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Polly Curtis, education editor The Guardian, Thursday 12 February 2009
The cost of the government's scheme to rebuild every secondary school in England has increased by £10bn, but the schools are still nearly two years behind schedule, according to the spending watchdog.
By the end of last year - five years into the programme - just 42 schools had been built instead of the 200 planned, a National Audit Office (NAO) report on the Building Schools for the Future programme found. Another generation of pupils would be left in crumbling buildings beyond 2020 if the scheme did not accelerate, it warned.
There could be further delays. Banks stopped providing funding for the schools in October as the recession set in. The NAO said the effect of this was unclear, and the government has sought emergency funds from the European Investment Bank to finance some buildings.
The projected cost of the programme to rebuild or refurbish 3,500 secondaries in England by 2020 has risen from £45bn to £55bn.
Most of this was a result of bringing academies, special educational needs schools and some church schools into the scheme, but about a third was down to an increase in building costs, the report said. Despite the problems, executives at Partnerships for Schools (PfS), the government agency that oversees the programme, received 11%-18% bonuses for meeting targets last year.
Private companies are being given 10-year exclusive deals to build schools and manage their computer, cleaning and caretaking services in "local education partnerships". The report suggested this could prove to be anti-competitive.
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The Times David Smith at Davos 1st February 2009
John Lipsky of the IMF said: "The economic news is going to be bad for a while, but we believe we can return the global economy to growth by the end of this year and towards trend growth during next year."
Press Notice issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families 20 January 2009
'The latest local authority projections for new, rebuilt or refurbished schools to be opened under BSF are: 115 in 2009/10; 165 in 2010/11, rising to at least 200 new schools every year thereafter'.
A full version of the latest report can be found here Second Independent BSF evaluation published 20 January 2009
Money Talk By Caroline Firstbrook Head of Strategy, Accenture BBC (Jan 2009)
"Times of change create opportunities as well as threats. For some companies, the current economic environment will challenge their very survival.
While for others the downturn offers the chance to extend their lead over the competition."High performing" companies will be looking at ways to strengthen their position and emerge from the downturn stronger and better-placed to win".