Contractors told to slash £250m from colleges scheme

Contractors must carve at least £250m off the 13 Building Colleges for the Future (BCF) schemes given the go ahead last month.

Failure to do so could mean some of the 13 schemes could be ditched.

The size of the cuts was revealed in a meeting on Monday, between contractors, college heads and the Learning Skills Council (LSC) which oversees the cash-strapped Building Colleges for the Future programme.

Angry contractors dismissed the cuts as “pie in the sky” after the meeting.

The £3.5bn programme hit the buffers late last year after it ran out of funding, leaving 144 schemes high and dry awaiting approval.

Last month, following a major review, just 13 schemes were given the go-ahead. However, the LSC is demanding further cuts before the 13 schemes are given government funding to start in September.

At the meeting, LSC national projects director David Hughes told contractors he would be “disappointed” if schemes were not cut by at least 15% to 20%.

Hughes is hoping that by cutting costs the LSC can fund a further one or two schemes from another six schemes waiting in the wings for approval.

UK Contractors Group chief executive Stephen Ratcliffe, who attended the meeting, questioned the cuts. “We are keen to work with the LSC but this is pie- in-the-sky. It really is asking too much as these schemes are already designed on a value-for-money basis. There are no efficiencies to be made.”

Hughes declined to divulge the total value of the 13 contracts but figures obtained by CJ from LSC sources show the 13 schemes are worth a total of £752m. One contractor commented. “This shows how much we have to slice off. Even 20% is not enough to bring us below the £500m mark. It is a national disgrace that we’ve come to this.”

The Association of Colleges confirmed this week that some college heads were planning to sue the LSC to recoup their development costs on shelved schemes.