The British Property Federation today claimed a review of public spending on capital projects, announced in the chancellor's pre-budget report, implies that the Department for Children, Schools and Families will cut back on the scheme.
A federation spokeman said: "The government claimed that it was helping the construction industry by bringing forward £3bn of infrastructure work, £800m of which would be generated by fast-tracking planned construction and refurbishment of primary and secondary schools. But with future public spending likely to be massively compromised by increased borrowing, the likelihood is that any review would see investment in education severely cut."
Schools minister Jim Knight rejected the claims, describing them as "nonsense". He said the review would help the government "learn lessons" from the programme to date, to make sure future BSF projects use resources efficiently.
"We've speeded up the procurement and design process, brought eight local authorities into BSF early and will announce a revised project programme for the 70 remaining authorities shortly - specifically to bring them into the BSF programme as soon as is practical. Market interest in BSF continues to be healthy but of course we continue to closely monitor the impact of the current financial climate," he said.
