Academies framework to expand to £4bn worth of contracts

The academies framework is to be doubled in size to £4bn worth of contracts, it has been announced.

The expansion will open the deal, which currently includes six contractors, to up to 10 firms, in a boost for contractors seeking to turn to the public sector market in the face of the current downturn.

The tender process for the framework will begin early next year, with firms expected to be in place and bidding for work from October 2009.

The current framework, which includes Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Skanska and Willmott Dixon, will expire in 2010.

Tim Byles said: “We are already seeing the value of the framework approach – both in terms of providing best value for money to the public purse and securing educational transformation for communities.”

“Re-procuring the National Framework will ensure that these twin objectives,  as we are now seeing in the BSF programme, continue to be translated into the new Academy schools being built.”