Lessons from the education sector

This week’s Queen’s Speech revealed that the government is to push ahead with its ambitious plans to create 200 city academies by 2010. Education clearly remains a high priority for Labour and, with a third term in office, the project is likely to go ahead unimpeded.

The DfES is providing substantial funding for the academy programme, with a planned budget of £93.8m for in 2005–2006. The academies are to be built in partnership between the DfES and the private sector. Private sponsors will contribute 10% of the costs and they, rather than the local education authority, will be responsible for managing the school.

There are currently 64 live academy projects, with 17 open, 29 in the feasibility phase and 18 in implementation. It is still too early to measure substantially their results, although one academy in Middlesbrough is set to fail its latest Ofsted inspection.

Those consultants already involved in the academies are confident that the programme will be a success, claiming it is a thriving and attractive programme, as tighter cost controls will mean greater opportunities for project managers and QSs.

However, the academies have faced criticism from other parties. Their building costs were attacked last month by the National Union of Teachers because they are two-thirds higher than those for a traditional school – with costs claimed to be around £25m per academy, in contrast to just £15m for an old-style school.

The Department for Education and Skills is secretive about actual building costs, justifying its guarded answers by citing differences between regions and projects: “Projects in different parts of the country vary in costs because of the application of a location factor,” it has said.

But in its report on secondary education published in March, the Education Select Committee said the government should ensure the current programme of academies is thoroughly evaluated before embarking on a major expansion of an untested model. The NUT backs this view.

Opportunity for greater control

Paul Foster, head of the education sector at EC Harris, thinks the wave of criticisms that has deluged the academies should be seen as an opportunity. “It will force the DfES to create greater focus on real-life costing," he says. "It will create a better control around the figures and real cost management robustness.”

The issue of keeping costs within budget is extremely sensitive. One way of reducing them would be to hire the same teams to work on a large number of projects. Unsurprisingly, consultants already working on the academies programme favour this option. Foster says his firm is using its national network of offices to build up a critical mass. “We try to create clusters of academies in three main regions: the north-east, north-west and London,” he says. The consultant sees its local staff’s “thorough understanding of local pricing” as an asset.

Meanwhile, Graham Harvey-Browne, managing partner at CM Parker Browne, says that his firm's experience as the cost manager at the Salford City Academy is a strong selling point. “We’ve learned how the sponsors work, which enables us to feed ideas into the next project and drive costs down,” he says.

Security is one area where costs are being pushed up, however. Brian Johnson is a director at architectural practice Aedas, which is currently working on nine academies. He claims that the academies, which will be rich in high technology material, are often built in very disadvantaged areas and could easily become targets for thieves.

Cutting on costs might influence the design, as EC Harris claims it doesn't “slavishly” follow the architect's line. “We do what's in the interest of our client [the DfES], even if it means that we have to be tougher in the edges,” Foster says. He adds that to meet the budget and typical costs, the company is ready to make design changes.

Nevertheless, the quality of the design should not be undermined by cost requirements, as high standards have been set for the new breed of schools. Johnson says: “The government is telling people, ‘We’re investing in your area and in education.’ So these new academies need to send a signal, and the design needs to be more vibrant.” He adds that academies are a much more attractive and financially rewarding market than PFIs because of the design quality required.

EC Harris, currently working on 17 projects either as QS or project manager, has also called on the DfES to improve the current procurement system by setting up a framework of contractors, in the same vein as the existing frameworks of designers and consultants. The aim would be to build up a more committed contracting supply base, thereby speeding the process up.

Clarus Consulting won its first academy commission at Harefield, Hillingdon, earlier this year, and director Andrew Whitehurst would also welcome more flexibility in the procurement system. “At the moment, the academies work is procured in a traditional way. The scheme would benefit from partnering between firms,” he says.

Harvey-Browne defends the academies’ sustainable remit. "In the past, schools have been built on the cheap. The Government, for the first time, has decided to invest in long-term buildings that can do us proud,” he observes.

But will the buildings actually be able to raise standards in education, as the government clearly hopes? Foster says that the responsibility for improving education cannot be laid solely on the construction industry. “The argument is that buildings can create a better learning environment,” he says. “But the building itself doesn't do the teaching."