Building Schools for the Future may be scrapped once schools updated

The government's £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme could be wound up once schools in deprived areas have been updated, a report by the Commons Education Select Committee has suggested.

The report, Sustainable Schools: Are We Building the Schools for the Future?, welcomes the BSF programme's investment in education, but calls on the government to regularly review whether BSF is the best way to deliver educational transformation.

The report suggests a more targeted approach, aimed at low-achieving areas. It states: "Once those areas have their projects in place, it could be argued that investment to replace buildings becomes less of a priority. That might be the point at which BSF may be drawn to a close and a different approach to capital and other investment in schools could be adopted."

The committee also queries the use of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to deliver half of the schools under the programme. It raises concerns about the ability of local authorities to meet PFI revenue costs over the long term and the impact of falling pupil numbers on PFI repayments.

The committee insists stakeholders be given enough time to get their BSF schemes right, recommending a pre-planning period of between 12 and 18 months.

Post-occupancy reviews are called for to ensure that lessons on what works and what doesn't are disseminated to other local authorities.

Sustainability was also identified as a key issue, with the report recommending greater clarity on how sustainability targets are to be met.

British Council for School Environments director Ty Goddard welcomed the report. He said: "Good school buildings will only be delivered to good clients properly equipped to make key decisions and with enough time to develop a clear vision. The present BSF procurement process still does not allow the meaningful participation of teachers and learners."

Partnerships for Schools (PfS) chief executive Tim Byles said PfS had already taken steps to address a number of the key issues identified in the report. "As a result, the BSF programme is in a much stronger position and is set to be delivered on time and on budget," he said.