A promising future for schools

By Tim Byles, chief executive, Partnerships for Schools.

Next year promises to be an exciting one for education – and for Partnerships for Schools – as it sees us develop in our recently-acquired role overseeing the management and delivery of the full suite of capital investment programmes into schools, helping ensure that taxpayers get the best value from every education pound spent.

Building Schools for the Future, the Academies and the Primary Capital Programmes are about more than just buildings – they’re about people and creating environments which inspire all who work in them or use them for education, health or leisure to reach their full potential. It is something which was brought into sharper focus at the 2009 Excellence in BSF Awards which highlighted the range of projects, and people, nationwide involved creating safe, welcoming and inspirational schools of the future.

Our Grand Prix winner – and also winner of School of the Year – Beaumont Leys in Leicester is situated in one of the most deprived areas of Leicester. Since moving into the new building in April 2009, school leaders have seen the pupils flourish, and a growing sense of pride and ownership in the local community.

Such positive feedback is coming to us on a regular basis from schools and local authorities across England – and with more than 110,000 secondary-age pupils already benefitting from BSF investment alone, as well as those in the 27 new primaries nationwide which opened for the current school year.

PfS is responsible for the delivery of around £8bn investment into education until 2011– through Building Schools for the Future; the Academies programme; the Primary Capital Programme; the Devolved and Targeted Capital Programmes; and the Co-Location Fund. As such, we are in a unique position to engage in a strategic dialogue with local government and the private sector about how to ensure we get best value from every single education pound, maximising the benefit to every young person.

So what does this change mean in practice for PfS and for our interaction with the wide range of stakeholders we deal with in the delivery of all these programmes? Whilst policy decisions rightly remain the province of ministers, it means that the ambition of joined up delivery can become much easier to achieve. As a former council chief executive, I have long championed it in local government and have continued to make the case centrally. I strongly believe that joined up delivery makes sense for central government, local government and the private sector providing a balance between central and local and between rigorous national standards and the uniqueness of place and locality. Critically, it also makes sense in terms of efficiency and value for money. This approach – having ‘one conversation’ about all schools capital matters – will be taking place in earnest in 2010.

For local government having one conversation on capital will mean a more strategic discussion with central government about the particular challenges that exist locally and how capital investment can be used in the round to tackle those challenges. And in a very practical sense, one conversation means just that – not dealing with a range of different organisations about capital, but having that strategic discussion with one organisation, who then works with the authority to bring about positive change on the ground that reflects the needs and aspirations of local people.

For the private sector, bringing the delivery of these programmes all under one roof will again mean only needing to have one conversation with one organisation about what they can bring to the table. It also brings with it the knowledge that rather than operating as individual autonomous programmes, ‘one conversation’ is supported by technical specialists in the fields of procurement, contract management, ICT and design experts.

The range of programmes we now manage is testament to the fact that we need to look at education – and young people’s futures – in the round, and that as such there is no one-size-fits all solution to an area’s needs. As such, PfS is ensuring that the right vehicle – the Local Education
Partnership (LEP) or frameworks – and expert advice and support are there to keep projects on track.

The coming months will see us build upon the work carried out in 2008 to reduce both timescales and costs in the BSF programme. The first procurement review is already helping to reduce procurement timescales by up to two months and reducing costs across the programme by £250 million, with the new inquiry focusing on four main areas to streamline processes further, reduce red tape and ensure that every education pound is well spent.

Announced at the PfS Design Conference at the British Museum in November, the new procurement review is designed to make further inroads towards the ultimate goal of a 52-week procurement.

By exploring possible steps such as a centralised Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) process, the use of exemplar sample designs, and looking again at where ICT procurement fits in the process could all hold the key to improved timeliness and cost effectiveness, ensuring pupils, teachers, parents and local communities benefit from new learning environments earlier than previously possible.

The four areas of inquiry are:

1. A centralised PQQ process: this would negate the need for bidders to go through the PQQ process each time they bid for a scheme which takes around 10 weeks off the 75-week procurement timeframe.

2. Sampling design in a different way: it is a legal requirement to test both the bidder and the bid, and so sampling designs will remain a key feature of the BSF procurement process. Options to be explored include the use of exemplar samples or reducing the number of sample designs required to one PFI school, with a schedule of rates for the Design & Build scheme.

3. ICT procurement: looking again at whether this can be done in a different way, including early funding for ICT in schools that are in later phases of BSF, and in what circumstances separate
ICT may be permissible.

4. Improved timetabling: ensuring that BSF and key local authority committee meetings are synchronised to help speed up decision making.

Building on the useful work that has been done on proposals for “Smart PFI” over the past three years, we have established that there is now no legal impediment to the final proposals produced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

There remain, however, a number of issues to resolve in terms of deliverability, for example ensuring continuous improvement; integration; how to test partnership working; and securing genuine risk transfer.

Whilst not insignificant, these issues need not be insurmountable, and working with the RIBA I look forward to exploring this approach as a live option going forward.

Also on the design front, PfS, the RIBA and CABE have together agreed to establish a new list of Client Design Advisers that are accredited to work on BSF projects. The list will be formally launched and open for applicants in the New Year, with advisers receiving regular updates, training and networking opportunities so that they can give the best advice at all times.

With the news in November that another 12 projects have been given the green light for BSF, we now have 96 local authorities in England actively engaged in the programme somewhere between consultation, design and construction, through to fully operational schools. And as such we can now see the difference that new and refurbished schools are having for pupils, teachers and local communities.

The ‘one conversation’ approach enshrined in our new role means that PfS can genuinely be called Partnerships for Schools – as opposed to ‘Partnerships for BSF’ or ‘Partnerships for Academies’ – reflecting the ongoing investment in the education and the futures of all young people.