13 February 2004
Plans to revitalise England's secondary school estate took an important step forward this week as schools minister David Miliband unveiled the 14 local education authorities that will spearhead the government's 'Building Schools for the Future' (BSF) programme.
The authorities, including Leeds, Manchester and Waltham Forest, will share £2.2bn of capital investment under the first wave of BSF projects, which will begin in 2005/6.
The 14 winning bids are split into four pathfinder schemes, on which development work is already under way, and ten projects on which work will begin shortly. Two further projects have been placed on a list of 'reserves'.
The successful LEAs were selected from a total of 52 bids from authorities across England. Each of the winning LEAs is expected to receive between £80m and £140m for rebuilding and refurbishment work on their schools.
The BSF programme involves a new system for capital investment in which LEAs enter into joint ventures with a national procurement vehicle, called Partnerships for Schools, and a selected private sector company or consortium.
These joint ventures will be known as Local Education Partnerships and will invest in schools over a 30-year period.
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