Cometh the hour, cometh the man
IT’S always interesting to speculate what changes a new Education Secretary might make. As Damian Hinds is a horse of a different colour to his predecessor, there might be quite a few.
Their most obvious differences lie in the perenially contentious areas of free schools, faith schools and grammar schools. Hinds is in favour of all three. Justine Greening, it seems, was not.
Expect, therefore, a reboot of Theresa May’s campaign for more grammar schools, a recommitment to the 500 free schools David Cameron pledged by 2020 in his election manifesto nearly three years ago, and a removal of the limits on the percentage of non-faith pupils that faith schools must admit. More school autonomy is understood to be the Hinds mantra.
SEN moves to a new level
Glenwood School in Benfleet, Essex, is a £15 million Special Educational Needs (SEN) education complex that has been delivered by a project team led by construction and infrastructure company Morgan Sindall.
Story page 20
Given that Greening’s opposition to implementing Conservative policy was shared by many in the educational establishment, it would appear that Hinds is now on a collision course with The Blob.
However, that may be the least of his concerns – sorting out the mess of PFIs in the educational world may see him alienating the entire financial establishment.
Carillion’s crash, however humiliating it is for the company, the concept and the politicians and financiers who’ve driven it, could have been even more disastrous if the disgraced contractor had been building PFI schools in England and Scotland at the moment, as it has done quite extensively in the past.
There are, of course, other contractors currently engaged on PFI schools, but if Hinds wishes to close the book on this off-balance sheet misadventure, now would seem the perfect time. Carillion’s demise and the damning obituary in the form of the recent National Audit Report would seem to have sealed the fate of educational PFIs.
Editor Andrew Pring
Sales director Julian Walter
Production Gina Mitchell
Design Sandra Cid
Managing director Toby Filby
The question then becomes, where does the new school funding come from. Better-value procurement has been the mantra ever since the extravaganza that was Schools For The Future was shelved. But this really must be the moment for off-site and modular construction to step up to the plate and deliver – not just time savings, which it’s proved it can do, but cost savings too.
The only way cheaper offsite is possible is when the builders are confident their order books will be big enough to justify the necessary investment in manufacturing capacity. Thankfully, Government seems to have grasped the point and the ESFA is positively welcoming modular practitioners on to its frameworks. If modular and offsite can truly deliver, the new Education Secretary may come to be seen as quite a star.
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