DfE readies firms for ‘new deal’ schools building push

The Department for Education is calling up contractors for a major market engagement event ahead of renewing its huge school building framework.

Chiefs at DfE are gearing up for a major school building push promised by Boris Johnson as part of his Covid-19 infrastructure recovery programme.

Over £1bn will be released shortly to fund the first 50 projects of an ambitious, 10-year school rebuilding programme, starting from 2020-21.

These first projects will be confirmed in the Autumn, and construction on the first sites will begin from September 2021.

Now more than 30 contractors on the existing £8bn schools framework face a fight for places ahead of the new panel of preferred contractors being selected for next year.

Under the existing arrangement, works were divided across 22 lots by region and project value.

How the next framework will be organised is still to be determined, but is unlikely to be as complex as the challenge is on to find economies of scale.

DfE is attempting to shift delivery to modern methods of construction and earlier this year unveiled its offsite construction partners to deliver around 30 schools a year with an estimated pipeline of up to £3bn over the next four years.

The new market engagement event will gather feedback from contractors and supply chains, to inform the design of the new framework, the level of interest from the market and best procurement strategy.