First school opens under Priority School Building Programme
1 May 2014 02:41 PM
The first school to be rebuilt as part of the
government’s building programme has opened to its
pupils.
The
first school to be rebuilt as part of the government’s Priority School
Building Programme (PSBP) has opened to its pupils today (1 May
2014).
Pupils and teachers at Whitmore Park Primary School in
Coventry have had their dilapidated school building completely rebuilt as part
of the £2.4 billion programme to rebuild 261 of the schools in England in
the worst condition.
In
total, 28 schools are now either under construction or open as part of thePSBP,
while design work has begun at 234 schools - 90% of the programme. All schools
will be delivered by the end of 2017 - 2 years earlier than originally planned.
Given the success of the PSBP, ministers have also announced today a
second phase of the programme, worth around £2 billion.
Schools Minister David Laws said:
The
opening of Whitmore Park marks a major milestone in the Priority School
Building Programme, which is making great strides in ensuring that vital
building work takes place at some of the schools in the worst state across the
country.
It
is providing much better value for money than previous school building schemes,
and forms part of the government’s drive to deliver the best schools for
young people in order to help deliver both a stronger economy and a fairer
society.
Whitmore Park Primary has become a model
for PSBP schools, with procurement taking only 13 weeks and building
works complete in just 11 months.
Caroline Kiely, Executive Headteacher at Whitmore Park
Primary School, said:
I’m sure the new school environment will make a
real difference to the staff and children here at Whitmore
Park.
Our
previous building was past its best so the new school will mean that less money
will have to be spent on repairs and can be spent on better equipment or more
staff instead.
The
£5 million project comprises a new build primary school for 630 pupils
with a 39-place nursery. The 2 wings share a central hub comprising the
entrance, studio and hall, making it an efficient and effective
design.
Stephen Beechey, Managing Director Education and
Investment at Wates, the contractor who built the school,
said:
The
Priority School Building Programme is proving itself an extremely successful
means of ensuring new school facilities result in inspirational learning
environments that encourage educational excellence.
This can clearly be seen in the delivery of Whitmore
Park. Wates has maintained a close working partnership with the Education
Funding Agency throughout the design and build programme to maintain cost and
time efficiency, leading to completion of the first school under the
programme.
The
government is determined to raise the standard of schools and the education
they provide as part of its long-term plan. The PSBP is building on
the progress we have already made in delivering a more efficient, faster, less
bureaucratic approach to building schools.
Thanks to the decisions we have taken following the
James review to improve efficiency and reduce waste in central school building
programmes, this government is building or improving the condition of almost
900 schools - twice as many as the previous government. This includes building
almost 300 brand new schools, rebuilding and renovating 200 of the most
dilapidated schools in the country, and approving funding for more than 400
projects from previous programmes. Coming on top of building work undertaken by
local authorities, the coalition is delivering central government’s
biggest contribution to the school estate in decades.
Notes to editors
- Given the success of the Priority School Building
Programme (PSBP) so far, today the government has
announced a further £2 billion to address condition needs in some of the
worst school buildings across the across the country.
- The PSBP is a centrally managed programme set
up to address the condition of the schools most in need of urgent repair.
Through the PSBP, 261 schools will be rebuilt or have their condition
needs met.
- The PSBP was announced after the Building
Schools for the Future (BSF) programme was stopped, this was an expensive and
wasteful programme that did not prioritise the most dilapidated schools.
Under BSF it took 3 years for building work to begin. Under
the PSBP we have cut this to 1 year and anticipated project costs are
up to 40% lower.
- Over the course of this parliament, the government is
allocating £5 billion to local authorities to support the provision of
new school places and £2.8 billion for the maintenance of the school
estate to meet the needs of maintained schools and academies. Over the spending
review period, the total capital made available for investment in schools in
England will be about £18 billion.