Posted: Monday, November 30, 2009, 9:54AM
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TAGS
"Governance"
Procurement review for £45bn UK schools building programme
The UK government-backed organisation Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is reviewing its procurement processes as it seeks to cut costs across its £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme.The Architects' Journal reported that, in a surprise move, PfS' chief executive Tim Byles has revealed that the review would extend the Royal Institute of British Architects' proposed Smart PFI model, which Whitehall had previously described as 'illegal'.
"Under the RIBA proposals, which were first mooted three years ago, local authorities would start the process by appointing a design team from a pre-selected framework to develop exemplar designs for the sample scheme in their BSF bid process. This would mean less duplication of effort from the rival bidding teams," according to the Architects' Journal.
Byles told the journal: "[We] have established that there is no legal impediment to the final [Smart PFI] proposals produced by the RIBA.
"There remain 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.
"While not insignificant, these issues need not be insurmountable, and working with RIBA I look forward to exploring this approach as a live option going forward.'
Byles added that the review would attempt to revamp existing school buildings: "We are looking to ensure that revised proposals for procurement for BSF will be useful in reuse of existing buildings that are not currently being used for education as well as refurbishing schools and new build solutions."
The announcement marks the second review of the schools procurement process in the last two years.
Procurement Tag - Governance
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