黑洞社区

黑洞社区 Schools for the Future, the government鈥檚 拢45bn programme to rebuild or upgrade all of England鈥檚 3,500 secondary schools by 2019, didn鈥檛 exactly get off to the best start. Even Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnerships for Schools, the government agency set up to deliver BSF, admits that the programme has struggled with delivery and design issues. And the media hasn鈥檛 been too kind either 鈥� barely a week goes by without BSF featuring in a none-too-complimentary news story in the construction press.

But as a new school year gets under way, a further 22 BSF schools have been opened, taking the total to 35. This is still far behind the original goal of 100 by the end of 2007, but with 80 of 150 local authorities now involved in the programme, the momentum seems to be gathering. And this could prove to be good news for contractors as commercial work starts to dry up and the word 鈥榬ecession鈥� starts to appear in more economic forecasts.

BSF projects tend to be procured through the creation of a local education partnership, or LEP, which is similar to the special purpose vehicle (SPV) used in PFI projects. Once established, the LEP takes on the construction or refurbishment of a number of schools in the local authority area. The problem so far has been that the complex nature of the procurement process, combined with its relative immaturity, has put off all but the larger, more confident firms.

鈥榃e have a tendency to go into environments that are quite challenging, so being a pathfinder was where we could add value to the process,鈥� says Darren Gill, director of SPV management and LEPs at Bouygues, which went into BSF at right at the beginning, dubbed wave 1. 鈥業t鈥檚 no different to where PFI was 10 years ago.鈥�

There are signs that the situation may change, however, as the BSF and academies programmes are further merged. Academies are procured through the national academies framework, which consists of six contractors, but PfS is about to start procuring a new, and probably larger, framework. 鈥楢cademies are quicker because they follow a defined bidding route with faster timescales,鈥� says Nick Gibb, preconstruction director at Willmott Dixon, which is on the current framework and has worked on a number of academy and BSF projects.

The thinking is that a number of smaller BSF schemes will be procured through the academies framework, their size making the establishment of a LEP unnecessary. PfS鈥檚 Byles says this will provide an opportunity for smaller bidders to participate in the process and points out that Middlesbrough and Sunderland have gone down this route for their BSF projects. Gibb, meanwhile, thinks that smaller players have plenty of room to establish themselves in the schools arena.

鈥楾he quality of delivery, having a local team and local relationships are very important, not size,鈥� he says.

The government has also been busy reviewing the whole BSF process to make it more bidder-friendly. It has conducted a pre-procurement review, to increase local authorities鈥� readiness for the programme, and a procurement review, the results of which are set to shave up to 30% on bid costs through measures including more comprehensive prequalification and reducing the competition to two bidders at 29 weeks (instead of 44). It is now conducting a review of the operational LEPs, which Bouygues鈥� Gill has contributed to and believes will result in a more efficient and workable process.

If he is right, bidders for future BSF projects will no longer be working in the dark and this alone will be reassuring for some, although Gibb warns that there is no single simple solution to any schools project. 鈥楨very school and community are unique, so your design and engagement have to fit this,鈥� he says. 鈥業t鈥檚 important that you don鈥檛 take a one-size-fits-all approach to all new projects.鈥� This is particularly true given the fact that BSF projects are likely to be increasingly tied to wider regeneration projects and work on BSF could lead to work on a wide range of other community facilities, such as leisure and healthcare centres.

Added to that, the government鈥檚 拢9bn Primary Capital Programme, which will focus on 800 of England鈥檚 primary schools and is due to get under way next year, could well be tied in to authorities鈥� BSF or academies work. This all means that, whatever the next news story, you may no longer be able to afford to miss out on your school work.

LEP in action

One of the key procurement innovations of BSF is the local education partnership, or LEP, a public-private partnership that is set up by local authorities that have a large number of BSF projects to deliver over a number of years. Waltham Forest is one local authority that has gone down the LEP route and has its first new-build BSF school 鈥� Frederick Bremner 鈥� opening this month.

We have to provide an educational platform that serves the whole country

CM spoke to three of the key LEP partners to find out how the new model is working 鈥� and what they have learned

The client

Roger Taylor, chief executive, Waltham Forest Council

鈥榃e鈥檙e a wave 1 and wave 5 authority. We put ourselves forward for wave 1 because we鈥檇 had very successful primary school PFI projects beforehand so we鈥檇 built up quite a good track record 鈥� and we had a very old set of schools. There are three schools in wave 1 鈥� two refurbs and one new build.

鈥榃e didn鈥檛 follow the path most local authorities do in that we relied much more heavily on our own internal resources, which had been built up by doing previous PFI projects. These are never easy deals and BSF is even more complex than PFI because you鈥檙e looking to fix the framework within which you can commission a vast range of later projects. Wave 1, which included closing the deal for the whole BSF project and the local education partnership, probably took us around about two years.

鈥榃e have recently got approval from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Partnerships for Schools for the rest of the programme, which is about 拢270-拢280m. There are about 12 schools in wave 5, some new provision, some remodelling. Our objective, with one single exception, is to get them all completed by 2012. That鈥檚 not only going to put huge pressure on the council, it鈥檚 also going to put some significant pressure on Bouygues because it鈥檚 an awful lot of construction activity in a short period of time.

