September 10

BY Claire Watson, VP at Software Comapny 4 Projects

It seems like such a long time ago that we watched the emergency budget with collective baited breath. Although at first we thought Building Schools for the Future had escaped the executioner’s block, other austerity measures swiftly followed, delivered through a muddle of confusion.
Months on and we are still none the wiser as to what, if anything, is going to replace it.

The Government’s comprehensive review of all capital investment in schools, early years, colleges and sixth forms is not due to be completed until early 2011. Led by Sebastian James, Group Operations Director of DSG international plc, the review will mean that hundreds of BSF projects will now never see the light of day.

So, we ask, what is the future for investment in our schools?

We can only hope that whatever scheme the review committee comes back with, it does recommit spending within the sector and make the process simpler, speedier and more efficient to administer. I think we would all agree that tax payers’ money needs to be invested in the schools themselves, not in the costs of administering the system. Regardless of the present economic situation, educators are still faced with the need to provide suitable and inspirational spaces for students and teachers alike and in this climate, that’s not an easy task.

There is of course the option for schools to ‘go to the mattresses’, as the Godfather would say and wait for the return of new funding streams however that could take an awfully long time. One thing is certain, after years of holding off repair work in the hope of a brand new replacement BSF school; many educators are now forced to look at refurbishment and repair options instead. Construction contractors in some areas are already reporting a surge in repair and refurbishment tenders into significant figures. Some are looking to land sale as a means of raising the funds removed by the BSF cut. Liverpool City Council is one such authority considering selling off land to help pay for secondary school building projects cancelled by the Government.

Whatever solution local authorities find for the education infrastructure dilemma, we do need to ensure that value for money is achieved as every penny now needs to be squeezed. The sector has to acclimatise to that oh so popular mantra of ‘more for less’ and in doing so tighten belts and look to work innovatively.

There is plenty of talk about looking to the private sector for ideas and techniques and I for one think there is merit in this as a way to re-examination how we use government finance to deliver long term efficiencies . Unsupported by public funds, the private sector has faced austerity in every recession it has had to ride out. Successful private sector companies are good at finding and implementing efficiencies while still keeping their core activities going as if they don’t, they fold.

Looking at our clients, it’s easy to see that the use of our software has been a way for many large and small firms alike to work smart. Over the last decade, our software has been commonly used within local authorities and particularly for the management of new school builds via our collaboration extranet as the project platform.

Across the board, local authorities and contractors have become used to running a project build on software just like ours and we have been used on billions of pounds of capital development.

But that’s it, just the build. So, in a time when the call is to develop a culture of innovation to cut costs, what about either end of the build process? The contactor is benefiting from cost savings but if the local authority and school utilised the same tool for their whole process, they could be reaping the rewards too. In the private sector, we have, in recent times, seen an increase in adoption in new uses of our software. More and more private organisations are using it not only for the duration of one project delivery but for the management of their entire organisation’s capital assets; from feasibility right through to ongoing maintenance, repair and asset management. They are using it for effective and efficient management of tenders and for managing project milestones. Having experienced the significant savings online collaboration tools can deliver on a project build, they are now taking advantage of those savings across the management of their entire estate activities.

Used individually by a school or centrally by a local authority on behalf of a group of schools, a collaboration tool can be a data, communication and workflow hub on which capital assets and beyond can be managed efficiently and effectively to deliver real savings. The Compagnia Report in 2003, identified savings of up to 4.8% on capital projects delivered using collaboration tools. This could also be translated into ongoing savings on the development and management of educational building stock; new builds, extensions, refurbishments and ongoing maintenance.

A prime example of one of our private sector clients using the software to maximum effect is Mitchell and Butlers, who own and operate one of the largest collections of pubs, hotels and leisure brands in the UK. It manages its entire estate using the 4Projects online software tool, using the system from feasibility of a new location to design, tendering, building and then to ongoing management of refits, refurbishments and maintenance. All asset details are online and subcontractors are managed and communicated to via this central hub. It reaps both financial and efficiency rewards from using this cutting edge online tool.

Likewise, social housing company, Gentoo, also use our system for repair and maintenance management. One of our clients recently told us that 4Projects was the second most used software in their organisation after Microsoft Outlook...

So why, with such great examples of best practise in plain sight, shouldn’t our schools stock take a leaf from the private sector book and start utilising these commercial tools to increase efficiency and save costs?
And, it doesn’t need to finish there, with other potential ideas it can borrow from its private counterparts. Looking at possible ways for the sector to share on general office administration, we have commercial organisations using the power of the extranet to coordinate other areas of administration. Holiday forms, recruitment, reports, education materials library, standards library, health and safety, quality systems. Also, with an inevitable increase in the need for shared services, coordinating and sharing information between disparate teams is going to become critical to organisational success.

Although we are used to providing services within the education build sector, current usage really is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential for online collaboration tools and extranets.
So, if we want to get more for less from the ever reducing funds available, I say look to the hard lessons already learnt by the private sector. Take advantage of the tools they are using to deliver cost savings. Online collaboration can help work in both the short and long terms with colleagues, stakeholders, contractors and sub-contractors.

But most importantly, it will deliver a real return on investment and savings.

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