With unprecedented government investment and a commitment to a 15-year programme to rebuild or renew every secondary school in the country, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) presents major long-term business opportunities all over England. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families want to help the private sector to achieve innovation and economies of scale, to plan long term and to develop a more standardised approach to drive efficiencies and improve quality.

PfS works with the DCSF to make it easier for the private sector to work with local authorities. Designed specifically as a procurement model for BSF, Local Education Partnerships mark an evolution in public private partnerships by aligning public and private sector interests in way that has not been possible before. This model delivers real efficiencies to the local authority in procurement terms whilst at the same time increasing the likelihood that our new schools will deliver educational transformation.

LEPs: 

• reduce the current burden of procuring school buildings, ICT and other services;
• speed up the procurement process — and make it more integrated;
• reduce the cost of repeat procurements (and bids) for subsequent phases of work;
• enable local authorities to procure wider services than BSF schools; and
• ensure value for money through the sharing of good practice and adherence to quality standards.

To ensure that LEPs are set up in an efficient and timely manner, PfS has produced a comprehensive set of standardised procurement and contractual documentation.

BSF is a real opportunity to showcase innovative, inspirational design and to demonstrate how it can impact on education standards and the quality of life within schools. Across the whole programme, we are looking for high-quality, sustainable projects and services. Successful partners will be those that are able to demonstrate an understanding of the broader requirements of local communities and supply chains.

A list of the current supply chains to BSF projects that have reached financial close is available to download here (last updated May 2008). This information is also listed in the individual local authority pages in the Programme section of this website.