ixia

In 2009, the think tank, Policy Exchange, published a report on BSF which concluded that the programme needed to be ‘fundamentally overhauled’. Its Executive Summary lists five key recommendations. These include: ‘The ring-fenced budget for IT within BSF (10% of the total) should disappear and should be replaced by a “Creativity” budget which headteachers could spend in any way that boosts creativity in their school.’ It also recommends that: ‘Given that Britain is spending more than any other country on ICT in schools, and school libraries are fast being replaced by IT suites, an expert review panel should draw up recommendations on the role of technology in secondary schools. This review would look at technology’s part in a far wider “creativity” agenda. The role of music, books, drama and art should be considered at the same time.’ The report discovered that whilst Labour ministers stated repeatedly that ‘smart new buildings will raise achievement’ and research does suggest that ‘poorly designed and maintained buildings do have an effect on pupils and teachers’, it concluded that: ‘the evidence for good design raising achievement is at most tenuous and at worst non-existent.’

Click here to download a PDF of Building Blocks? An Investigation Into Building Schools for the Future (Katharine Quarmby and Anna Fazackerley, Policy Exchange, 13th July 2009).

ixia has just published its Review and Guidance on the commissioning of public art within the context of different types of health initiatives. Since the 1960s, artists have increasingly become involved within the health sector. ixia and Willis Newson have written this document in order to equip readers with accurate information about the commissioning of public art within health buildings. The Review and Guidance is aimed at all those involved in the provision of health buildings and public art commissioning. It includes a review of current policy and practice, and provides guidance regarding the commissioning of public art within the context of Private Finance Initiative (PFI), Local Investment Finance Trust (LIFT) and ProCure21 (P21) procurement processes.

For more information, and to download a free copy of ixia’s review, please click here.

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Today, Building warned that the ‘government could announce a formal halt to the £55bn school building programme within weeks, amid growing pressure from contractors for clarity over the future of the scheme‘ and council fears that they are wasting time and money on schemes that will not go ahead. In response to uncertainty about the status of BSF projects, the Department for Education is expected to make an announcement either alongside or before the Budget on 22^nd June. It is anticipated that all schemes that have not reached preferred bidder stage will be put on hold, pending the outcome of a review of school building procurement which will be led by an external expert and analyse options for prioritising projects and scaling back the scheme. Frameworks are expected to be preferred over the Labour government’s LEP model.[1]

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[1] ‘Government to halt BSF projects within weeks’, Sarah Richardson in Building, 4^th June 2010, http://www.building.co.uk/5000522.article?origin=bldgweeklynewsletter

The Department for Education has not yet made a decision on the funding for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) or any other capital programmes. The government is committed to a full comprehensive spending review in the autumn and Ministers will shortly be considering their spending priorities, which will take into account all areas of spending including schools capital. An article in The Guardian stated: ‘the government has put the £55bn school rebuilding programme under review, freezing plans for hundreds of new secondaries in England.’[1] BSF schemes that ‘have not yet reached preferred bidder stage have already been stopped pending a review.’[2] Michael Gove, the new education secretary, has prioritised the Conservative policy for the ‘Swedish free-schools model’. [3] This would enable private organisations, parents and teacher groups to start a new school in an attempt to compete and drive up standards.

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[1] ‘£55bn school building plan faces axe to fund Swedish-style system’, Polly Curtis in The Guardian, Friday 14^th May 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/14/school-building-plan-faces-axe

[2] ‘Questions on education policy for the new Con-Lib Dems’, Mike Baker in The Guardian, Tuesday 18^th May 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/18/coalition-education-policy-cuts

[3] ‘Questions on education policy for the new Con-Lib Dems’, Mike Baker in The Guardian, Tuesday 18^th May 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/18/coalition-education-policy-cuts

The new coalition government, formed by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats on 12^th May 2010, has announced that £6 billion will be cut from public spending in the financial year 2010-11, with a plan for deficit reduction being set out in an emergency budget within fifty days. In the meantime, there is widespread speculation and uncertainty. The overwhelming feeling is that the cuts will be made to ‘non-front line services’[1] where funding has not yet been formally allocated. In an article published in Building Design on 14^th May, the Former RIBA President George Ferguson’s verdict was that: ‘”severe spending cuts are inevitable.”‘ He ‘warned new-build health and education projects would be thin on the ground.’[2] Building Design’s view is that ‘the [architectural] profession’s major worry is the future of the £55 billion Building Schools for the Future programme’,[3] which is considered to be ‘the major lifeline for the construction industry.’[4] Ferguson’s observation that government spending cuts will lead to ‘”making the most of what we’ve got rather than everything having to be brand and spanking new”‘[5] has already been made by ixia, who believe that, increasingly, the focus has been on the refurbishment of the existing estate rather than new-builds.