鈥業f we wanted to have a consistent steady flow of projects, forming a LEP was the easiest way of doing it. It does reduce the transaction costs. We鈥檙e just starting to work our way into the LEP and now we鈥檝e come to terms with understanding the responsibilities between the council as client and the LEP as provider, it鈥檚 starting to work really well.

鈥榃e鈥檙e also starting to think about what else we can procure from Bouygues through the local education partnership in relation to other facilities on site. For example, we鈥檙e about to start a major programme for the re-provision of our leisure centres and we鈥檙e thinking about what community facilities we can put on the school sites using Bouygues as our construction partner. It makes perfect sense having been through this enormously expensive procurement process not to have to do any more than we have to again, but EU rules need to be observed so there are limits beyond which we can鈥檛 go.鈥�

The contractor

John Baker, Waltham Forest LEP general manager, Bouygues

鈥楥hallenging is the word that comes to mind for this project. But I think we鈥檝e worked quite well with Waltham Forest Council to resolve any issues 鈥� by regular meetings and holding various workshops to try to build relationships. It鈥檚 all about getting people to work together and understand there is one key objective, and that is to get the projects finished for the benefit of the children. Like anything that鈥檚 new it takes a while for it to bed in, for people to get used to it, accept it and work with it, but every day gets better.

鈥楾he intention is to get the teachers and children involved in the project early. Unfortunately, because BSF is new, it鈥檚 very difficult to get people to understand the need for their involvement. It鈥檚 going to have to improve in the future so our intention is to hold various workshops to make sure we do capture their interests and can understand their expectations early enough. So the embracing of this partnership approach by everybody has been a key problem.

I鈥檝e worked in every sector and schools is probably the most complicated I鈥檝e ever worked in

鈥楾he other thing that people tend to underestimate quite a bit, including the supply chain themselves, is the detail and the extent of the ICT. Everyone says it鈥檚 complex in schools and lots of people have dealt with it in office buildings or possibly hospitals, but they only scratch the surface by comparison.

鈥業t鈥檚 complicated because you have to provide an educational platform that serves the whole country, so there鈥檚 some kind of standard, and then everything has to link in to that and so when any child on any desk opens their computer 鈥� whether in Birmingham, Southend or Cornwall 鈥� they see the same sort of images and recognise the same sort of displays on the screen. Then there are so many different types of software and so many different types of controls to be implemented 鈥� such as cashless catering, electronic registration.

鈥業t鈥檚 the first time we鈥檝e worked with [ICT provider] Ramesys. It鈥檚 been enlightening and has also presented challenges for them I expect. They鈥檝e been very helpful and supportive in the partnering role and it鈥檚 a relationship we鈥檝e tried to develop and would like to continue with. Again, there鈥檚 this expectation from the stakeholder which we need to engage with earlier, which creates problems. We have learned a lot.鈥�

The ICT provider

Mark Hoyland, chief operating officer, Ramesys

鈥榃altham Forest was our first joint construction-ICT bid: the relationship with Bouygues was fairly new and it was the first time we鈥檇 been involved in a LEP. It鈥檚 been quite challenging. The LEP鈥檚 responsibility is to be executive sponsor and really ensure that the programme delivers.

鈥楾he LEP is also quite a good room for arbitration because there are always going to be pinch points 鈥� construction programmes are notoriously difficult to predict in terms of delivery and from an ICT contractor perspective it constrains us. The opening tends to coincide with term time and the problem is that if there are construction delays our window for implementation is squeezed in.

鈥榃e鈥檙e delivering our fourth school in Manchester and it鈥檚 become a well-oiled machine, it鈥檚 become a repeat business for us so we鈥檝e learned what works well and what doesn鈥檛, both physically with the implementation and with the relationship, so with each school it gets better and better. The same will be the case with Waltham Forest. I think everyone in the local education authority underestimated the amount of effort required on the authority and schools side. It was almost like, 鈥渨e鈥檙e subcontracting this so somebody should come along and do it鈥�, but the key outcomes are about improvements in teaching and learning so someone from a teaching perspective has to drive some of the debate and talk about where they want to go. That鈥檚 been quite a challenge in all the authorities.

鈥業n the first school we weren鈥檛 involved in the design and there have been problems as a result of that, so now we are. Now we鈥檝e got ourselves plugged in to the design phases and we鈥檝e developed some fairly standard design specification information that says this is the minimum spec of desk that will make life easier for the construction side of things.

鈥業t鈥檚 not just the desktops and laptops the children use, it鈥檚 the wireless infrastructure, the telephony, it鈥檚 the access control, the follow-me printing, the cashless catering. The whole point is that it all integrates so teachers and parents can have a look at where the children were, what they were eating a lunchtime and what homework they鈥檙e set. I鈥檝e been in IT for 25 years and worked in every sector and it鈥檚 probably the most complicated sector I鈥檝e ever worked in.

鈥榃altham Forest wants to engage us in the Primary Capital Programme as well. With it being a capital fund it鈥檚 outside BSF and they have a finite amount of money. They are recognising that they can leverage services off what is already implemented so that money can go a lot further. Nearly every authority we鈥檙e talking to at the moment wants us to develop a plan to wrap primary into the secondary estate from an infrastructure perspective. It makes a whole lot of sense. You get the efficiencies and when children transfer from primary schools it鈥檚 seamless.鈥� cm