Academies: Capital investment, including Capital Maintenance

Background

Academies are publicly-funded, independently-managed schools that aim to provide first-class free education to local pupils of all abilities. Other freedoms include setting their own pay and conditions for staff, freedom from following the National Curriculum, and the ability to change the lengths of their terms and school days.

Until the 2010 election, Academies were created from failing schools, or those either in special measure or deprived areas. All Academies benefitted from a sponsor, whose skills and advice brought a distinctive, and often hugely successful, approach to the school's leadership. Sponsors came from a wide range of backgrounds - business, faith and voluntary groups and educational establishments - and provided headteachers and staff with new opportunities to develop educational strategies to raise standards and contribute to diversity in areas of disadvantage. In most cases, Academies were opened in new state-of-the-art buildings, or were given new buildings soon after converting at Academy status.

In May 2010, the new Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, proposed new legislation that would allow any school rated 'Outstanding' by Ofsted to apply to become an Academy. Under this legislation, the Academies programme is also open to primary and special schools. Unlike the original Academies, no external sponsors are required, although schools applying for conversion to Academy status are expected to sign up in principle to support another school to raise attainment.

Schools converting to Academy status under the new legislation remain in their current school buildings.
While Devolved Formula Capital grant is paid to Academies by the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), we administer the new application based Capital Maintenance Programme for Academies.

Academies Capital Maintenance

The Academies Capital Maintenance programme allows open academies to apply for capital funds for specific projects in the 2011-12 financial year.

The main purpose of the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund 2011-12 is to support Academies with significant and urgent building condition and/or health and safety needs which cannot be met from routine maintenance or Devolved Capital Funding. The Fund is to address such needs where there has not been any recent new building or refurbishment works at the Academy or where no such future works have been agreed. Funding for other urgent capital works may also be considered.

The Fund, which currently totals £85 million, is part of the overall capital maintenance allocation announced last December. Most of the £85 million fund is to be allocated following our assessment of applications sought from academies opened before 2 May 2011.

The closing date for applications of funding for up to three priority projects per academy was Friday 27 May.

Academies investment through the National Framework

New Academy buildings were delivered in two ways. One-off procurements, where Academies (either singly or in groups) were in need of new buildings outside the timetable of the local BSF programme, buildings were procured through our Design and Build framework, now the Contractors' framework.

Documents and guidance for procurement through the Contractors' framework can be found in our Library.

Academy buildings in areas where a BSF project was ongoing, with an operational Local Education Partnership (LEP), or equivalent approved procurement vehicle established, were dovetailed into BSF and delivered by the LEP. With the discontinuation of the BSF programme, those Academy buildings in projects past financial close will continue to be delivered by LEPs.

The standard BSF documents are used for the procurement of Academies through the LEP.

We provide funds for these major projects, procured through the BSF LEP or the Framework, via the relevant local authorities. Over 150 schools have either received, or are due to receive, major investment procured through the National Framework.