Press release: Finanical Close for Lancashire
15 December 2006
Lancashire County Council's press release:
Lancashire County Council, Catalyst Lend Lease and Partnerships for Schools confirmed today that they have reached financial close on the Local Education Partnership (LEP) and the first-phase grouped schools PFI project that will deliver the first stage of Lancashire’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The area’s schools will benefit from some £250m of capital investment as a result of this agreement.
The LEP, which is set up for a minimum of 10 years, will deliver capital allowing the strategic development of new schools as well as the refurbishment of the city’s secondary school estate in order to transform education delivery. The programme will integrate ICT provision into school design for the first time – £6m of new ICT will be included in the initial projects, offering the real opportunity for personalised learning for all.
County Councillor Alan Whittaker, Cabinet Member for schools, said:
"Our ambition for the BSF schools has always been to provide our pupils with the best quality and most up-to-date school buildings and facilities.
"This marks the start of a new era for communities in Burnley and Pendle and I’m delighted that contracts with our partners have now been agreed which will continue to see the project delivered to a high standard and on time."
Partnerships for Schools’ Chief Executive, Tim Byles, said
"We congratulate Lancashire County Council and Catalyst Lend Lease on reaching financial close on their BSF project, and look forward to working with them on transforming the county’s schools and learning environments. This is an exciting time for the national BSF programme as well as for the pupils and communities of Lancashire – the local authorities in waves 4, 5 and 6 have been announced, and we expect several more projects to sign contracts before the end of the financial year."
Bob Johnston, head of Lend Lease’s PFI investment business said
"Over the coming years we look forward to building some great new schools and creating some wonderful learning opportunities for pupils of all ages in the East Lancashire area.
"By PFI standards we’ve moved rapidly from being chosen as preferred bidder in March to financial close in December. That’s a tribute to everyone involved – our colleagues in the county council and our partners in the PFI consortium – who all shared the same ambition to get this scheme up and running as soon as possible."
The first phase of the partnership will see the development of schools in the Burnley and Pendle areas: Shuttleworth Community College, Burnley Schools' Sixth Form, new primary, nursery and primary special school provision on the Barden Lane Campus and Pendle Vale Community College and Pendle Community High School. The first school will open on schedule in September 2008.
Over 8,500 Burnley and Pendle pupils will benefit from this investment, and there will be ongoing consultation with parents, students, staff and the community as the project develops. The remainder of Lancashire’s schools estate will received similar funding in futuer years.
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. PfS 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.
- The schools that will be affected by this funding are: Shuttleworth Community College, Burnley School Sixth Form, Pendle Vale Community College, Pendle Community High School.
- Catalyst Lend Lease Consortium members: Catalyst, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Bovis Lend Lease, Redstone and Capita.
- LEP members: Lancashire County Council, Catalyst Lend Lease and Building Schools for the Future Investments (BSFI).
