Press release: BSF schools to become hubs for local communities, says Children’s Plan
11 December 2007
The Government’s 10-year Children’s Plan has been unveiled today by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls.
The plan highlights the role that the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is playing in making schools hubs of the local communities they serve, and stresses that all new school building projects should consider co-locating other services for families on the same site, including health clinics, social care, advice, welfare services and police.
Welcoming the Children’s Plan Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools the government agency responsible for delivering the BSF programme, said: “As well as transforming the face of learning for generations to come, many local authorities are looking to use BSF as an opportunity to provide a whole host of local services through their new schools, ranging from local policing and healthcare through to public libraries and adult learning.
“This is about joined up government on the ground. Reflecting the way that people live their lives, new BSF schools are becoming hubs for the local communities they serve and we welcome any move to formalise the trends that are already beginning to emerge.”
The Secretary of State also announced the long-term goal that all new schools designed and built after 2016 will be zero-carbon – bringing together cutting edge, cheap energy efficiency technologies and renewable energy systems.
Tim Byles added: “All of us have a moral responsibility to minimise our carbon footprint and through BSF we have a duty to ensure that our new schools are as energy efficient as possible.
“In addition to the obvious impact on reducing the carbon emissions of each school, the greater prize to be had is the resultant increase in environmental awareness in the classroom that will help encourage every child to develop a carbon-conscience, so that they make changes to the way that they live their lives outside of the school gates.
“We welcome the Secretary of State’s challenge to reach beyond the existing target of 60 per cent carbon reductions in our new schools, and look forward to a continued partnership approach with the industry to identify and harness new technologies to deliver the goal of zero-carbon schools by 2016.”
Notes to Editors:
- Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every one of England?s 3,500 state secondary schools during the lifetime of the programme.
- Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery agency for Building Schools for the Future. PfS was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DCSF and Partnerships UK.
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