Consultants take home £12m from Kent's school building scheme
by political editor Paul Francis
A programme of rebuilding schools in the county has cost Kent
County Council nearly £12million in consultancy fees so far.
The Government funded "Building Schools for The Future" project
has been hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild
secondary schools across the country.
But it has also attracted criticism over costs and complex
contractual arrangements with private sector partners.
In total, Kent estimates its involvement in the massive
re-building initiative will cost £1.8billion, the bulk of which
will be funded by central Government.
But it has emerged that the education authority has already had
to pay consultants a total of £11.8million, with fees being paid to
a host of lawyers, designers and technical advisers involved in
advising the education authority.
Of that, some £8million has been paid to technical consultants
involved in feasibility studies and drawing up business cases;
close to £2million to financial experts who have drawn up tender
documents and £1.5million to lawyers, chiefly for negotiating and
drawing up contracts and for dealing with a transfer of contracts
to a new private sector partner.
According to a recent cabinet report, a further £5m is expected
to be spent on consultancy fees for the next group of 16 schools
scheduled to be redeveloped between now and 2015.
More than £2m of that will be paid out before a single brick has
been laid at any of the schools involved.
Schools minister Vernon Coker defended the costs to authorities
but acknowledged there had originally been problems.
"There have been some concerns in the original programme about
value for money. But the Audit Office recently reported that they
are now satisfied that BSF delivers value for money. We are
confident that the programme delivers new buildings and new
schools, designed to improve standards at a reasonable and
sustainable cost," he told the KM Group.
County Hall education chiefs say consultants are a necessary
part of the BSF programme but plan to expand its own in-house team
to cut costs. They said the costs represented a small percentage of
the overall investment being made in schools.
Cllr Sarah Hohler (Con), KCC cabinet member for
children, families and education said: "Nationally, the typical
spend on consultants for the Buildings Schools for the Future
programme is about three per cent of the overall investment. We
need consultants to provide technical expertise in design,
architecture and surveys.
"So far, the first three phases of Building Schools for the
Future in Kent has brought £670m of investment. In future, we
anticipate expanding our in-house team and cutting back on external
consultants."
- The first schools to benefit have been in Gravesham and
Thanet.
- The latest group of schools to be incorporated into the
programme are 16 based in Dover, Folkestone and Sittingbourne, with
redevelopment estimated to cost £250million but not expected to be
completed until 2018.
Monday, February 08 2010