Opinion The decision to cut the building budget for Further Education colleges endangers everyone's future, writes John Hayes

摘要

Educational progress and facility construction go hand in hand. Investment in education ensures an equitable future in which students are no longer disenfranchised by being taught in decrepit huts. But the government's decision to place a spending moratorium on the £5.6 billion Building Colleges for the Future programme of Further Education (FE) college expansion endangers this future. And the cost to society and the economy, particularly to already beleaguered construction and architecture firms, will be exorbitant.rnThe full effects of this decision are being calculated, but we know that projects at 144 colleges have been seriously affected by this cut and £5 billion will be required to cover them. Most worryingly, further education minister Sion Simon has failed to give any assurances that FE colleges will not go bust.rnColleges do not bear this risk alone. Every single one of those 144 projects involves several partners and builders - and architects have already suffered loss of income and security. The AJ has highlighted the issues and next week will publish a special report chronicling the devastating effect on architects of projects collapsing. The Conservative Party is well aware of this dire situation and is proposing a course of action to deal with it.