£4 billion Academies Framework offers new opportunities for the contracting market across England
06 March 2009
A £4 billion framework to procure the design and build of Academies and other educational facilities in local authorities which are not yet engaged with the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme is now out to tender, offering opportunities for up to 24 main providers and their supply chains.
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, said: “The new Contractors' Framework offers a great opportunity for all sectors of the construction industry, particularly at a time when conditions are undeniably tough. With over 127 Academies being delivered through BSF currently, with over 100 more in the pipeline, the new Framework will enable contractors and suppliers from across the country to get involved in a scheme that has a predictable flow of work, supported by direct grant Government funding.
“As the current Academies Framework nears its £2 billion OJEU limit much sooner than originally anticipated, we are starting the new procurement exercise to secure the future work stream, maintaining the focus on streamlined and accelerated delivery of new academy schools.
“The existing Academies Framework has demonstrated the value of this approach, both in terms of providing best value for money to the public purse and securing educational transformation for communities. Building on these foundations, the new Contractors' Framework has been designed specifically to open up the opportunities to all contractors with a track record of delivering secondary schools or similar projects, enabling smaller regional bidders, as well as larger national firms to get involved.”
While procured on a national basis the Contractors' Framework will have two discrete geographical areas. The first area will be made up of the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and The Humber, the East Midlands and the West Midlands; the second will be made up of East of England, the South West, the South East and London. Up to 12 contractors will be appointed for each of the two areas, with bidders able to express an interest in one or both.
The successful contractors and their supply chains are expected to be in place and bidding for work from November/December 2009 onwards. The new framework will operate in tandem with the initial Academies Framework, which will continue to operate until December 2010.
Local authorities that are currently engaged in the BSF programme will continue to procure academies through Local Education Partnerships (LEPs) in the same way as other educational facilities. The procurement and project management expertise which PfS already provides to the BSF programme will ensure that similar economies of scale are achieved in the Academies programme, and that it is delivered in the most cost-effective and efficient way.
Notes to Editors:
• A notice for the procurement of the Contractors’ Framework is due to be published by the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on 6 March 2009 and released to the market on Tuesday 10 March 2009.
• A copy of the OJEU notice is available for potential bidders and can be found on the Academies Process section of the PfS website at: http://www.partnershipsforschools.org.uk/programme/acpro.jsp
• The framework will support local authorities in their role as contracting authority, providing them with national programme management, support for their local educational vision and strategy through the Strategy for Change process, a standardised delivery model offering procurement and contractual documentation, teams to provide local transaction and commercial support, and an approved list of six framework providers.
• The two geographical areas for the Contractors Framework are:
Area 1: North West, North East, Yorkshire and The Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands. Area 2: East of England, South East, South West, London.
• The current Academies Framework, launched in January 2007, will continue to be operational until January 2011. The six National Framework partners, in alphabetical order, are Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Skanska and Wilmott Dixon. Each contractor has 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 knowledge and experience developing through the BSF and the Academies programmes.
• PfS is currently engaged on 127 projects which have reached Expression of Interest stage, 52 Academies are being delivered through the BSF LEP process and 75 through the National Framework. The first Academies to be delivered through BSF are due to open this year including the Walworth Academy in Southwark, Sir Frank Markham Academy in Milton Keynes, Eastbourne Academy in Darlington, Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and three in Sunderland - Pennywell, Hylton Red House and Castle View.
• In 2006, the responsibility for delivering new Academy schools was transferred from the DCSF to Partnerships for Schools (PfS), and in doing so, was integrated into the wider Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. As with BSF, policy ownership remains with the DCSF, who also continue to be responsible for sponsor relations in the Academies programme.
• 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 England’s state secondary schools estate during the 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. PfS is a 100-strong organisation, with specialist expertise including educationalists, designers, ICT specialists, commercial managers and project management.
