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Kent County Council has taken a close look at the money it
has spent on capital school projects to help it spend its money
better in the future.
KCC's
Property
Group has carried out a value-for-money appraisal on all
significant new build and refurbished projects undertaken over the
last four years in a bid to ensure budgeting and forecasting for
building or refurbishing school projects will be more accurate in
the future.
A database system has been created which identifies projects,
consultants and contractors, and a simple analysis of cost per
square metre. This analysis can be skewed by external work
elements, exceptional costs associated with individual projects and
quality standards, therefore it cannot be relied upon as being
totally subjective.
However, by looking at the costs involved in existing projects,
it will be easier to plan future developments.
Property Group is seeking to drive a best value benchmarking
initiative in partnership with the South East Centre of Excellence
that will provide some definitive benchmarks and performance
indicators. These will be used to demonstrate that KCC is achieving
good value for money and best value on its capital works
programme.
This will need to be a very detailed investigation in order to
be subjective and will need to take account of local variations,
external works, sustainability and quality standards. KCC is
seeking funding from the South East Centre for Excellence to
support this initiative and it is anticipated KCC will be the lead
authority in the South East.
Between 2003 and 2007 there have been a total of 70 new build
projects completed. The average cost was £1,595 per square
metre.
Between 2003 and 2007 there were 35 major refurbishment projects
at schools.The average cost was £1,425 per square
metre. |