College funding hangs in the balance

Jul 3 2009 by Catriona Lingwood, The Journal

THE latest statement from the Learning and Skills Council on funding for further education college building projects spells good and bad news for the North East.

A total of 13 projects have been prioritised from more than 180 submissions to the LSC, and only Hartlepool College has made the final cut. Furness College joins it on the list.

However, even those who have made the list are now being asked to make cost reductions to their initial project plans “to maximise borrowing within prudent limits”.

Principals of those colleges that have not been successful in this selection programme might want to take a deep breath before reading the following extract from the LSC’s statement regarding the next step:

“For colleges that have not been selected to proceed this year, the next steps will start this autumn when we will further consult with the sector to agree a robust, fair and transparent process for prioritising the capital investment programme for the next Spending Review period starting in 2011/12.

“The size and scope of the programme will depend in large part on the outcome of the next Spending Review.”

There appears to be a lot of waiting in hope in store, with no indication of how many colleges will be successful.

How many multi-layered decision-making processes and how many years will it be before the unfortunate colleges who do not make THAT batch of funding finally get the go ahead to modernise their centres of learning?

Sir Andrew Foster’s independent report into the mistakes made by the LSC in its FE capital programme concluded that the manner of the implementation had compromised a “good policy” and the agency says there is new leadership in place to avoid a repeat fiasco.

It appears the short-term fix for many will be along the “mend and make do” lines, or searching for private finance arrangements.

As the LSC states: “The LSC will, in the meantime, help colleges whose projects are not proceeding in the short term to draw up a revised estates strategy and to examine other possible sources of finance, such as collective approaches to private financing and borrowing.”

On the positive side, spreading things out like this gives the opportunity to stagger the lifespan of our FE colleges and avoid a D-Day when we once more find our buildings crumbling in unison.

For more information on Constructing Excellence in the North East, please contact chief executive, Catriona Lingwood, on (0191) 383-7435 or catriona@cene.org.uk

Catriona Lingwood, chief executive, Constructing Excellence in the North East