by political editor Paul Francis

A programme of rebuilding schools in the county has cost Kent County Council nearly £12million in consultancy fees so far.

The Government funded "Building Schools for The Future" project has been hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild secondary schools across the country.

But it has also attracted criticism over costs and complex contractual arrangements with private sector partners.

In total, Kent estimates its involvement in the massive re-building initiative will cost £1.8billion, the bulk of which will be funded by central Government.

But it has emerged that the education authority has already had to pay consultants a total of £11.8million, with fees being paid to a host of lawyers, designers and technical advisers involved in advising the education authority.

Of that, some £8million has been paid to technical consultants involved in feasibility studies and drawing up business cases; close to £2million to financial experts who have drawn up tender documents and £1.5million to lawyers, chiefly for negotiating and drawing up contracts and for dealing with a transfer of contracts to a new private sector partner.

According to a recent cabinet report, a further £5m is expected to be spent on consultancy fees for the next group of 16 schools scheduled to be redeveloped between now and 2015.

More than £2m of that will be paid out before a single brick has been laid at any of the schools involved.

Schools minister Vernon Coker defended the costs to authorities but acknowledged there had originally been problems.

"There have been some concerns in the original programme about value for money. But the Audit Office recently reported that they are now satisfied that BSF delivers value for money. We are confident that the programme delivers new buildings and new schools, designed to improve standards at a reasonable and sustainable cost," he told the KM Group.

County Hall education chiefs say consultants are a necessary part of the BSF programme but plan to expand its own in-house team to cut costs. They said the costs represented a small percentage of the overall investment being made in schools.

Cllr Sarah Hohler (Con), KCC cabinet member for children, families and education said: "Nationally, the typical spend on consultants for the Buildings Schools for the Future programme is about three per cent of the overall investment. We need consultants to provide technical expertise in design, architecture and surveys.

"So far, the first three phases of Building Schools for the Future in Kent has brought £670m of investment. In future, we anticipate expanding our in-house team and cutting back on external consultants."

• The first schools to benefit have been in Gravesham and Thanet.
• The latest group of schools to be incorporated into the programme are 16 based in Dover, Folkestone and Sittingbourne, with redevelopment estimated to cost £250million but not expected to be completed until 2018.