School Design and Delivery REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL 25 August 2010 Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland Ordered by the Northern Ireland Assembly to be printed and published under the authority of the Assembly, in accordance with its resolution of 27 November 2007 School Design and Delivery BELFAST: The Stationery Office £5.00 This report has been prepared under Article 8 of the Audit (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 for presentation to the Northern Ireland Assembly in accordance with Article 11 of that Order. K J Donnelly Northern Ireland Audit Office Comptroller and Auditor General 25 August 2010 The Comptroller and Auditor General is the head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office employing some 145 staff. He, and the Northern Ireland Audit Office are totally independent of Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government Departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to the Assembly on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used their resources. For further information about the Northern Ireland Audit Office please contact: Northern Ireland Audit Office 106 University Street BELFAST BT7 1EU Tel: 028 9025 1100 email: [email protected] website: www.niauditoffice.gov.uk © Northern Ireland Audit Office 2010 School Design and Delivery Contents Page Executive Summary 1 Scope and methodology of this review 2 New arrangements aim to improve the strategic planning of the new school estate 2 More effective use of available capital funding will be key to delivering a 3 modernised schools estate Strong design quality is evident in recently constructed schools and lessons 4 can be learned Conclusions and Recommendations 5 Part One: Investment in the schools estate has increased but falling enrolments 7 and surplus capacity remains a challenge Background 8 New arrangements are planned for delivering education services and 8 managing the schools estate The Investment Strategy envisaged a significant increase in capital funding 9 There has been a significant increase in capital expenditure within the 10 schools estate but a sizable maintenance backlog exists While the overall number of schools has reduced, surplus capacity 12 has increased The need to rationalise the schools estate has been raised by the 13 Public Accounts Committee The processes for procuring and delivering capital investment in schools 13 were reviewed and a 2005 report pointed to inefficiencies in the planning process The Report recommended a whole-system approach to the planning and 15 delivery of the schools estate School Design and Delivery The 2006 Bain Report highlighted the need for estate planning processes 16 to be responsive to demographic change and recommended minimum school sizes to help reduce surplus capacity The Department has advocated new approaches for the management of 17 smaller schools and the way they deliver the curriculum Part Two Effective use of available capital funding will be key to delivering 19 a modernised estate The announcement of capital projects or major programmes raises expectations 20 The Department has consistently underspent its capital budget 20 Most schemes have been driven by serious accommodation inadequacies 23 There have been variations in the content and quality of economic appraisals 23 The Department’s Investment Delivery Plan is relatively underdeveloped 25 but it recognises where improvements can be made Part Three: The overall design quality of schools is improving but there are 27 issues that need to be addressed We have previously reported on the procurement and design quality of schools 28 For this report we commissioned an independent assessment of the design 28 quality of 16 new and refurbished schools Very strong design quality was evident but robustness of finish and flexibility 28 of design were often weak Schools scored very well on the organisation of their buildings and most 36 spaces were well designed Smaller schools scored particularly well on ease of internal movement 36 Environmental conditions can be maximised through good design 36 The schools had a good ‘civic presence’ and their design quality was 37 comparable to that of other quality public buildings School Design and Delivery Contents Schools should give full consideration to the external aspects of their design 37 Most of the schools visited have the potential for community and out-of-hours use 38 There were variations in the environmental friendliness and robustness of the 39 materials used Designs need to give more priority to flexibility 40 Our concerns about design quality in some of the early schools projects 40 procured by PFI are being addressed There have been improvements in the design quality of school projects in the 40 past decade and this is supported by analysis of the scores for individual schools School designs complied with guidance issued by the Department, but our 41 review identified a number of areas of concern The Department has made progress in implementing a PAC recommendation 42 on the Building Handbooks The economic appraisals for approved schemes have included arrangements 42 for post-project evaluation Post Occupancy Evaluation is a way of providing feedback to inform future 43 projects and processes Appendices 45 From 1997 to December 2009, 153 schemes have been completed and 46 a further 87 projects are currently on-site or in planning School schemes announced by DE by year and capital value 47 School Schemes Completed Since 1997 48 Estimated Surplus School Places: 1999-00 and 2008-09 56 Assessment of Design Quality: Schools Visited 58 Progress in Design Quality of PFI Schools since “Building for the Future: 59 A Review of the PFI Education Pathfinder Projects” (2004) School Design Concerns and Changes to Building Handbook 61 School Design and Delivery Abbreviations C&AG Comptroller and Auditor General CCMS Council for Catholic Maintained Schools CnaG Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta DE Department of Education DEL Department for Employment and Learning DFP Department of Finance and Personnel ELBs Education and Library Boards ESA Education and Skills Authority NICIE NI Council for Integrated Education PfG Programme for Government PAC Public Accounts Committee PFI Private Finance Initiative PPE Post Project Evaluation PSA Public Service Agreement PSNI Police Service of Northern Ireland SIB Strategic Investment Board Executive Summary 2 School Design and Delivery Executive Summary 1. The Department of Education (the Scope and methodology of this review Department) centrally administers spending on the schools estate in 3. Given the significant investment that Northern Ireland which delivers education has already taken place, and in light to 325,000 pupils in over 1,200 of what is proposed in the Investment schools. Since 1997 there have been Strategy for Northern Ireland, this report 153 new builds or refurbishments across assesses the progress made in terms of the schools estate, with a further 87 improving the quality of the learning and currently on-site or in planning (Appendix teaching environment in recent new and 1). Despite this, a historic under-investment refurbished school projects and examines in the schools estate has resulted in a the robustness of the strategic planning maintenance backlog that currently stands and management of the schools estate. at £292 million, equivalent to £900 per Information was obtained through meetings pupil. This legacy of under-investment with key staff in the Department, the has left an estate that is not ideally suited Education and Library Boards (ELBs), the to deliver the current curriculum and Council for Catholic Maintained Schools the condition of many buildings makes (CCMS) and a review of available them costly to maintain. The Investment documentation held by the Department, Strategy for Northern Ireland 2008-2018 including departmental circulars and envisages a £3.4 billion investment in the guidance. We engaged architectural schools estate, a significant increase from consultants to assess and report on the spending of £416m in the three years to design quality of a sample of new and March 2008. refurbished schools, which also included taking full account of the views of key staff 2. Investment offers the opportunity to at the schools visited. get a better quality, safer and more manageable estate, where school leadership can give more attention to New arrangements aim to improve the educational matters. Design alone cannot strategic planning of the new school estate raise educational achievement, but poor design can be an obstacle to raising 4. At a local level, administration is provided educational standards. There are also by five Education and Library Boards; wider non-educational advantages, such the Trustees of the maintained schools as the opportunity for local people to supported by the CCMS; and individual get new and better facilities which can school governing bodies. In addition, the become a resource for the community, Comhairle na Gaelscolaiochta (CnaG) and and the chance to establish a benchmark the NI Council for Integrated Education for quality buildings and spaces. (NICIE) assist parent groups to establish new Irish-medium and Grant Maintained Integrated schools respectively; NICIE also School Design and Delivery 3 assists existing schools with the process of The latter was the subject of a report by transforming to integrated status. the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) in 20092.