A second review in less than a year is to be conducted into the procurement process of the £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The review, to be carried out by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, will focus on design and whether Local Education Partnerships, the public–private joint ventures that run the construction and operation of the schools, could be used to encourage wider regeneration schemes. It will also look at the use of ICT in the procurement process.

Architects, ICT specialists, construction companies and procurement experts will meet with Partnerships for Schools (PfS), the quango that runs BSF, to see how the process can be improved.

The review will start in October, and is expected to be finished by the end of December.

It follows a more general review of the effectiveness of the BSF initiative commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills last October.

Tim Byles, PfS chief executive, said: “This targeted procurement review enables us to reflect on what we have learned to date and to listen to the views of others in the BSF community.”

Ian Scaife, Gleeds partner and education specialist, welcomed the review: “I think it’s right to improve it and there’s areas where it can be improved.”