A school property agency
The Post reports:
School principals hope a new Crown agency to handle their combined $30 billion property portfolio will mean fewer pre-fabs and more permanent classrooms.
The establishment of New Zealand School Property Agency (NZSPA) was announced by Education Minister Erica Stanford at Auckland’s Northcross Intermediate School on Friday.
It’s a major move that will take the expensive operation of building, procuring, delivering and maintaining billions of dollars of assets out of the Ministry of Education’s hands. New Zealand has than 2000 state schools and 16,000 school buildings – which in 2024 cost taxpayers $1.7b in capital investment.
Rolleston College principal Rachel Skelton said it’s “a really good thing” if the new agency means more schools get new classrooms quicker.
A dedicated agency for a $30 billion property portfolio makes a lot of sense.
The advisory group establishing the agency includes the following:
- A Chair of a territorial authority holdings company
- A former CEO of infrastructure for Fletcher Building
- A former director Naylor Love, one of the largest privately owned construction companies in New Zealand
- A CFO for a global education delivery and consultancy company
- A former chair of Precinct Properties
With respect, I have more confidence in their ability to put together a competent entity to manage school property, than I do in the Ministry of Education.