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• 2006
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• December
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• Construction partner selected for Learning Centres

Knowsley Council intends to appoint Transform Schools – a consortium led by Balfour Beatty - to construct the seven new Learning Centres under its £150m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The decision follows detailed assessment of the proposals submitted by the Council’s three short-listed bidders and represents a significant milestone in the Council’s proposals to create 21st Century learning environments across Knowsley.

During the evaluation process the bidders attended several sessions with focus groups made up of pupils, staff, governors, residents and other interested parties.

Group members then evaluated each bidder’s proposals using a new method called Design Quality Indicators (DQI) for Schools. The scores they gave counted significantly towards the final mark for each submission. Technical, legal, financial, strategic and ICT issues were also examined by specialist evaluation teams.

Transform Schools will now work with Knowsley Council and Partnerships for Schools to develop the plans for the seven Learning Centres that will replace all of the borough’s existing secondary schools.
It is expected that work on site will begin in summer 2007.

Councillor Ron Round, Leader of Knowsley Council: “This is a very exciting stage in the Building Schools for the Future programme. We are a step closer to making our dreams to transform education in the borough a reality.

No other local authority in the BSF programme has such ambitious plans as

Knowsley to replace all of its existing buildings. This shows our vision and commitment to improving the opportunities for all our residents. We now look forward to working with Transform and unveiling our exciting plans early in the new year.”

Ian Tyler, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive said:

“We are delighted to have been chosen by Knowsley Council to be their partner in this exciting project which will transform education provision in the area. We bring the experience gained not only from our work on five major schools PFI schemes but also lessons learned from project based learning schemes in the UK, US, Australia and Asia.”

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, the company delivering BSF on behalf of the Government said “Knowsley’s plans for rebuilding their entire school estate through BSF are ambitious and exciting. We are delighted that they have selected a preferred bidder to take forward these plans and build the Learning Centres, and look forward to working with them to deliver their vision.”

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