The Ministerial appointments include Jeremy Hunt MP, the new Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, and Michael Gove MP, who took over Ed Balls’ former position as Secretary of State for Education.[6] The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has been re-named the Department for Education.[7] For the BBC’s verdict on how the coalition will affect culture, please click here. [8]

ixia’s research into public art and education, and public art and health has been conducted in response to the growing number of public art commissions within hospital and school building programmes, as well as to recent amendments to national guidance. ixia will, as always, continue to monitor the considerable changes to the political landscape and the updates to public sector building programmes in light of producing future advice.

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[1] Bank of England governor Mervyn King hails deficit plan, BBC news website, 12^th May 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10109518.stm
[2] ‘Architects braced for major cuts’, Will Hurst and David Rogers in Building Design, 14^th May 2010, p.1
[3] ‘Architects braced for major cuts’, p.1
[4] Jo van Heyningen of Van Heyningen & Haward Architects in ‘Architects braced for major cuts’, p.1
[5] ‘Architects braced for major cuts’, p.1
[6] For a full list of the ministerial appointments already announced, click here:
[7] http://www.education.gov.uk/
[8] How will coalition affect culture?, BBC news website, Torin Douglas, 13^th May 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8678797.stm

Call for Papers

Art & the Public Sphere invites contributions from artists, theorists, historians, curators and cultural activists. We seek interdisciplinary articles, which confront orthodoxies, propagate debate and reflect on art’s role in the public sphere. We encourage fresh approaches to research arising from practice, theory, philosophy and politics, and welcome contributions from new and established researchers, scholars, practitioners and professionals. The first issue of the journal will focus on the ‘Intersection of Politics, Art and Urbanism‘ but we also invite contributions for future issues on any aspect of art and the discourses related to the public sphere, such as ‘public’, ‘publicness’, ‘making public’ and ‘publishing’.

For more information, click here.

Intellect and ixia are delighted to announce the launch of a new journal: Art & the Public Sphere.

Art & the Public Sphere provides a new platform for academics, artists, curators, commissioners, art historians and theorists, whose working practices are broadly concerned with contemporary art’s relation to the public sphere. Art & the Public Sphere also presents a crucial examination of contemporary art’s link to the public realm, offering an engaged and responsive forum in which to debate the newly emerging series of developments within contemporary thinking, society and international art practice. It will be peer-reviewed and edited by Mel Jordan.

For more information, click here.

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

Click here to view ixia’s response to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) consultation document, Community Infrastructure Levy: Detailed proposals and draft regulations for the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy, published in July 2009. ixia’s response has been developed in discussion with, and endorsed by, Arts Council England.

ixia has just published its Review and Guidance on public art and the BSF process. The government states that BSF is the biggest single investment in improving school buildings for over fifty years. It intends to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England - transforming education through the creation of inspirational learning environments. Moreover, the government intends BSF to play a significant role in local regeneration initiatives and, in light of the current recession, the national economic recovery, by stimulating investment and supporting the construction industry. ixia’s review and guidance on public art and the BSF process has been conducted in response to the growing number of public art commissions within BSF programmes and recent changes to national BSF guidance documents. It is now a requirement that every local authority sets up a mandatory Cultural Stakeholder Group (CSG) to champion the arts, culture and cultural learning within its BSF programme. The CSG’s work includes advising on the provision of arts spaces within BSF schools and undertaking a Strategic and Facilities Audit in order to assess and develop links between BSF and existing and emerging arts and cultural organisations and initiatives. As a result, the role that public art can perform within BSF is highlighted and promoted.

For more information, and to download a free copy of ixia’s review, please click here.

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

As part of ixia’s ongoing review of the relationship between public art and the planning system we are profiling the government’s latest consultation document on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), Community Infrastructure Levy: Detailed proposals and draft regulations for the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy: Consultation, published in July 2009. ixia is currently working on a response. For more information, click here. For ixia’s published review of policy, guidance and practice regarding public art and the planning system and process in England, click here.