Although the last government started out with the mantra "Education, Education, Education", by the end of its time in office many people thought that "Construction, Construction, Construction" was more apposite. Not that there's anything new about close links between UK national governments and local authorities and the building industry, it was just that New Labour embarked on this relationship with far too little heed to the financial costs involved. "Building Schools for the Future" is a very good example of such overly-aspirational spending.
My previous post may have seemed unsympathetic to areas like Sandwell in the West Midlands, whose school re-building programme has apparently been cut by the new administration. In fact, this is precisely the kind of deprived area which should continue to provide a focus for government spending on regeneration, including education projects. However, there are almost certainly funding mechanisms which offer better value for money than the BSF model.
In this context, a key challenge for the Coalition will be re-contracting the relationship between government and the UK construction industry to reflect current economic and financial conditions. Much public - and private - building in recent years has created over-designed and costly constructions which are often neither fit for purpose nor aesthetically attractive, and its may well be that the architecture of austerity will not only be more sustainable but also leave a superior built legacy for future generations.
Please see also my post @ http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com/ - Regional Policy and Regeneration: Confusion, Confusion and Confusion ? Or maybe just another example of the continuing overly close links between government and construction sector.
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