SMEs set for PFI schools

Exclusive by Laura Hailstone

Small- and medium-sized (SME) contractors could get a larger slice of PFI schools projects if a proposal from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) gets off the ground.

The DfES plan would see local education authorities forming jvs with local authorities, with a private sector company as an equity partner. They could then procure a series of PFIs.

Jim Lockie, head of the schools private finance team at the DfES, said: "PFI tends to push out all the SMEs. This could be a way of getting them involved in more schemes.

"A large contractor could become an equity partner and manage the whole project and could then recruit smaller contractors to actually build the school, therefore allowing SMEs to come into the PFI market.

"It might also be possible for a cash rich SME to be the equity partner and, with the right skills, manage the whole thing like a project management firm."

Lockie continued: "It would also be a way of getting over the problem of having to go out to procure every time we get more funding.

"We are still a little way from setting out anything as we are developing our thoughts, so it is a workable solution which will bring down PFI procurement costs for all parties."