The Public Accounts Committee’s recent report into the 2020 Falkland College project concluded that construction of the building lacked a clear vision from the outset, and that cost estimates were unrealistic. The committee argued that the lack of vision caused costs to be higher than they might have been, had factors such as the addition of of the library been considered from the beginning.

The report by the PAC states that initial plans for Falkland College were to replace the training centre’s existing workshop, but as time progressed, the project expanded to cover a new library, as well as the college itself, replacing the existing training centre. At the end of construction, with over two million pounds spent, the workshop has still not been replaced.

However, Emma Brook, the College Development Manager, took issue with the findings of the report, stating that “we always had a clear vision for the project”. She said that the education department assumed they would have to “work with what we’ve got”, and therefore had a clear plan in mind for how to renovate the training centre to make it fit for purpose.

She also said that she was happy with the end result, stating that “the building we’ve got is excellent… we’ve been able to see the college grow enormously. And I think it’s here for the long term”. The PAC did also note that between 2015 and 2020, there has been an increase from around 250 people regularly using the training centre, to over 2000 users of Falkland College.