Michelle Davies, DPP Consulting’s Director and Education Lead, explores the Labour government’s approach to education infrastructure. Shortly after Labour took office, its new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced plans to reform the planning system, focusing on unlocking “stalled sites” and prioritising economic benefits in planning decisions. This includes support for local authorities with the appointment of […]
A brand-new specialist school for pupils with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs has completed in Shepshed, Leicestershire, offering facilities for students aged 4-16 from September 2024. Bowman Academy, which is situated on the former site of St Botolph’s Primary School, located to the east of Shepshed on Loughborough Road, will see pupils benefit […]
The B-listed main building at the former home of Rothesay Academy is finally set to be demolished, at a cost of nearly £1m. Argyll and Bute Council planning officials have approved the authority’s own application for ‘listed building consent’ to demolish the Academy Road premises, which have lain empty since 2007 and have increasingly become […]
A bid for a new classroom building at a Dunbar school has been given pass marks by East Lothian Council. Belhaven Hill School approached the local authority’s planning department last summer about creating a new classroom building. Permission was granted and approval has now been given to a second application. The revised plans, which attracted […]
In a letter to The Guardian published this week, Deputy CEO of Scape Group and former Cabinet Office construction chief Caroline Compton-James, said: “The education secretary is absolutely right in identifying that inequality, particularly regional inequality, in our school system is “baked in”, and we should welcome any moves from central government that seek to […]
The latest programme of school infrastructure improvements across the county, worth £8.6m, has been unveiled. The investment is part of the Nottinghamshire County Council’s annual school building improvement work which will be designed and delivered by Arc Partnership, a joint venture between the council and SCAPE. A dozen schools will benefit from a range of […]
Tilbury Douglas have completed construction of a school on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE), built to Passivhaus standards, near Wolverhampton. The school, named Wednesfield Technology Primary School, has been completed on the brownfield site of the original Edward the Elder school to Passivhaus standards. The school has been built to Passivhaus standards, maximising […]
Construction of a new two-storey teaching block has started at Itchen Sixth Form College. The project, delivered by complete construction partner Stepnell on behalf of Itchen, will enable the college to replace six temporary classrooms that were in very poor condition, nearing end of life and inefficient in terms of their energy use. The new […]
FIFE Council has officially taken ownership of the new St Columba’s RC High School and Woodmill High School at the Dunfermline Learning Campus. The keys were ceremoniously handed over to councillor David Ross, leader of the local authority, by BAM’s construction director for Scotland, Martin Cooper, in what marked the completion of the transformative educational […]
The brand-new state-of-the-art East Calder Primary School was handed over to West Lothian Council by Hub South East and Morrison Construction recently. This will allow staff and pupils to move into the superb new school for the start of the new school term in August 2024, with the recently built Early Years extension retained. A […]