Context and scope of BSF
Q. What is BSF?
Building Schools for the Future was established by the Department for Education (formerly DfES/DCSF) in 2003, and Partnerships for Schools was established to deliver the programme, working with local authorities across England to rebuild or refurbish the secondary school estate, including local-authority controlled secondary special educational needs schools and pupil referral units.
Funding for Building Schools for the Future was stopped in July 2010. Projects already under way (at financial close) will continue to be delivered, with guidance and support from PfS, for several years to come.
Q. How was the BSF programme rolled out?
In the programme, local authorities were prioritised according to greatest need. Investment began with schools where the standards were lowest, and the greatest impact on standards could be achieved. As the programme rolled out, consideration was also be given to how ready local authorities wereto join BSF.
Q. Which schools have been/will be rebuilt through BSF?
A list of schools rebuilt. remodelled or given BSF-funded ICT through the BSF programme is available here. This list also includes schools not yet built, but where local authorities have been given the go-ahead to continue with their BSF projects.
Q. When will my school be in BSF?
The list of schools above detail whether or not your school will receive BSF funding. If your school is not on the list, it will not receive funding through BSF, but may be allocated other capital investment for remodelling or refurbishing buildings - the Department for Education (DfE) review into school capital investment will is due to finish in December 2010.
Q. Why was 10% of BSF funding ring-fenced for ICT?
ICT plays a very important part of BSF with a high level of capital funding (equivalent to £1,675 for every pupil).
BSF funding for ICT pays for passive network infrastructure, active network equipment, hardware (computers and peripherals), software and setting up an area-wide Managed Service for ICT. Schools are expected to join a Managed Service and to pay an annual revenue charge per pupil which is likely to provide a saving on schools' current expenditure on procuring, managing, maintaining and refreshing their ICT infrastructure and equipment.
PfS has developed a template output specification for ICT, which is on the PfS website under BSF standard documents.
Q. How does my company tender for BSF projects?
All BSF projects were required to be advertised in OJEU under EU procurement rules. As of July 2010, no new BSF projects will be started, although those that are ongoing will still have IT, facilities management and supply chain requirements.
You can download a spreadsheet of established Local Education Partnerships and their supply chains here (spreadsheet from What About Me? Private Sector).
There may also be opportunities to work with the firms on the Contractors' Framework procured by PfS.
Q. Is there a preferred supplier list for BSF?
No.
