The partnership path

The last 12 months has seen Partnerships for Schools (PfS) shift up a gear. Our achievements - meeting or exceeding all of our key delivery milestones, and seeing the first indicators of success starting to emerge in the early Building Schools for the Future projects - clearly show that we are learning and applying the lessons from what might be called our ‘start-up’ phase, but we are now maturing as an organisation and ready to meet the challenges ahead.

With maturity comes greater responsibility - and this is something which we can expect to see increase over the summer months and into the autumn. Following the Minister for Schools’ recent announcement regarding the likely extension of PfS’s role across other schools capital programmes, including the Primary Capital Programme, we are continuing to work with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to finalise the details of precisely which capital investment programmes will transfer to PfS.

The Children’s Plan: One Year On set out a commitment to create a more joined-up and consistent approach to delivering capital programmes across the DCSF. It should also make it easier to join up disparate funding streams and allow DCSF and PfS to have “one conversation” with local authorities about how we can improve outcomes for children and young people by maximising the capital investment available.

This integration of workstreams and funding is something which we have long championed through the Local Education Partnership (LEP) model, with its flexibilityto deliver projects outside the scope of BSF. With a number of primary schools already delivered through LEPs, and leisure facilities on the way, the signs are that this unique Public Private Partnership is to undergo further evolution, as PfS assumes responsibility for the management and delivery of projects through the £200m co-location fund. This commitment to support capital projects that enable the co-location of local services will surely assist in making the rhetoric about creating vibrant learning centres for use by the whole community for a diverse range of activities well-beyond the school day a reality in many more neighbourhoods.

While market conditions continue to be undoubtedly challenging, due to the proactive steps taken, BSF has come back faster and stronger than other sectors. Six deals have closed this year already, the most recent being a PFI deal in Southwark.

Before the turn of the year, no banks were lending into BSF; today there are 20 financial institutions willing to lend. This level of interest means that deals are continuing to close, feeding through to jobs on the ground in the construction sector, and – critically - schools opening the length and breadth of the country.

Support for PfS and the BSF programme remains high: education ministers and even April’s Budget statement have taken the opportunity to re-state the Government’s commitment to educational transformation through BSF capital investment.

Independent auditors the National Audit Office have also voiced confidence in PfS’s management of the BSF programme, describing the BSF legacy of schools as being built to a ‘higher specification’ and space standards than previous school renewal projects. And recognition has also come from peers with PfS named as the best Government/Government Agency team in the Public Private Finance Awards 2009.

In the month when the Government pledged that all new public and private development will be built to the highest design standards, BSF is already leading the way with the introduction of a new Minimum Design Standard for BSF.

The standard received an overwhelming positive reaction from the design and bidding communities when it was launched by the Minister for Schools, Sir John Sorrell of CABE, and myself at a new south London school rated for its excellent design.

While there are some award-winning, and truly inspiring, BSF schools amongst those open to date, the Minimum Design Standard means that we can be sure that the design is not only of high quality but meets the educational objectives of the school and local authority. Designs that fail to make the grade will go back to the drawing board. Put simply, PfS will not approve the Final Business Case for any project whose sample school designs fails to meet or exceed the Minimum Design Standard. The sanctions are potentially stronger than they have ever been, but hand-in-hand with this comes clearer goals and enhanced dialogue and feedback all combining to drive up standards.

And as we await news in the summer about the next local authorities to join the BSF, we can do so safe in the knowledge that they join a programme which has never been in better shape and is ready to meet the challenges ahead.