Afternoon:
10°c
Colleges face two-year wait for rebuilding go-ahead
26 Jun 2009More than 160 colleges across England were told today that they must wait until 2011 to find out if they can continue with their building projects, following the collapse of the Government's multibillion-pound rebuilding programme.
Thirteen colleges have been given the go-ahead to proceed this year, further education minister Kevin Brennan said.
The Learning and Skills Council froze the building programme in December because there was not enough money to go around during the current spending cycle, which lasts until 2010-11.
Funding for the 13 projects has come from £300 million of capital investment for higher education announced in the Budget earlier this year.
In a Written Ministerial Statement today, Mr Brennan said that the 13 colleges were chosen after the LSC looked at where the funds would have the greatest impact for students, employers and communities, where work can be started quickly and get the best value for the taxpayer.
Each of the colleges chosen has been told to make "significant but manageable" cost reductions to their original building plans.
The remaining 167 colleges in the programme will not learn if they can go ahead until 2011.
The LSC will begin consulting with colleges over how to prioritise building projects from the autumn, for the next Spending Review period which starts in 2011-12.
The LSC said that it has a contingency fund available for those colleges whose projects have not been given the green light to "mitigate the impact of potential aborted costs".
Anne Attwood, principal of Furness College in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, one of those given the go-ahead today, said: "The basic thing is that this means we get our new build, and that's so fundamental for us."
She said the college had been expecting to be told it would have to wait to start work, which involves replacing four metal buildings with a new, larger permanent building.
"This means we can actually grow and give a wider range of courses to the people of Barrow."
The college has already been looking at ways of reducing the costs of its project, Ms Attwood said.
Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: "We are very pleased for those colleges whose projects are now moving forward - these will be of great benefit to the students, businesses and communities these institutions serve.
"Understandably there will also be a great deal of disappointment among those colleges that will not be receiving funding.
"It is still beholden on the Learning and Skills Council to give colleges as much assistance as they can in managing their estates so that they meet the needs of students, communities and business in the 21st century.
"They need a funding plan which recognises the additional costs they incur in meeting social and economic objectives that Government itself sets for them.
"They also have a duty to help those colleges who have sunk their own funds into preparing for projects that will not now go ahead - more than £220 million of colleges' own money has been spent in this way. This is imperative."
Sir Andrew Foster, who in April was asked by the Government to investigate the delays, laid much of the blame today at the door of the LSC.
He said there were warnings of problems as early as February last year, but there was "delay and confusion" in addressing them.
The collapse of the programme was "predictable and probably avoidable", he concluded.
The 13 colleges given the go-ahead to continue are:
:: Barnsley College
:: Bournville College
:: Furness College
:: Hartlepool College of Further Education
:: Kirklees College
:: Leyton Sixth Form College
:: Manchester College - Wythenshawe
:: North West Kent College
:: St Helens College
:: Sandwell College
:: South Thames College
:: Tresham Institute of Further and Higher Education, Corby
:: West Cheshire College
