Procurement for new batch of 102 schools will not be done exclusively through contractor framework, says government

School Playground

Construction work on the next batch of 102 free schools will not solely be procured through existing contractor frameworks, the Department for Education has said.

Last week, education secretary Michael Gove announced that 102 free schools had been approved to open in 2013 and beyond - a 50% increase on the number of schools approved last year.

To date, construction work on the first wave of free schools has largely been procured through the Department of Education’s (DfE) existing academies framework, meaning the work has gone mainly to contractors with a place on that framework.

However, a DfE spokesperson said this week that the new batch of schools would not be procured exclusively through this framework.

She said: “There are a number of procurement options that free schools can consider.

“We will work with each proposer group to come to an agreement about which is the best procurement route for them based on their particular circumstances”.

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