Press release: Sheffield City enters into preferred bidder negotiations
30 May 2006
Sheffield City Council has taken a step forward in their £320million school buildings programme.
Sheffield is a Pathfinder in the Government’s national Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, which is the single biggest capital investment into schools infrastructure the country has ever seen. The £320million BSF investment, together with the work already completed and in progress through Private Finance Initiative (PFI), means that every secondary school in the city will have been rebuilt or radically refurbished by 2015.
Sheffield City Council has provisionally appointed Paradigm, a consortium led by Taylor Woodrow, to be the Council’s partner in delivering all waves of the BSF programme in Sheffield. Subject to further conditions being met, a formal appointment is expected in the coming weeks.
“We know from what parents have told us how important it is to them that their children have the best learning environment possible”, says Cllr Harry Harpham, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services. “This massive investment will help us deliver that.
“I believe passionately in giving young people the opportunity to be inspired about their future and the future of their city. We must make sure they have all the facilities they need, and rebuilding our secondary schools is an excellent opportunity to do this.”
Phase 1 of BSF in Sheffield will be worth £158million, and is expected to be followed by two further phases of similar value. The schools to be rebuilt include Newfield, Silverdale, Yewlands and Talbot Special Educational Needs (SEN) school (which will be rebuilt on the same site as Newfield). Also included in Phase 1 is the refurbishment of High Storrs, two pupil referral units and some redevelopment work at Firth Park. A brand new SEN school will also be built in the north of the city. All Phase 1 schools are expected to be completed by 2009.
As a result of the comprehensive programme of school building work in the city, including BSF, two out of three secondary school students will be in new or significantly refurbished buildings by 2009 (16,664 students out of projected secondary school population of 25,479).
“Working with Paradigm gives us a tremendous opportunity to put into practice the vision we’ve been working towards for a number of years”, says Jonathan Crossley-Holland, Executive Director of Children & Young People’s Services, Sheffield City Council. “This has been a jointly developed vision with heads, their staff and governors, who have played a key role in the selection of the preferred bidder.
“We’re also able to build brand new schools, including those for children with special needs who deserve excellent facilities to best meet their particular needs. All the schools will be able to take a fresh look at how students and families are engaged in the teaching and learning process with technology being at the heart of the building programme. The outcome will be learning environments which match the expectations of the 21st century.”
Christian Tyson, BSF Director at Taylor Woodrow commented: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to enter into a long-term partnership with Sheffield City Council and make a key contribution to the Council’s impressive plans to transform educational provision in Sheffield”
Sheffield City Council and Paradigm will work together with Partnerships for Schools (PfS) on their negotiations. PfS is the agency responsible for delivering BSF on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) and have worked alongside Sheffield in achieving this significant milestone.
Richard Bowker, CEO of PfS, said: “We are delighted that Sheffield have provisionally nominated a private sector partner to take forward in delivering their education vision under their BSF programme. As a pathfinder for BSF, the Council has made a valuable contribution to the development of the national programme. We look forward to working with the team in Sheffield on the delivery of their new and refurbished schools.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every one of England's 3,500 state secondary schools during the 15-year lifetime of the £45 billion programme.
- Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery agency for Building Schools for the Future. It was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body, and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DfES and Partnerships UK.
- Paradigm is a consortium of Taylor Woodrow Construction, Taylor Woodrow Facilities Management, Civica plc, HLM and BDP Architects and HSBC Bank
For further information please contact:
Katie Harrison, Sheffield City Council, Media Team: 0114 2736927 or 07710 737905. For out of hours enquiries please ring 07711 153995.
