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Affordability Gap
The difference between total estimated cashflow requirements for building and managing the project and the total available funding for schools covered. The estimated cashflow requirements would include:
- Annual Unitary Payments on PFI projects
- Capital costs and annual operating and maintenance costs on conventional and ICT projects; and
- Operating and running expenses of the LEP
The total available funding would include:
- the annual value of the PFI credits contributed to the project by Government
- capital grants through Supported Borrowing towards conventional and ICT projects
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Bidder
A candidate, consortium, contractor, private sector partner, SPV or tenderer bidding for the project.
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BVPI
Best Value Performance Indicator
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Candidate(s)
The parties who formally respond to the OJEU Contract Notice and request to participate in the procurement exercise; normally this is conditional upon the return of a completed PQQ.
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CD (Competitive Dialogue) procedure
A formal procedure of dialogue between an authority and the bidders with the aim of developing a suitable technical or legal position against which all the bidders can submit a formal bid - expressly recognised as a new award procedure in the proposed new Consolidated Public Sector Directive (not yet in force). This will be a new procedure and sits alongside with negotiated, open and restricted procurement.
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Collaboration
The various ways in which councils and other public bodies come together to combine their buying power, to procure or commission goods, works or services jointly or to create shared services. Collaboration is a form of public/public partnership. Its major benefits are economies of scale, accelerated learning and making use of scarce resources. The Local Strategic Partnership is a forum that can be used to promote collaboration at the local level and be a means through which procurement can help to deliver the community plan.
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Commercial Close
At Commercial Close, both the Bidder and the Authority will have reached agreement on all the contractual documents, in addition to all relevant technical issues. All other matters affecting the Unitary Charge having been agreed, the only remaining issue is for the Bidder to fix the interest rate incurred on the bank debt taken out to finance the project. This is known as Financial Close.
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Competitive Negotiated Procedure
An EC award procedure which commences with OJEU advertisement; normally conducted for services under regulation 10(2)(b) or 10(2)(c) of SI 3228 1993.
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Contract
The Contract or Project Agreement between the parties for the provision of the contracted service
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Contract Notice
The formal OJEU notice which sets out the scope of the project and invites parties to express an interest and become candidates for selection.
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Conventional capital
Non PFI related capital grant or borrowing approval. See definitions for Supported Capital Expenditure (SCE).
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CPA (Comprehensive performance assessment)
the system for categorising the performance of English Local Authorities. Contract Award Notice The formal notice send to OJEU (formerly OJEC) to record that a contract which was procured under the EC regime has been awarded.
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DBFO (Design, Build, Finance & Operate)
A form of contract in which a consortium takes responsibility for the design, construction, financing and operation (including maintenance) of an asset for a period of years.
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DBOM (Design, Build, Operate & Maintain)
A form of contract in which a consortium takes responsibility for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of an asset for a period of years, but does not finance its creation.
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DCLG
Department for Communities and Local Government
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Descriptive Document
the Descriptive Document, Information Pack, or Information Memorandum issued to Bidders expressing an interest in the project in response to the OJEU Notice.
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Directive
An instruction to national governments from the EC, to create harmonising legislation on a specific subject area within a stated time period; a blue-print for new legislation.
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DSO
Direct Service Organisation (or Direct Labour Organisation)
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EV (Educational Vision)
The first major piece of work requiring to be done as a BSF authority. Included within the Strategic Business Case, illustrating how the local authority will achieve transformation of their secondary school estate in order to improve educational standards.
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Exemplar Designs
DfES has produced a "compendium" of exemplar designs for new secondary schools. These schemes are the result of a design competition held during 2003, which resulted in five teams being chosen to produce model schemes for different types of site. A sixth design is for an "all-through" school combining secondary and primary. (There are also five primary school exemplars, although these are not expected to be widely used for the BSF programme).
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FBC (Final Business Case)
The document submitted for approval to fund the project, which is required before Commercial and Financial Close of the contract.
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Financial Close
See definition of Commercial Close.
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FRS5
Financial Reporting Standard 5 - Reporting the Substance of Transactions
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GAEB
General Authority of Educational Buildings
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Heads of Terms
A legal document which summarises key contractual conditions but does not amount to a contract in its own right.
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Incremental Partnership
Incremental partnerships involve working with a strategic partner or partners to cover a range of core activities but without the requirements of a comprehensive all-inclusive commitment for the long-term. Instead, it allows the local authority to build up confidence with a supplier partner to work with them to develop a stage-by-stage approach to process re-engineering their activities.
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IRR
Internal Rate of Return
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ISDS
Invitation to Submit Detailed Solutions
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ISOP(S) (Invitation to Submit Outline Proposal(s)):
A formal request to submit technical solutions which may be of interest to the authority.
