Schools forced to pay £8,000 for a blind ... and £2,000 for a tap

Costly legacy of Labour’s PFI shambles

SCHOOLS are paying more than £8,000 for a single window blind and £2,000 for a tap after being locked into exorbitant long-term contracts.

They are being forced to fork out huge premiums for items and services due to inflexible Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals.

These also include £2,000 for the installation of a sink and more than £400 for caretakers to fit noticeboards.

The growing debt burden means that getting rid of staff may be the only way for schools to satisfy government demands to make savings, according to the Times Educational Supplement.

PFI contracts took off under New Labour, with hundreds signed after Tony Blair came to power in 1997.

Under the schemes, private companies pay the upfront costs of public sector projects such as building new roads, schools, hospitals and prisons.

But the deals they sign with the Government allow them to make money for several decades from the projects.

Companies charge interest on repayments for the money they used to build the project. Schools also pay for services such as maintenance and security in yearly payments.

The PFI has resulted in schools paying several times more than items actually cost.

An investigation by the TES found that some are seeing more than 15 per cent of their budget swallowed up by PFI payments.

Anything that falls outside the contract, such as a school wanting to change the use of a room or get an additional fire extinguisher usually incurs extra charges.

At Bristol Metropolitan Academy, a single blind for a room will end up costing £8,154 under PFI, according to the TES. Oasis Academy Brislington, also in the Bristol area, will pay £2,211 for an outdoor tap over the course of the contract. Meanwhile, Newman Roman Catholic College in Oldham was charged £48 after security staff opened the school to allow pupils

‘They may have to get rid of staff’

to visit the toilet. The same school had to pay more than £400 for the fitting of noticeboards.

Tim Gilson, head of Malmesbury School, in Wiltshire, said: ‘We had some benching put in the canteen, along one wall, about 20 yards. We have to pay about £40 a month for the facilities management cost of that bench, on top of the cost of putting that bench in and all the materials. It’s a monthly charge that continues for the length of the contract.’

With 13 years left on its PFI contract, the secondary school will be charged £6,240 just for the management of the bench.

One teacher, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Our school has an annual PFI bill of £132,478. We have been paying £88 a year for the installation of a new sink for 14 years. With nine years left on the contract, that sink will cost £2,024.’ A TES analysis of the latest Treas- ury data for PFI projects shows that the total school bill for England will end up being more than £32billion over the life of the contracts. At least £22billion of this will have to be paid off over the next 25 years.

The National Audit Office, the Government spending watchdog, has launched a new investigation into the value for money in PFI deals. Schools are one area that is being examined.

The Department for Education said: ‘We have recently consulted on a new, fairer national funding formula for schools, in which PFI costs are to be taken into consideration… for the first time.’