Capital Transformation Fund Announcement
The Department for Education has announced that circa £285m of its FE Capital Transformation programme remains unallocated. The Department will provide this on a formula basis and publish allocations this month. This differs from the last round, which required colleges to develop projects and extensive form-filling.
The FE Capital Transformation programme is a £1.5 billion fund for improving the condition of English College buildings (excluding sixth form). The fund is the most significant pot in a total spending round allocation of £2.8 billion for FE capital (the remainder being smaller funds for specific purposes: preparation for T-levels, expansion space, energy efficiency etc.).
Following the announcement MabelSpace estimates that total FE Capital Transformation Fund allocations will be as follows.
2020: an all colleges formula allocation, average: £1.1 million.
2022: 60 colleges (after a competitive process): average: £6.8 million.
2023: an all colleges formula allocation, average: £1.6 million.
Colleges will receive these allocations and self-manage the expenditure.
DfE has then "targeted some of the worst-condition sites", and is delivering projects on behalf of 16 colleges using DfE's own approved contractors. MabelSpace estimates the average spend for the 16 colleges at £37 million (using circa 40% of the total fund).
Bank of DfE
Following the Office for National Statistics decision last year, England's 228 FE college corporations are now considered part of the public sector. One of the impacts is the inability to borrow for capital construction projects.
The new scheme is time-limited, and funding must be drawn down by March 2025 at the latest. DfE aims to confirm the details in April and provide loans by the 'early summer'.
Following the public sector classification, the DfE is also allocating an additional £150m of capital on a formula basis.
Meanwhile, back at school
Education unions are calling on the government to take urgent action on dilapidated school buildings, writes Katie Coyne in Construction Management. In real terms, Capital spending on school buildings declined by 50% between 2009/10 and 2021/22.
The Department for Education has admitted that some schools are at risk of collapse. The most at-risk are schools built between 1945 to 1970, used ‘system build’ light frame techniques and are more likely to contain asbestos. The DfE annual report said that “there is a risk of collapse of one or more blocks in some schools which are at or approaching the end of their designed life expectancy and structural integrity is impaired”.
The report referenced by the unions (the DfE consolidated annual report and accounts for 2021 to 2022) was published in December. The accounts include an underspend of £469 million in the year up to 31st March. According to DfE, the underspend was "primarily due to the slippage of school building programmes driven by challenging issues in the construction market".
More Construction cost inflation
Travis Perkins, one of the UK's most prominent builders merchants, forecasts that inflation will persist in 2023. The company expects "mid to high single-digit percentage inflation" on building materials and products.
On a Lighter Note
Signify Lighting has installed more than 300 outdoor LED lamps at the University of Cambridge. Roads and pathways are lit by Philips TownTune luminaires. The luminaires have a zero upward light output ratio, minimising the impact on the night sky. Signify states that the project will result in significant energy savings and less maintenance time.
Each luminaire has a unique QR code connected to the Signify Service Tag application. This application gives access to documentation and the latest spare part information. The information can also be downloaded for use in facilities management documentation.
and finally... Congratulations to Preston College!
