Education chiefs are struggling to find a contractor that wants to build a new school.
There is still no start date for work to build the long-awaited replacement for Castle Rushen High School
The final sitting of Tynwald before the election heard that we were no nearer to there being spades in the ground to build a new secondary school in Castletown. In fact, one former Education Minister claimed that a new build was further away than from her time.
Education Minister Daphne Caine told Tynwald this week that the government had not been able to find a contractor to take on the job.
She said: “The initial principal contractor tender process has now concluded.
“While the project attracted several expressions of interest, no formal tender submissions were received. This has affected the delivery timetable while the department reviews contractor feedback and works with stakeholders to reprogramme the project.”
Caine was responding to a question from Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse.
She told him the current work was focussed on “refining” the scheme and identifying ways to reduce costs.
She said the concept design had been completed and was being considered. It needed approval before work on the design and development stage could begin.
Moorhouse said at the turn of the year there had been a “real optimism” that a funding plan would have been before Tynwald by now. He asked when that was now expected.
Caine said she was not in a position “at this stage” to provide any further information.
Asked by the other Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK, Tim Glover, she confirmed the project board still existed.
Has the scheme gone backwards?
Onchan MHK Julie Edge, Education Minister from 2021-2024, said: “We are actually a stage behind it was when I was the (former) minister because you are only at stage two – concept design!”
She suggested the department examined the costs of refurbishment.
Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper asked: “If there are no construction firms out there that are capable or willing to build it for us, what options does she (Caine) have left?”
Caine said work continued to progress to the next stage and reiterated the department was listening to contractor feedback, “in order to inform how we move forward”.
In April, Tynwald’s Public Accounts Committee chairman Juan Watterson expressed his frustration after being told yet more delays were on the horizon. This followed the department saying in December that it hoped work would begin on site this summer.