The AJ's investigation into the true impact of the Learning and Skills Council debacle (see AJ 22.01.09 and AJ 19.03.09) has revealed a trail of devastation across the 20 architecture practices on the framework, as well as several firms involvedrnpre-framework. Indefinite delays to the £2.3 billion building programme for further-education colleges, caused by uncontrolled overspending, have resulted in the potential loss of £186 million in fees, a wave of 209 redundancies and the threat of 558 more job losses to come. In the face of the fallout, the £300 million 'cash injection' earmarked for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in last week's Budget is too little, too late. For practices depending on a significant government bailout, the 'windfall' delivered in the Budget was merely a token.
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