Building and construction companies in Northern Ireland are poised for significant opportunities following a major funding bid announcement by the Minister for Education, Paul Girvan.
Mr Girvan has made a bid to the Department for Finance for £528m for education capital needs in the forthcoming financial year.
Speaking in the Assembly, the Minister also warned that there was a need for a further £100m to meet special educational needs placements.
In Mr Givan’s Ministerial Statement he also said there was a need for two new special schools to be built over the next decade, as well as lifting the bar on a number of new build projects, with immediate effect.
“My officials have submitted funding bids of £528 million to the Department of Finance to meet Education capital needs next year,” said Mr Givan.
“As an absolute minimum, I will require an additional £100 million of capital above the draft Budget allocation to meet pressures in regard to special educational needs placements. That will provide essential schools for our most vulnerable children.”
The minister said that the executive needed to create stability with planning and sound investment decisions on future funding levels.
“Across my Department’s capital programmes, in every constituency and school sector, there is a wide range of much-needed investment projects that urgently need to be delivered,” he explained.
“There is not a moment to lose. That is why, to begin the process, I have instructed my officials to lift the pause that was imposed, in the absence of a Minister, on a number of new-build projects for schools in the worst conditions that were announced by my predecessor. That will ensure a pipeline of investment for future years.”
Amongst the projects is the new campus in Omagh, but the go-ahead will require further investment.
“I will shortly bring to the Executive proposals for investment in the Strule Shared Education Campus in Omagh,” Mr Givan said, adding: “That visionary and unique campus will bring together six schools and over 4,000 children on a cross-community basis on a shared site. It will be a regional and international exemplar of shared education.
“My officials are finalising work on the full business case, and a potential contractor is in place. However, without ring-fenced additional investment, this innovative project, which will transform education provision for all the children of Omagh, may not be able to proceed.
“We should recall that the UK Government’s £3.3 billion funding package for the Executive includes £150 million of the Fresh Start capital funding that was previously ring-fenced for shared and integrated capital projects.
“I am clear that, if they are serious about delivering the project, the Executive needs to recommit that funding to the education sector as a matter of the utmost urgency.”
The minister added that there will shortly be a capital investment strategy.
“High-impact and relatively low-cost projects to create effective outdoor learning environments or bespoke well-being spaces can make a lasting improvement to everyday life in a school.
“I have therefore commissioned my officials to develop, as a matter of priority, a capital investment strategy for education that sets out a compelling vision for a responsive, agile and innovative programme of capital investment that is clearly aligned to wider education and Executive policy.”
