Press release: PfS announces preferred partners for National Academies Framework
03 November 2006
Partnerships for Schools (PfS) are delighted to announce the preferred partners for the National Framework for Academies and other educational facilities.
Pending final contract award, the design and build framework will deliver Academies, ‘One School’ Pathfinders and other educational facilities on behalf of local authorities that are not yet engaged with the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
Local authorities in BSF will deliver Academies and other educational facilities through their Local Education Partnerships (LEPs) – unless the LEP will not be established in time to meet Academy delivery targets, in which case the framework will be used.
The six preferred partners are listed below in alphabetical order.
- Balfour Beatty
- Carillion
- Kier
- Laing O’Rourke
- Skanska
- Willmott Dixon
Each contractor has already identified a regional supply chain for each of four regions (North, Midlands, South West and South East & London). This supply chain includes a national architect partner that will be responsible for ensuring that school designs produced by the regional teams benefit from synergies and learnings arising out of the significant body of experience developing through BSF and the Academies programme.
It is anticipated that the framework contracts will be signed later this month. The contract term for the framework is four years.
As with BSF, the importance of design and its effective use in transforming educational delivery has been a key driver in the final selection for this framework.
Andrew Robertson, Partnerships for Schools’ Deputy Chief Executive, said that the competition had been robust, and that “Colin Howell and his team have worked phenomenally hard in bringing forward bidders that were all of the highest quality. We are confident that the chosen framework providers will provide sustained value for money and will meet the requirements of not only local authorities, sponsors and the DfES, but also the pupils for whom we are seeking to provide inspirational learning environments”.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- 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 (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DfES and Partnerships UK.
- On 23 March 2006, Jacqui Smith, then Minister of State for Schools and 14-19 Learners, announced that PfS is to take on responsibility for delivery of the building part of the Academies programme. More information can be found on the PfS website, www.partnershipsforschools.org.uk. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) retains ownership of sponsor relations and educational transformation for the Academies programme.
- This framework is for local authorities who are not yet fully engaged on BSF. Local authorities that are currently on the BSF programme will deliver Academies through their Local Education Partnerships (LEPs) in the same way as other educational facilities.
- ‘One School’ Pathfinders are local authorities who are scheduled to join BSF in the latter stages of the 15-year programme (waves 10 to 15). Local authorities are given funding, from BSF capital, to rebuild or renew the school in greatest need – these projects give local authorities the opportunity to test how they will approach educational transformation in their area. All phase 2 One School Pathfinders will use the national design and build framework.
