2007/08 was a year of major progress for Partnerships for Schools (PfS), with the end of the financial year seeing us hit all our delivery targets for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) as the programme to rebuild or remodel state secondary schools across England has gathered pace. At the time of writing, a total of 20 BSF deals have now been signed in local authorities with the private sector, worth over £2.5 billion. 13 BSF schools are now open nationwide from Newcastle in the north to Bristol in the south and 72 local authorities together with over 1,000 schools are now engaged in BSF. By the end of 2008/09, a further 35 BSF schools will have opened and this will increase to around 200 every year from 2011 onwards. It is clear from this progress that BSF is already beginning to transform the face of education for thousands of young people, their teachers and the communities they live in.
With the programme now accelerating, we have also been keen to refine the BSF process itself. Recent improvements to the pre-procurement phase of BSF have reduced timetables for delivery by 6 months, and further changes to the procurement phase of BSF to be implemented this autumn will shave off a further 2 months, meaning that young people will benefit from their new learning environments much earlier than was previously possible. The new procurement process will also deliver significant savings of up to 30% for the bidding community - equivalent to around £250m across the programme.
In addition, the DCSF has launched a public consultation looking at the order in which those local authorities not yet in the programme will start their BSF projects. The consultation seeks views on moving away from a wave-based approach to BSF with set start dates for groups of local authorities, to a model in which local authorities join the programme when they are able to demonstrate they are ready to do so.
Against this backdrop, Partnerships for Schools will be hosting its Annual Conference at this timely juncture to provide schools, local authorities and private sector partners with an opportunity to be updated on the progress of the BSF programme to date, hear practical case studies focusing on real projects in the pre-procurement, procurement and operational phases, and pose questions to the experts.
We are delighted that our Chair for the day is the broadcaster and journalist, John Humphrys.
As demand for places is expected to be high, you may wish to reserve a place by faxing the registration form to City & Financial Conferences on +44 (0) 1483 757824.
Tim Byles CBE
Chief Executive, Partnerships for Schools
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