News
School refits ‘can cut the UK’s debt’
The government says it is committed to continue investing in school buildings
Plea to salvage school design plans from axed BSF scheme n
Any future plans for school rebuilding should make
use of preparatory work already done under the scrapped Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF), councils are insisting. Last month Education Secretary
Michael Gove announced the closure of BSF and the cancellation of 735 school projects under the programme. A further 151 projects are due to be reviewed. The structure of BSF required
councils to carry out detailed public consultation, and to recruit and commission designers and architects ahead of programmes being given the final go-ahead, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).
Institute to seek natural solutions
Construction of the £25m teaching and research facility at Aberystwyth University has begun. The centre is intended to form a new institute at the leading edge of environmental and agricultural science, with the architectural solutions designed to work in a natural way with their environment. Completion is due in July 2011.
The LGA says that preparatory
work and plans drawn up under BSF should be eligible for consideration under any new programme aimed at sharing out capital funding. Cllr Shireen Ritchie, chair of the
Children and Young People’s Board at the LGA, said: ‘It is encouraging that Michael Gove has stressed his commitment to getting more core funding directly to schools, via councils. ‘Councils cannot now send good
money after bad, so any future plans for school rebuilding should use preparatory work that has been done already, as far as is practical.’ The LGA added that more
than £203m has been spent by 75 councils, preparing for school
Refurbishing existing schools rather than building new ones could help reduce the UK’s financial deficit while significantly raising educational standards, according to new guidance on school construction. Rethinking school capital investment: the new 3Rs?, published by Davis Langdon, Scott Brownrigg and the British Council for School Environments, explores a range of options for the schools market – and, taking into full account impending cuts in capital expenditure on the schools estate, the document explores the cost- benefit analysis of each principle. The publication comes shortly
rebuilding projects that will not now go ahead or will be reviewed. It said 88 councils are affected by the BSF project cutbacks and reviews. n Kickstart, the scheme aimed at rejuvenating stalled housebuilding schemes, has been wound down following a decision to cut £220m of funding to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The agency had already lost £230m of funding in May. The HCA said it would still be able to meet existing contractual commitments across all of its programmes, and would provide funding for those ‘round- two’ Kickstart schemes approved before 6 April.
www.lga.gov.uk See News Analysis, page 12
after an announcement by the Department of Education in June, announcing plans to relax planning rules to allow derelict commercial and residential buildings to be brought back into use as schools. Scott Brownrigg’s architectural
director, Michael Olliff, said: ‘Concerns over the state of potential public finances, the increasing need to reduce carbon emissions, questions over the suitability of PFI [Private Finance Initiative], the rise of parent- promoted free schools and the drive to increase the number of independent academies, are all pointing to a future that will ensure that the refurbishment of existing buildings could be seen as the redevelopment option of choice.’
www.scottbrownrigg.com www.bcse.uk.net
www.cibsejournal.com
August 2010 CIBSE Journal
7
Tim Soar
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