Partnership for Schools to review procurement methods in efficiency drive

Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is to focus on four main areas of inquiry as part of a second procurement review intended to cut the timescales and costs of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

This latest review will build on a previous exercise which, PfS claimed, reduced procurement timescales by two months and slashed costs by £250m.

The four areas of inquiry are:

• A centralised pre-qualification questionnaire, which would negate the need for bidders to go through the PQQ process every time they bid;
• Sampling design in a different way, although it remains a legal requirement to test both bidder and the bid;
• ICT procurement, which will be a fresh attempt to see “if this can be done in another way”; and
• Improved timetabling, ensuring that BSF and key local authority committees are synchronised to help speed up decision-making.

PfS chief executive Tim Byles said: “As I made clear at the time, the previous review resulted in significant time and cost savings, but we would keep our eyes resolutely fixed on streamlining processes further, cutting red tape and ensuring that every education pound is being well spent.

“The four pillars will help us make significant inroads towards the ultimate goal of a 52-week procurement.”

So far, 85 local authorities are engaged in the BSF programme, with 26 Local Education Partnerships formed to deliver projects.