Pictured above: (l-r) Martin Pritchett, Robert Kingham, Mark Dawe, Jeremy Wilson, Hilary Hale, George Trow, Roger Newman

There is still hope for further education colleges forced to place expansion plans on hold because of the recent funding crisis.

A property summit in Birmingham heard there were various innovative ways of putting together a financial package in order to get schemes back into play.

The so called "Plan B" included looking at cost savings and how best to raise new capital.

The message went out from the Association of Colleges following a conference held in association with DLA Piper.

The Government has made a further £200 million available in the period 2011-2014 but that is nowhere near sufficient for the number of projects on hold, and for the remaining colleges which still require modernisation. Hence, colleges are being forced to reassess property strategies and - for those where a capital rebuild is essential - alternative ways of finding the money.

Robert Norris, a partner and construction expert with the law firm, said: "Property strategies now have to come to terms with estates that still need to be maintained and developed in a manner which reflects limited budgets due to the recession and restricted access to capital support by Government. Colleges must re-evaluate and develop creative ways of delivering teaching and learning environments."

Colleague Martin Hallam, a partner and head of the real estate team who spoke at the conference, added: "There is a range of capital and revenue options that colleges can explore to help save money and raise finance for projects.

"These include more traditional methods such as debt financing, sale and leaseback, along with innovative arrangements not really adopted yet in the FE sector - the likes of local asset-backed vehicles, a variety of development deals and Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) schemes."

Such initiatives do not come without some difficulties - some are not suited to the short and/or long term capital needs and the size/ available resources of the college and  others have not been widely used in the FE context. Colleges will also have to consider issues such as affordability and of course any constitutional restraints .

However, Mr Norris noted: we believe that, for the right colleges, one, or a combination, of the various choices may provide the answer."

Earlier this year a Government inquest was launched into the actions of the Learning and Skills Council, which had given approval in principle to a significant proportion of the 180 projects submitted by colleges, totalling nearly £3 billion - way beyond what could be afforded.

Ultimately, just 14 got the final go-ahead following a prioritisation process, which left 69 colleges still requiring funding of £2.2 billion.

In the West Midlands, Bournville and Sandwell colleges were among the lucky ones.

Bournville College is moving to the former MG Rover plant site in Longbridge, and Sandwell College is relocating to a new £85 million centre in West Bromwich.

But a host of others in the region were knocked back.

Hence the title of the AoC event - Revising Your Property Strategy Without Easy Access to Capital.

Other speakers included George Trow, principal of Rotherham College; Jeremy Wilson, a partner with commercial property agents, Drivers Jonas; Mark Dawe, principal of Oaklands College in Hertfordshire; Martin Pritchett, AoC estates network manager; Hilary Hale, managing director, Hale Consulting; John Bryan, director of architects Bond Bryan; Robert Kingham, associate, Drivers Jonas; and Oliver Gibson, senior manager with real estate consultants, IPD.

Similar events also took place in Liverpool and London.