24 March 2006
Town halls may find it tough to deliver the government's ambitious school rebuilding programme unless they begin planning now, experts have warned.
Under the Building Schools for the Future scheme, ministers want every secondary school in England to be rebuilt or refurbished over the next 15 years.
To achieve this, most councils will be expected to form a Local Education Partnership with a private sector contractor.
Although the first LEPs will not come into being until later this year, fears are already emerging that the pool of expertise to run these projects is a small and rapidly diminishing one.
Martin Lipson, the BSF director at 4Ps, which is helping authorities get to grips with the management challenges of the programme, said small councils in particular were struggling to find people with the appropriate expertise to oversee the complex funding and tendering process.
'The only solution is to slow down or buy in, at great expense, people they don't have control over,' he told Public Finance. 'Some of the smaller authorities have to take it at a pace they can manage.
It's all about time. Authorities have to plan ahead much more than they ever imagined.'
Lipson refused to be drawn on whether the 15-year target was likely to be met, but noted that the programme could be adjusted to focus more on refurbishment and less on new build.
Addressing a conference on BSF on March 20, Lipson added that the Education and Inspections Bill, currently being considered by the Commons, would complicate matters further. 'We don't know what parental choice will lead to, so it is hard for authorities to plan with certainty,' he said.
James Kempton, vice-chair of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, also focused on this tension, questioning what the creation of more autonomous schools with control of their own assets would mean in practice.
'How can councils set a strategic education vision if they cannot say how assets will be used?' he said.
But schools minister Jacqui Smith said partnership working was key to making the BSF programme a success.
'It is up to all of us – government… schools, local authorities, contractors – to make Building Schools for the Future a success and create new buildings which fulfil their aims while providing value for money,' she said.
'We will not get another chance on this scale for decades to come.'
PFmar2006
