HC Deb 17 May 2004 vol 421 cc707-11W
Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many wave 1 approvals under Building Schools for the Future involved(a) local authorities other than in their capacity as local education authorities, (b) learning and skills councils, (c) primary care and other NHS trusts and (d) other public sector bodies. [172906]

Mr. Miliband

The following table shows the number of local education authorities in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future who made specific reference to the requested categories in their proposals.

Local education authorities Number
Other local authority services 1
Learning and Skills Councils 12
Primary care and other NHS trusts 4
Other public sector bodies 9

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria were used in issuing invitations to local education authorities to submit bids for consideration for wave one of Building Schools for the Future; and what criteria were used to assess the bids. [172959]

Mr. Miliband

The information requested is contained in guidance to local authorities, issued in July 2004. A copy is in the House of Commons Library.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the local education authorities which applied to wave one of Building Schools for the Future; and what the reasons were for each unsuccessful bid. [172962]

Mr. Miliband

The following list shows those authorities which applied for wave one funding in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Projects that were successful in wave one were those which best met our criteria for prioritisation. The criteria for prioritisation were fully set out in the guidance on applying for prioritisation in the BSF programme which we published last July.

We have discussed with all unsuccessful authorities the reasons why their proposals meet our criteria less well, usually in face to face meetings with my officials.

  • Birmingham
  • Haringey
  • Manchester
  • Bracknell Forest
  • Harrow
  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Havering
  • Newham
  • Cheshire
  • Herefordshire
  • North Tyneside
  • Cornwall
  • Hertfordshire
  • Nottingham
  • Derbyshire
  • Islington
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Doncaster
  • Kingston upon Hull
  • Oldham
  • Dorset
  • Knowsley
  • Portsmouth
  • Dudley
  • Lambeth
  • Richmond upon Thames
  • Durham
  • Lancashire
  • East Riding of Yorkshire
  • Leeds
  • Rotherham
  • East Sussex
  • Leicester
  • Salford
  • Gateshead
  • Lewisham
  • Sandwell
  • Hackney
  • Liverpool
  • Solihull
  • Somerset
  • Telford and Wrekin
  • West Sussex
  • South Tyneside
  • Walsall
  • Westminster
  • Stoke-on-Trent
  • Waltham Forest
  • Wolverhampton
  • Sunderland
  • Wandsworth
  • Tameside
  • West Berkshire

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the performance of Pathfinder local education authorities in Building Schools for the Future. [172963]

Mr. Miliband

Partnerships for Schools is monitoring and supporting the pathfinder local authorities. By their nature as pathfinders, we are working with authorities to develop Building Schools for the Future, identifying and resolving issues along the way. The pathfinder projects are progressing well and will be submitting outline business cases shortly for formal assessment.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of each successful local education authority's secondary schools in wave one of Building Schools for the Future are covered by its bid. [172965]

Mr. Miliband

The following table shows the proportion of schools in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future as a percentage of each local authority's total number of secondary schools.

LEA Total schools in LEA1 Of which: included in BSF wave Percerntage
Knowsley 11 11 100.0
Lancashire 134 26 19.4
Leeds 68 42 61.8
Leicester 26 26 100.0
Manchester 25 13 52.0
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 11 11 100.0
Newham 15 15 100.0
Solihull 23 9 39.1
South Tyneside 13 13 100.0
Stoke-on-Trent 23 23 100.0
Sunderland 18 9 50.0
Waltham Forest 19 9 47.4
1Total number of schools that have been included by the LEA in their submissions to Building Schools for the Future; this may include special, middle and other schools, or units such as pupil referral units, in addition to secondary schools.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many local education authorities participating in wave one of Building Schools for the Future have (a) identified city academies as an integral part of the plans and (b) included provision for 14–19 education. [172966]

Mr. Miliband

Six local education authorities (LEAs) participating in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future mentioned planned or established Academies in their proposals. We now expect all projects to provide a proper evaluation of Academy options.

All proposals submitted included provision for 14–19 education.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Department's financial commitment is for each successful bid in wave one of Building Schools for the Future, broken down by(a) private finance initiative credits and (b) cash grants. [172967]

Mr. Miliband

Total funding available for pathfinder and wave one Building Schools for the Future projects is over £2.2 billion. This includes PFI credits, capital grant and supported borrowings. Details of allocation will not be made until authorities have submitted satisfactory outline business cases, which is expected later this year.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many projects in wave one of Building Schools for the Future will use the exemplar building design. [172968]

Mr. Miliband

It is too early to say how many projects Wave 1 will use any one of the exemplar designs in their entirety. However, all authorities in Wave 1 have warmly welcomed all the exemplar designs and are actively using them in their deliberations with schools to develop their educational vision.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of preparing the exemplar building designs in Building Schools for the Future. [172969]

Mr. Miliband

The cost of preparing 11 Exemplar Designs to RIBA Stage C—Scheme Design, including fees, securing copyright for the designs, publishing and dissemination was £3.45 million. We expect that through the stimulation of exemplar designs a number of standardised processes, including strategic partnerships, along the supply chain and off-site fabrication will develop to meet the demands of an increased building programme and secure savings on the costs of new schools of around 10 per cent.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local education authorities have indicated that they wish to participate in wave 2 of the Building Schools for the Future programme. [172970]

Mr. Miliband

Local authorities were invited to submit a proposal for wave 1 and/or an expression of interest for the programme as a whole. All have done so. We will use this information to prioritise projects for the next waves of investment.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who owns(a) new and (b) refurbished schools built under the Building Schools for the Future programme. [172971]

Mr. Miliband

Ownership of schools will not usually change when schools are built or refurbished in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Exceptions to this are where investment is through a Private Finance Initiative contract, where ownership of the buildings will pass to the public sector provider for the length of the contract, and then revert to the previous owner, and also where an Academy is created. In this case, the Academy Trust' will own the buildings for as long as the Academy remains in operation. If the Academy ceases to exist, ownership of the Academy land, and any buildings on it, will revert to the previous owner, which would be either the LEA or the voluntary aided sector body.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the pathfinders for Building Schools for the Future were originally private finance initiative schemes. [172972]

Mr. Miliband

An offer to all local education authorities in 2003 to submit projects which would access Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits in 2004–05 also invited expressions of interest to be pathfinders in the Building Schools for the Future programme. Part, but not all, of the funding to support pathfinder Building Schools for the Future projects will be PFI credits.

Mr. Hoban

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what controls there are to ensure that a wave 1 Building Schools for the Future scheme develops plans for secondary schools, once accepted. [172973]

Mr. Miliband

The development of each local authority project will be monitored by Partnerships for Schools. The Department will also see their plans at two formal points, when the outline and final business cases for each project are submitted for approval. We are also encouraging local authorities to use the local government gateway review process.

Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to announce the results of the second round of the Building Schools for the Future initiative. [173005]

Mr. Miliband

We hope to announce the next waves of investment under Building Schools for the Future later in the year—probably in the autumn. We are working to provide this information as soon as possible, once the Secretary of State has decided how to allocate the spending review settlement.