Gove freezes BSF programme, cancels 700+ school rebuilding projects
Education Secretary Michael Gove has brought the Buildings for School programme to a halt, cancelling more than 700 school rebuilding projects in the process.
According to the Department for Education, the overhaul of capital investment means:
- 706 schools will be opened under new arrangements being agreed yesterday (5 July). Of these, 386 are projected to be new build, 262 to be remodelled or refurbished, and 26 to be ICT-only. The building programme in 32 further schools is yet to be confirmed.
- 715 schools will no longer be built or refurbished through BSF. The building programme in 153 schools has not yet been confirmed.
- 123 academy projects in development which have not reached financial close will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
- 14 cases prioritised locally as “sample” projects – the first in an area – will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis “in recognition of local need”.
The government has also launched a review of all capital investment in schools, early years, colleges and sixth forms. It will be led by Sebastian James, group operations director of DSG International and consider future spending decisions over the next spending review period (2011/12 to 2014/2015).
The James review will examine how to meet parental demand, make current design and procurement cost-effective and efficient, and overhaul how capital is allocated and targeted.
The Department for Education will also reduce its End Year Flexibility requirements by £1bn to ensure no additional borrowing this year.
Michael Gove told MPs that BSF had been characterised by “massive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy”.
The minister said the level of bureaucracy involved in the BSF process with its nine “meta-stages” was “absurd and had to go”. He also highlighted the complicated project governance delivery structures and large teams that local authorities had to put in place.
He added: “It is perhaps no surprise that it can take almost three years to negotiate the bureaucratic process of BSF before a single builder is engaged or brick is laid. There are some councils which entered the process six years ago which have only just started building new schools. Another project starting this year is three years behind schedule.”
The Education Secretary claimed the way in which BSF was designed and led was “massively flawed” and that the programme failed to meet any of its targets.
Gove added: “In order to ensure that we do not waste any more money on a dysfunctional process, I am today taking action to get the best possible value for the taxpayer. I will take account of the contractual commitments already entered into, but I cannot allow more money to be spent until we have ensured a more efficient use of resources.”
Ed Balls, Gove’s predecessor, said the announcement was “a black day for our country’s schools” and described the statement as “shameful”.
Balls highlighted a National Audit Office report in February 2009 which had concluded that the processes for procurement in BSF had significantly improved. The NAO had also found that the total capital cost of each BSF school was similar to that of other schools and 17% cheaper than that of previous academies, the shadow Secretary of State added.
“It is not the bureaucracy that he is abolishing, but hundreds of new schools for children in our country,” Balls told MPs.
Partnerships for Schools – the quango responsible for management and delivery of schools capital programmes, including BSF and academies – insisted that it welcomed the review.
Chief executive Tim Byles said: “The review of schools capital will help ensure that the way in which future spending on school buildings and facilities is delivered matches the new government’s priorities.”
