Responding to James’ Review of Education Capital, Dr Neil Bentley, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: “This long-awaited Review has listened to business about cutting the costs of schools procurement.
“While it is appropriate that head teachers should have some say over building design, a set of centrally-approved designs is a sure-fire way to make significant savings. The Department for Education should set out a clear position on what fit-for-purpose facilities look like, to help keep a lid on spending.
“The Government must respond swiftly to these recommendations, to help boost confidence within the construction sector that the pipeline for schools building is robust.”
Peter Hill, Associate Director and Solicitor at TPP Law, added: “The proposal for Local Investment Plans is attractive since they are to be based on a democratic process at local level, which chimes with the principles of localism being espoused by the government. They are also risky, however. The plans must be fair but fairness might be distorted by politicking between the responsible bodies on other issues, or worse, the process allowed to degenerate into a noisy squabble. Some delicate drafting of the procedure will be necessary to ensure appropriate checks and balances are put in place.
“The Review leaves all detail to be worked out by the DfE. This is a real opportunity for local decision-making where communities can be brought together and their views be made to count. I only hope that this is not be stifled in a straitjacket of top-down DfE guidance.”
The Institute of Acoustics, however, has strongly criticised the Review for failure to recognise the importance of good classroom acoustics.
Professor Trevor Cox, Institute President, said: “Acoustics barely rates a mention in the 105 pages of the report which we find absolutely incredible given the crucial role it plays in the classroom.
“It may sound obvious to most people, but pupils must be able to hear what their teachers are saying in order to learn – and teachers must not have to put their health at risk by raising their voices to make themselves heard.
“There is a wealth of scientific evidence to show that external and internal noise affects children’s performance in literacy, numeracy and memory tasks, and that these effects can be reduced by good acoustic design.
“Children with special needs are more seriously affected by noise than others – the impact on their performance in spelling and reading is three times that of the impact on other children.”
Professor Cox, who is professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford, went on: “We had hoped that the James Report would recognise the importance of acoustics somewhere in its findings so its failure to do so is extremely worrying. As a result we are now asking the Department for Education to give parents and teachers a firm and unequivocal assurance that acoustics will continue to remain a priority in schools.”
The Institute has been campaigning since the start of the year to ensure that the current review of Building Regulations by the Department for Communities and Local Government does not lead to a lowering of acoustic design standards in schools.
It is particularly concerned that section E4 of the regulations, which requires schools to be “suitable” acoustically, may be scrapped or watered down without replacement by some statutory mechanism that carries as much weight.
In February Professor Cox warned Communities and Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell that failure to construct schools that were not fit for purpose could result in “disastrous consequences” for future generations of schoolchildren.
