Useful Links and Further Information
School Kitchen FundingThe following section gives a useful guide to those organisations or departments who are involved in the refurbishment or rebuilding of schools, funding initiatives or the provision of healthier meals in the education sector.
BSF is a £45bn, 15-year investment programme, which will ultimately provide the refurbishment or rebuild of every state primary school in England and Wales.
Learn MorePartnerships for schools is the organisation set up to deliver both the Building Schools for the Future and the Academies programme. One of the main roles for Partnerships for Schools is to ensure investment in secondary schools is based on robust strategies, that BSF schools and Academies are designed well and are properly maintained over their lifetime.
Learn MoreBSFI is a limited liability partnership including members from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Partnerships UK. BSFI is a sister organisation to Partnerships for Schools and the central investor in the BSF programme.
Learn MoreThe Government’s appointed advisor on architecture, urban design and planning space. CABE receives funding from the DCSF to provide free support to all local authorities involved in the BSF programme. A CABE enabler is assigned to each local authority undertaking a BSF programme and provides support up until a preferred bidder has been chosen for each scheme. This includes advice on design, appointment of a project team, achieving value for money though design and developing briefs.
Through the School Designs Panel CABE reviews proposals from local authorities and bidders to assess the design quality, strengths and weaknesses of each scheme. Assessment reports issued by CABE aid local authorities when evaluating design proposals during the competitive bidding process.
Learn MoreOther School Building Funding Programmes
The Primary Capital Programme aims to rebuild or refurbish half of the primary schools in England and Wales by the end of 2023. Initially, this will consist of around £1.9bn of funding between 2008 and 2011, and £500m per year after that.
Funding for the PCP is set out as follows:
2008-09: £150 million shared equally among 23 pathfinders
2009-10: £650 million shared by formula between all local authorities
2010-11: £1100 million shared by formula between all local authorities
2011-12: £500 million a year, subject to public-spending decisions
To access PCP funding, local authorities have submitted a Primary Strategy to Change for DCSF approval. Current levels of funding, allocated to local authorities based on this can be viewed here
Learn MoreThe academies programme is set out to deliver 200 publicly funded, independently managed schools, to provide first-class free education to pupils of all abilities. Like BSF, Partnerships for Schools are responsible for the delivery of the programme.
Learn MoreThe Learning Skills Council are providing funding for the redevelopment of further education facilities in England. Building Colleges for the Future will provide funding through the Learning Skills Council (LSC) for the redevelopment of Higher Education establishments in England. The programme will see around £2.3bn of capital investment in a three-year period ending 2010-2011. Remaining funding for the programme is as follows:
2009–10: £819m
2010–11: £1,084m
Information on applying for a capital grant can be found here
Learn MoreThe School Lunch Grant provides £80m per year until 2011 and is aimed at increasing the take up of school meals by keeping down the costs of providing lunch. The grant requires schools to use the funding to help meet the direct costs of a school lunch provision and can be allocated in four ways:
Pay for ingredients for school lunch;
Pay labour costs of catering staff;
Buy small pieces of kitchen equipment, for example, microwaves, ovens, combi-ovens, mixers etc;
Pay for the nutrient analysis software required to assess whether a menu meets the nutrient based school lunch standards and the expertise to operate the software.
Each local authority will receive a share of the £80 million available for each of the three years 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011 on the basis of 70% pupil numbers and 30% FSM numbers. Funding will be allocated via the Standards Fund and is a ring-fenced grant. Contact your LA for more information
Learn MoreFood / Catering Information
LACA is a professional body that represents around 1000 catering managers and suppliers who provide services to all sectors of local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland. LACA Provides consultation to the Government on catering related issues.
Learn MoreThe School Food Trust was established by the Department for Education and Skills in 2005 with the remit to transform school food and food skills, promote the education and health and children and young people and improve the quality of schools in food. The organisation has initiated a wide number of schemes aimed at the promotion of healthy eating and provides guidance and advice on the provision of school meals. The School Foods trust also publish the Annual School Meals Take Up Survey in England, every year, while their website provides a wide range of information regarding funding for both schools and local authorities.
Learn MoreGovernment food based standards came into effect in Primary Schools from September 2008 while changes to food based standards for school lunches were also introduced. A guide to the Nutrient Based Standards can be downloaded by clicking here, while information regarding food-based standards can be found by clicking here.
Learn MoreGovernment Departments, Organisations and Initiatives
The DCSF has been a driving force behind funding initiatives currently driving change in the education sector.
Learn MoreEvery Child Matters is a DCSF initiative and is the government’s aim for every child aged 0-19, to have the support they need, whatever their background.
Learn MoreTeachernet is website developed by the Department of Children and Families and provides information on a wide range of educational issues, including information on funding initiatives available to schools for redevelopment or the building of new facilities.
Learn MoreBuying Solutions enables users to maximise value for money in their procurement activities by leveraging public sector purchasing power in order to deliver significant cost savings.
The Buying Solutions framework agreements enable public sector organisations to procure the products and services they require through pre tendered arrangements, which are fully compliant with EU legislation and statutory regulations, while also ensures best practice for end users. In addition Buying Solutions aims to comply with all relevant government policies on sustainable development and sustainable procurement, and all relevant legislations and regulations.
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