Building Schools for the Future may be in deep trouble. After a six-month review, Pricewaterhouse Coopers is expected to supply a solution.

The Ministry of Education, between 1946 and 1961, organised the design and construction of schools for 2 million pupils. Money was scarce and the Treasury reduced the budget on two occasions. The ministry’s pamphlet number 33 (1957), The Story of Post-War School Building, describes how it did it.

Of course, that was 50 years ago and times have changed. The current programme is awash with money! Why can’t the Department for Education and Skills do it again?

James Nisbet

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