involving smaller contractors, his suggested approach will surely favour the larger firms.
Standardisation may reduce costs, but could lead to missed opportunities for school buildings to respond to local needs. The Review illustrates the major challenge faced in keeping the school estate fit for purpose. The need for capital investment to maintain school standards cannot be ignored, even in the context of public sector funding cuts.
Will the standardisation of design and specification allow appropriate responses to local circumstances? In many cases, schools are more than just educational spaces. They fulfil a range of community functions, providing nurseries, theatres, and sports facilities, for example. A standardised approach is unlikely to acknowledge the wider, and often unique, roles that school buildings play within communities.
And how can school building design be responsive enough to local circumstances if every building is designed to a standard model? This is likely to cause tensions at the neighbourhood level, which will represent a significant challenge if local communities exercise their new-found powers effectively. Good school design responding to the local context should provide added value, despite the issues faced by the Building Schools for the Future programme.
The proposals in the Review are also major blow to the architectural profession as they significantly downplay the importance of buildings being designed in consultation with users and in response to local context.
James proposes that a full and consistent condition survey of the school estate will be completed over a five-year period. Although it might prove difficult, this survey must be completed in a much shorter time-frame if we are to prioritise short-term capital investment decisions based on highest need.
Despite the government’s drive to scrap regional decision-making, a regional approach to procurement could represent a happy medium. It would bring some of the benefits of economies of scale, whilst enabling a more responsive approach to local conditions. Operating a number of regional procurement bodies would create some competitive tensions and allow lessons to be learnt across different regions.
John Keyes is director of corporate real estate consulting at DTZ
