The Building Schools for the Future Programme

Book excerpt: (BSF) programme believe that it is leading to more strategic procurement of school infrastructure than previous school building programmes. Local Authorities are using BSF to rearrange the location, type and number of schools in their area and create facilities and school environments which support their educational objectives. BSF schools are built to higher specifications and space standards than previous schools. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and Partnerships for Schools (the body established by DCSF to manage the BSF programme centrally) were too optimistic in their assumptions of how quickly the first schools could be delivered. By December 2008, only 42 of the planned 200 schools had been built, with 54 due to open next year and 121 the year after. To include all schools in the programme, 250 schools will need to be built a year and the number of schools in procurement and construction at any one time will need to double from 2011 onwards. The extent to which problems in the finance markets will affect BSF is still unclear. DCSF and Partnerships for Schools estimate that the total cost of renewing the school estate will be between £52 billion to £55 billion which is £7 billion to £10 billion more than was estimated at the outset of the programme.