Seeking a strategic partner

Skip Navigation

Seeking a strategic partner

Wednesday March 24, 2010

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is advertising for a strategic partner to help deliver its ambitious £207 million schools capital investment programme.

“Approval of our business case means we are one step closer to realising our increasingly ambitious vision for our Schools of Choice being delivered through our Building Schools for the Future programme,” says programme director, Andy Rennison.

Following government approval for its outline business case on Wednesday 17 March 2010, the council has the go-ahead to invite potential commercial partners to bid to work on the Building Schools for the Future programme.

The council will be setting up a long-term local education partnership (LEP), jointly owned by the council and the successful developer. This body will be responsible for all the procurement and delivery aspects of the programme.  The Council are keen to develop the opportunities of this partnership to be broader than just schools and the potential long term relationship could include much broader partnering with the Council as it develops its services.

In line with working in partnership and creating further benefits and savings for all, H&F is also exploring developing partnership arrangements with Sutton Council for the delivery of Building Schools for the Future.

Of the £207 million H&F schools improvements programme, £190m will be funded by the Government and £17m by the council. It involves all 13 secondary and special schools in the borough and is designed to:

  • rebuild or redevelop each of the 13 schools’ sites
  • provide more places at popular schools,
  • add sixth forms to every secondary school
  • re-build special schools, including the ground-breaking Queensmill School for autistic children which  is being expanded to cater for secondary, as well as primary, pupils.

Explaining the benefits further, Andy Rennison adds; “Setting up a strategic Local Education Partnership will enable us to deliver not only ours and potentially Sutton’s secondary schools’ capital investment, but equally exciting is the potential for this vehicle to develop into our partner for broader council opportunities, including regeneration. This programme is not solely about school buildings, but about regeneration for our residents in its broadest sense.”

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, the organisation responsible for delivery of the Building Schools for the Future programme nationwide, said: “This is great news for young people, teachers and the wider community in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham as gaining approval of their Outline Business Case is a major milestone for Hammersmith and Fulham’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

“At its heart, BSF is about transforming education and improving the life chances of young people and I look forward to charting their progress as they deliver 21st century schools throughout the borough.”

A notice will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on Wednesday 24 March 2010. This invites potential partners from across the EU to tender for the contract. The pre-qualifying questionnaire and supporting documentation will be available online at www.lbhf.gov.uk/bsf.