Minister to visit landmark new school

SWANSEA’S latest new primary school is teaching councils across Wales how to better do business with local firms.

Swansea is the first council in Wales to pioneer the Project Bank Account prompt payment scheme for sub-contractors on the building of the new Burlais Primary School.

It meant they were paid more quickly and efficiently than before, protecting their financial stability in difficult economic times.

On Thursday Jane Hutt AM, the Welsh Government’s Minister for Finance and Government Business, will be visiting the school to hear about the success of the project along with other community benefits the school build brought.

That way Burlais will be influencing future successful builds across Wales.

The Minister said:  “I am delighted to visit Burlais Primary School to see how the pilot Project Bank Account is delivering real benefits to local businesses, families and children through the new facilities.  The benefits to date speak for themselves – 92% of the value of the project has been spent with Welsh-based businesses, 64% of which was with Welsh SMEs. Over 400 training weeks have also been delivered and eight unemployed people have been given job opportunities, all of whom have been retained by Dawnus.

“This collaboration between the public sector and industry is exactly the kind of partnership working I want to see thrive in Wales.  It is clear that Project Bank Accounts not only ensure prompt payments for sub-contractors but deliver wider benefits and I will be looking at the success of this pilot project to see how we can build on this.”

Cllr Rob Stewart, Leader of Swansea Council, said: “The new Project Bank Account system we trialled successfully as part of the contract for building the new Burlais Primary School has proved so successful it could now be rolled out across Wales.

“It’s no secret that sub-contractors and suppliers can sometimes face financial problems when they’re not paid quickly and we were determined to do all we could to support them in this difficult economic climate.”

Swansea Council and main contractor Dawnus Construction Holdings Limited built the new 525-place Burlais Primary School to replace ageing buildings in Cwmbwrla and Manselton.

It cost around £8.5m and was part-funded by a grant from the Welsh Government of £4.125 million, with Swansea Council providing the rest.

Under traditional systems the council would pay the main contractor within its 30 day target but the sub-contractors and suppliers further along the chain might not get paid until sometime later as private firms have different payment deadline rules to local authorities.

Under the new Project Bank Account set up jointly by the council and the contractor, undisputed invoices were paid directly from that account to sub-contractors within 30 days, eliminating delays they are used to experiencing.

Martin Nicholls, Swansea Council’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Swansea Council has been delighted to work with the Welsh Government, Dawnus and its supply chain, who all volunteered to participate in the piloting of the Project Bank Account. We’re confident that the lessons learned from this and other pilots will assist the Welsh Government in developing a robust process to improve payment practices across the construction industry in the future.”