Last month Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced the second wave of the government’s Priority School Building Programme (PSBP).
In a joint announcement made on 9 February, 277 schools were named as recipients of grants from a £2 billion fund to rebuild or refurbish buildings across England.
The programme, this government’s answer to Labour’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative, allocated grants to 261 schools in its first wave. The first schools rebuilt under the PSBP opened in May 2014, with the government claiming that the programme is faster and cheaper than its predecessor.
"Glenigan figures show that, out the first wave of 261 PSBP projects, 16 school buildings are already open or under construction and the remaining projects are well into the development or planning stages," explains Emma Dukes, Glenigan public sector expert.
"The new phase is a five-year programme, operating between 2015 and 2021, with thousands of pupils set to benefit from better, brighter and warmer classrooms.
Scoping studies on all schools will commence from April onwards to assess the detailed work required, together with any specific site issues, and to review the best method and time scale for delivery."
All funding in this programme is to be capital and the main contractors for the schools are expected to be procured through the Education Funding Agency (EFA) Contractors Framework (Glenigan Project ID: 13110777).
"The EFA developed the baseline designs that have been successfully used as part of the original PSBP and the intention is to continue with these for PSBP 2," she added.
"The new funding for the buildings has been largely welcomed, but with so little time to go to the election, we are still waiting to hear which party has the clearest vision for the schools after May."
