The Government’s much-heralded plans to develop detailed standardised school designs in favour of publishing basic design guidance are being dropped, reports Building.
In a significant policy shift, it is understood that the Department for Education no longer has plans to develop standardised designs for its school programmes – a central recommendation of Sebastian James’ government-commissioned review into schools procurement – and will instead issue only “baseline” design guidance, say the magazine.
It is understood that the “baseline information” will give only basic recommendations on the specifics of school design and will fall short of setting rigid specifications for school building.
Mairi Johnson, deputy director of design at the Education Funding Agency (EFA), the government’s schools delivery body, confirmed this week that this approach would be adopted on the first round of the government’s £2bn Priority Schools Building Programme, expected to come to tender in September after a six month delay.
“It won’t be standardisation – we’re moving away from that. But there will be some baseline design information,” she told Building.
The U-turn comes in the same week that David Camerson blocked the so-called ‘conservatory tax.’
The move by David Cameron, confirmed to Building by government sources, blocks plans unveiled in January as part of wider reforms to Part L of the Building regulations to force people to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes when building extensions. These were previously trumpeted by ministers as vital to boost uptake of the Green Deal.
Construction firms are considering scaling back their Green Deal plans following this week’s move reports the magazine.
David Adams, director of energy at Willmott Dixon Energy Services, said the prime minister’s intervention meant the Green Deal now lacked a real driver of demand and risked becoming a niche initiative.
“This will clearly influence how we develop our business models. We are still committed to this agenda but we will need to reflect on what that means in the early months of the scheme,” he said.
Willmott Dixon is among 22 firms that have signed an agreement with DECC to work to become providers of the Green Deal.
