The next phase of the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools building programme has been announced by Welsh finance minister Jane Hutt who said they would create a £500m fund to invest in Band B schools planned.


She said: “The next phase of the 21st Century Schools programme will commence from 2019 and work will now begin to plan and prepare this second phase of investment, which will see half a billion pounds raised using the NPD model.


“We will continue to work with local authorities and the WLGA to ensure that we achieve the outcomes we all want – to continue to improve the quality of learning environments while achieving greater economy from the use of our assets.”


The new investment is an additional figure on top of the £170m funding achieved through Local Government Borrowing Initiative which is accelerating the delivery of Band A schools over the next five years.

 

Under the scheme, private investors’ returns are be capped, eliminating the problems seen with earlier private finance initiatives.

 

The general secratary of the Headteachers union ASCL Cynru Brian Lightman said he felt priveleged to see the new features at Penarth Learning Community which has received £33.3m of Welsh Government funding.


Willmott Dixon is the main delivery contractor working on the project, however it’s likely this will be expanded out in the future with further opportunities for smaller construction operations to get involved in the project.