Govt unveils £2.3bn low-carbon college scheme

London will be among the cities benefiting from a new £2.3 billion strategy to develop low-carbon colleges and skills training centres.

The Building Colleges for the Future proposal amounts to the government's largest-ever further education building works programming, entailing some £2.3 billion of investment over the next three years.

Countless communities stand to benefit from the scheme, with more than 150 colleges Nationwide being allocated funding for the development of cutting edge zero-carbon facilities.

John Denham, secretary of state for innovation, universities and skills, said that a broad range of educational sectors would benefit from the scheme and reiterated the emphasis on sustainability.

"We will require all new projects to meet the highest building standards for sustainable design and have a taskforce in place to advise on how we will ensure that all new buildings are zero carbon by 2016," he said.

"The strategy will also announce the inclusion of mandatory training plans for apprenticeships and work-based learning in all contracts," Mr Denham added. "This will ensure we get maximum value and training opportunities out of every penny of public investment going into our colleges."

Published 2nd April, 2008

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