£1bn schools project given green light
The government has approved twelve school building schemes with an estimated worth of a billion pounds.
Hundreds of workers in construction and building jobs will be needed for projects, which are part of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
Most of the new projects will take place in ten educational authorities entirely new to the BSF programme; Brent, Darlington, Devon, Havering, Kingston and Croydon, Norfolk, Plymouth, Sefton, Wakefield and Warrington. Existing members Lancashire and Tameside have also been approved to progress to the next phase of their projects.
Procurement for the schemes is expected to begin between January and March 2010, offering a boost to construction recruitment for labourers, engineers, surveyors and other jobs in construction.
The chief executive of Partnerships for Schools, Tim Byles, responded to concerns over the commitment of a future government to the BSF programme optimistically. He said that though there was no guarantees, he "was not expecting any future government to impact on live projects".
Nearly twice as many schemes were approved this month as were expected, and Byles said that he would continue to push for more schemes to go ahead "as soon is practicable".
These new schemes are likely to be welcome news to the construction industry, providing contracts and stimulating recruitment during a period when public spending is expected to be reduced.
Currently the BSF programme is projected to open 115 schools from 2009 to the end of 2010, and a further 165 in 2010 to 2011. Its long term goal is to open 200 schools a year from 2011 onwards, though this number is dependent on a large number of variables in schools perfomance and population growth.