School tenders out

by Glenda Thisdell



Three local authorities are lining up contractors for their private finance initiative education projects.

West Lothian Council has chosen Jarvis, the Focus Education consortium of Bovis Lend Lease and facilities management firm Chesterton, and the Alpha Schools consortium of Morrison and Edison Capital to bid for a £28m build and operate contract.

Formal approval for the 25-year scheme, which includes the refurbishment of six schools and the possibility of some new build, was given by the Scottish Executive in October 1998.

Invitations to negotiate are scheduled to go out at the end of the month. The three groups were selected after five firms, drawn from eight submissions in February, were invited for interview. The council hopes financial close can be reached by February 2001 and building work start in April 2001 with completion by October 2002. Four of the schools are 1960s buildings at the end of their life-span and the two remaining date principally from Victorian times.

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council is issuing documents to Jarvis, Tilbury Douglas, and Balfour Beatty which is working in conjunction with Roche Schroders. On offer is a £13m design, build and operate contract for three schools in Cheshire.

Documents must be returned by July. The council is looking to reach financial close on the 25-year contract by January 2001 with a view to building work starting in the first quarter of 2001. Two primary schools will be built within their existing sites in Hattersley and a high school will be built at a new location in Southern Hyde. Statutory approval in principle was gained in January this year.

The London Borough of Redbridge has issued invitations to Jarvis, the Norwich Union Public Private Partnership Fund with Kvaerner, and Rydon Construction and facilities management company Ryhurst Facilitation. The contract is for the design, build, finance and 25-year operation of a new secondary school in Ilford, Essex. Building costs are estimated at £12m. Firms must respond by June.

The Ilford school will ultimately hold up to 1,450 pupils but it is up to the firms bidding to work out the most financially beneficial time table for building, be it either delivering all classrooms in one go or in stages, said a spokeswoman for the council's education department. But the school must be ready for its first intake of 240 pupils in September 2001, she said. The council would like to see financial close in April 2001.

The contract includes teaching rooms, catering and dining facilities, administration offices, sports hall, grounds and sports pitches, car parking and landscaping.