BSF deal to include schools and health

A groundbreaking £677m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme has been launched this week by South Tyneside and Gateshead (STaG) councils which sees not only schools but also primary healthcare centres, community centres, libraries, offices and leisure centres included in the package.

The deal includes the provision of up to £462m of educational facilities, a sample health scheme worth £12m which could then lead to a further £100m of health work, and £103m of community, library and leisure facilities.

The STaG BSF deal will see a private sector partner team up for up to 15 years with both councils and with the South Tyneside and Gateshead Primary Care Trusts. Expressions of interest must be in by 23 August with invitations to tender going out in September.

STaG officials say there has been a "significant amount" of interest in the scheme, not only from the private sector, but also from the Department for Education and Skills, and Partnerships UK with a view to replicating the model in other areas.

STaG is confident the deal will not go the same way as the Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark BSF pathfinder scheme which split three ways shortly after its launch.

STaG BSF project solicitor Pram Nayak said: "The politics are very different here and we have a long history of working well together with each other and with the PCTs."

He also dismissed private sector concerns about working with a multi-headed public sector
client. He explained that the model had received positive feed-
back from the private sector at two soft market testing days.

"The private sector will be dealing with one entity. Any issues between the agencies we will sort out separately but the private sector will have only one point of contact.

"We have set up joint committees to facilitate joint decision-making and we have joined up the project teams," he added.

Nayak said the model would provide a better flow of work with the private sector partner, with contractors able to balance any hiatus in schools building with work on the leisure and health schemes.