New BSF Procurement proposals highlight £0.25 billion savings
05 February 2008
Savings of up to £0.25 billion could be made across the national Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, significantly reducing costs for bidders and making the procurement process more timely and efficient, according to the preliminary findings of the BSF Procurement Review.
Proposed new processes emerging from the Review are set to deliver important time savings of up to two months, making this part of the process even more streamlined and efficient.
Proposals to reduce the number of sample schemes from architects will allow greater emphasis to be placed on producing the highest-quality designs for schools which are truly transformational for students, teachers and local communities for decades to come.
The recommendations follow a four-month consultation with BSF stakeholders – including local authorities, contractors, industry groups and the design community – to explore ways to improve the timeliness, efficiency, flexibility, and ultimately, the delivery of the BSF programme. The proposals are expected to be considered by Ministers later this month.
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said: “The wide-ranging and constructive discussions we have had over recent months illustrate the massive enthusiasm and support for this unprecedented programme within the BSF community. The Procurement Review has enabled us to reflect on experiences to date and, importantly, to use the views and expertise of those engaged in BSF nationwide as springboard for these new proposals.
“It is widely accepted that delivery of the BSF programme has picked up pace considerably over the past year. A package of measures designed to ensure that local authorities are ready to hit the ground running as soon as they enter the programme has already made a real difference to the timetable for delivery. As a result, young people, teachers and their communities will benefit from their new learning environments earlier than was previously possible.
“Today’s proposals build on this by delivering further efficiencies to the procurement phase of BSF. Together, the proposed refinements are good news for an already healthy and dynamic market, offering a range of benefits – not least the opportunity for significant cost savings at both a national and a project level.”
Key recommendations include:
- A reduction in the overall procurement time – down to 75 weeks from the current 82-week model;
- More comprehensive pre-qualification of bidding consortia;
- Two lead bidders are selected earlier in the process, after 29 weeks rather than 44 weeks in the current process;
- Time and cost savings in the design process, with sample schemes only required for two projects, and a re-focusing of time for detailed development and completion of design work;
- Integration of ICT in the BSF programme should continue as there are demonstrable benefits for building design;
- More focus on effective partnering issues throughout the procurement process.
Chris Whitehead, Managing Director – New Business, Balfour Beatty Capital and Chair of the Public Private Partnerships Forum, said: “The new revised procurement process is the outcome of a constructive dialogue between public and private sectors. The result is a high quality proposal that will contain contractors’ bid costs and Authority procurement costs. This will help sustain the attractiveness of BSF to the market and ensure that the private sector continues to deliver value for money to the public sector.”
Malcolm Smith, Executive Director for Regeneration in the London Borough of Lewisham welcomed the proposals saying: “The emphasis on improving the ability to assess how the private sector will perform in partnership is an important element of this package of recommendations. The additional time which these new proposals allow for exploring innovative design with fewer bidders is also a welcome development for the BSF procurement process.”
Feedback has been presented to around 100 stakeholders who had played an active role in the BSF Procurement Review. Following this, refinements will be made to the proposals before a final set of recommendations are presented to the Ministers. Relevant procurement documentation will then be amended, with a view to implementing the findings for local authorities in Wave 5 and beyond.
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 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 DCSF (formerly DfES) and Partnerships UK.
- PwC was commissioned by Partnerships for Schools in September 2007 to conduct the review. Workshops were in October 2007 on issues associated with design, ICT and the LEP, with additional meetings, visits to operational LEPs, and written submissions.
- The key preliminary findings from the BSF Procurement Review were shared with stakeholders at a feedback event in London on Tuesday 5 February 2008.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Amy Leonard, Communications Director, Partnerships for Schools: 07960 116966 or Nicky Old, Senior Communications Manager: 020 7273 0031.
