Director of capital at education body says next 拢2bn phase of PSBP will take account of cost pressure
The man in charge of the government鈥檚 flagship school building programme has said his organisation will consider revising the construction cost it is willing to pay for the next phase of the programme to take account of sharply rising prices.
Speaking at the Government Construction Summit this week, Mike Green, director of capital at the Education Funding Agency (EFA), said he was aware of the impact of the economic recovery upon construction costs, and would take account of cost pressures in the next 拢2bn phase of the Priority School 好色先生TV Programme, running from next year.
He said: 鈥淥f course we are looking at cost. There鈥檚 no point us having a programme with no-one wanting to work on it. We accept we have to remain attractive to the industry, and we鈥檒l keep that debate alive.鈥�
Green鈥檚 comments follow predictions of sharply rising tender prices, particularly in London and the South-east, with reports of prices rising 10-15% in some trades.
They also follow the decision by contractor Bam to walk away from 拢50m of projects on a London priority schools batch after failing to agree a price with the EFA.
Speaking at the same event, Keith Rayner, Bam Construction framework director, said the firm was very committed to schools work, but that he was 鈥渧ery nervous about the future and programme being able to support it with the pockets of increases in [subcontract] prices that we鈥檝e seen鈥�.
Rayner told 好色先生TV: 鈥淭here are question about how the programme will be delivered in the South, which is why we鈥檝e had to walk away in some cases.
鈥淪ome times you鈥檙e being asked to price projects that will be built in two-to-three years. Now I鈥檝e no clue where the market will be in two-to-three years.鈥�
- The infrastructure minister Lord Deighton said 鈥渃reating a stable environment鈥� for investment was the government鈥檚 most important role in construction. He said: 鈥淭he more intelligence you can give us about how to create that stable environment the better - I think you鈥檒l find us very responsive.鈥�
- Lord Deighton also indicated the government would consider incorporating the low-carbon agenda into the government鈥檚 National Infrastructure Plan (NIP). In response to question from Paul King, UK Green 好色先生TV Council chief executive, Deighton said: 鈥淚鈥檓 an enormous fan of putting emissions reductions as one of our NIP projects. I鈥檇 be happy to look at that going forward.鈥� Deighton added that the government would publish an update on its NIP this summer with 鈥渆ven more detail鈥�.
- Business minister Michael Fallon launched a new Built Environment Commitment on behalf of the government鈥檚 Green Construction Board. He said the new commitment comprised a statement of intent that firms and industry bodies could sign up to that would demonstrate 鈥渁 clear intention to improve business performance, particularly focused upon carbon reductions and cost savings鈥�. 鈥淚t allows organisations to choose to take action on a range of issues including carbon reduction, waste reduction, improved resource efficiency and water risk,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n addition it drives collective action, encourages a consistent approach to measuring and reporting and promotes knowledge sharing.鈥�
- Fallon also announced that the government had decided to extend chief construction adviser Peter Hansford鈥檚 appointment by a year to November 2015. Fallon said he was 鈥渄elighted鈥� with the role Hansford was playing and that the extension would enable Hansford to 鈥渃ontinue his great work鈥�.
- The industry鈥檚 training and skills body CITB pledged to dip into its reserves over the next two years to pay more training grants and help the industry tackle it鈥檚 skills crisis. The CITB鈥檚 new chief executive Adrian Belton told the Government Construction Summit that his two priorities on taking up the role were increasing training grants and simplifying the levy system.
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