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BUILDING OUR FUTURE: Scotland's School Estate
2. OUR STARTING POINT
THE CURRENT SCHOOL ESTATE
1. Today's school estate reflects education policy, architecture and investment over more than a century - from the introduction of universal education in the late 19th century, through post war building techniques, to curriculum flexibility and technology use in the late 20th century. There have been distinct phases in school building activity, such as the building boom in the 1950s and 1960s and the shift towards maintenance rather than new building work during the 1980s and 1990s.
2. We must recognise not only the current picture, but also how we have arrived here: there are lessons to be learned from the past - both successes and failures. But reflecting on the estate, one thing is clear - the most successful school environments are created with a clear focus on users.
3. The school estate is diverse and its profile varies within and across local authorities, with around 2,300 primary schools, 400 secondary schools, 200 special schools and units and 400 nursery schools. 6 Many of these schools comprise a number of buildings, including temporary accommodation. The buildings vary in age, type and condition. Some of them operate beyond desirable occupancy while others are underused. Some simply do not support today's learning and teaching environment.
4. Local authorities have statutory responsibility for all aspects of school provision, building and maintenance. Over the years, local authorities have accorded priority to capital spending on educational assets and, in what have been, on occasion, demanding financial circumstances, achieved much to create positive learning and teaching environments, although the maintenance of the stock has sometimes suffered.
WE ARE ON TRACK TO DELIVER THE PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT IN 1999 TO BUILD OR SIGNIFICANTLY RENOVATE 100 SCHOOLS BY 2003 |
CHANGE IS UNDERWAY
5. The commitment to develop this school estate strategy dates from a Programme for Government commitment 7 in January 2001. This was further developed at a joint Scottish Executive and local authority meeting at Balfron High School in October 2001 which led to an agreement to work together to achieve the provision of high quality and appropriate school buildings.
6. We are on track to deliver the Programme for Government commitment in 1999 8 to build or significantly renovate 100 schools by 2003 and new projects are in hand which will deliver the further commitment made in 2002 9 to complete an additional 200 new or substantially refurbished schools by 2006.
7. Ten school public private partnership (PPP) projects, with a capital value of 530m, were approved in 1998. In June 2002, the Minister for Education and Young People announced PPP projects across 15 councils amounting to a 1.2 billion package of investment in the school estate. Bids from further authorities were invited by December 2002.
8. Other substantial annual ongoing investment includes around 125 million on general capital expenditure; 80-90 million on repairs, maintenance and minor alterations through current expenditure; and capital grant of more than 25 million.
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