School rebuilding programme in doubt under new government
Architects were this week bracing themselves for massive spending cuts in public sector work set to be made by the country’s new coalition government.
Under the terms of the deal thrashed out by prime minister David Cameron, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and their colleagues, £6 billion will be cut from public spending between now and next April, with a spending review planned for the autumn.
In its first day in power, the new government announced the cancellation of Grimshaw’s £13 billion Heathrow Airport expansion, but the profession’s major worry is the future of the £55 billion Building Schools for the Future programme.
Fears were compounded by the appointment of Conservative MP Michael Gove as education secretary, just a week after he enraged architects and was forced to apologise for claiming they were “creaming off cash” from BSF.
Other cabinet appointments included Tories Eric Pickles and Jeremy Hunt as communities secretary and culture secretary respectively and Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne as energy secretary.
Jo van Heyningen of Van Heyningen & Haward Architects said: “There is no-one in our office who has come to terms with what this [election] result means but we think it’s very bad news.
“BSF is the major lifeline for the construction industry. We certainly weren’t hoping for a Conservative victory and I was praying something would come out of Brown resigning and the Lib Dems talking to Labour.”
Former RIBA president George Ferguson, said “severe spending cuts are inevitable” and warned new-build health and education projects would be thin on the ground.
He said: “I think the people who will do well will be those good at making the most of what we’ve got rather than everything having to be bright and spanking new.”
The RIBA said the construction industry — which equates to around 10% of GDP — should form a key part of the recovery, and called for action on three other key points: tackling the housing crisis, sustainability, and improved local government.
Nick Thompson, chief executive of one of the two listed practices on the Stock Exchange, Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, said: “The [spending] outcome would have been the same whoever would have won. If you take a large sum like £6 billion, it’s going to hurt.”
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