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ISOS
Invitation to Submit Outline Solutions
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ISRS
Invitation to Submit Refined Solutions
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ITN (Invitation to Negotiate)
The ITN document is issued to short-listed bidders, and provides the following:
- Instructions and guidance on the
- Details of the services required as stated in the Output Specification
- Proposed contractual terms governing the arrangement (inc. contract length and payment mechanism)
- Extent to which bidders are able to submit variant bids
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JVC (Joint Venture Company):
A legal entity commonly structured as a company limited by shares and used for the delivery of the partnership services or works.
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Key Stage Review
Part of the governance process. These reviews are designed to ensure examination and scrutiny of the project at critical stages of its life cycle to provide assurance that it can progress to the next stage, similar to a Gateway Review.
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LEP (Local Education Partnership)
The joint venture company for local delivery of the BSF programme, formed by a local authority, Partnerships for Schools (PfS) and a Private Sector Partner (PSP).
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Local Authority
Any City Council, County Council, Borough Council, Unitary Authority or County Borough Council
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LPI
Local Performance Indicator
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Method Statement
Any method statement or service delivery plan submitted by a Bidder detailing how an aspect of the service will be delivered
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NPV
Net Present Value
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OBC (Outline Business Case)
Business Case which sets out in detail the scope, costs, affordability, risks, procurement route and timetable of the project such that it can be approved by the Authority to the satisfaction of DfES and the Project Review Group, and for advancing to the procurement stages of the project. The OBC is written to a prescribed template provided by PfS.
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Output Specification
A detailed description of the functions that the new accommodation must be capable of performing. Usually split into building functions and service functions. The Output Specification is intended to state only the outputs required of the services, and not the way in which the PSP will achieve these.
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Partnering
This is an umbrella term that covers all of the associated behaviours and techniques, arrangements and agreements that incorporate a partnering ethos and can take the form of a partnering arrangement, partnering agreement or a legal partnership
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Pathfinder project (BSF)
Four projects selected in March 2003 to help shape and prove the BSF programme and which are currently progressing through the project stages. The Pathfinder projects should remain slightly ahead of the main Wave 1 projects and will provide valuable information on the processes.
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PD (Project Directors)
The PfS staff who advise the local authority project team, and lead them through the standardised BSF process.
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PFI (Private Finance Initiative)
A procurement route established in 1995, and more widely adopted since 1997. It is an important route for much Government spending on assets, as it transfers significant risks to the private sector. PFI requires private sector consortia to raise private finance to fund the project, which must involve investment in assets, and the long-term delivery of services to the public sector. In BSF, PFI is one of several possible procurement routes being funded.
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PFI Credit
PFI Credits represent a commitment on the part of the government to provide a certain level of revenue support to a local authority, under the Local Government (Capital Finance) Regulations 1997. The government reimburses a contribution to the local authority (which contracts with the private sector to provide facilities) for that element of the contract price that relates to the repayment and servicing of funds borrowed to provide the facilities. The revenue support acts as a contribution to the unitary charge that the local authority will be contractually committed to paying to its PFI contractor.
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PfS (Partnerships for Schools)
The non-departmental public body (NDPB) set up to deliver BSF nationally, jointly managed by the DfES and Partnerships UK.
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PID (Project Initiation Document)
Defines the BSF project in order to form the basis for the management and assessment of the success of the project. It provides a framework for the Project Board and the Project Manager to assess progress, change management and ongoing viability.
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PIN (Prior Information Notice)
A formal alerting notice placed in the OJEU before the Contract Notice.
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PITN (Preliminary Invitation to Negotiate - also referred to as the Invitation to Submit Outline Proposals ISOP)
Issued at the same time as the PQQ in the procurement process, providing more detailed information about the bidder and its approach to partnering. The PITN is used after the PQQ process in the bidder shortlisting process and only looked at if the bidder satisfies the PQQ criteria.
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PO (Project Owner)
The senior officer or Member who is accountable, in governance terms, for the successful outcome of the project: sometimes termed the Project Sponsor. The Project Owner may be a group of "project sponsors" who collectively "own" the project.
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PPP (Public Private Partnerships)
The relationship formed between the private sector and public bodies often with the aim of introducing private sector resources and/or expertise in order to help provide and deliver public-sector assets and services. The concept of PPP embraces many forms of partnership including PFI.
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PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire)
The authority drafted document which invites candidates to express an interest by supplying evidence which can lead to their selection as bidders.
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PQQ (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire)
The authority drafted document which invites candidates to express an interest by supplying evidence which can lead to their selection as bidders.
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Preferred Bidder
The bidder which submits the best negotiating position in response to the ITN.
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PRG (Project Review Group)
The PRG is an inter-departmental group chaired by HM Treasury (HMT), with members drawn from the sponsoring government departments (ODPM, DCMS, DfES, etc). 4ps attends its meetings and contributes to discussions on projects in which it has been involved. PRG assesses PFI projects to confirm the commercial viability of proposals, prior to commencing procurement. The PRG will assess all projects in BSF with a PFI element.
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Procurement Regulations
The statutes, regulations and legislative requirements concerning the procurement of public works, supplies or services
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Project Scoping
The process of determining the precise scope or envelope of the project before the OJEU Contract Notice is issued. Prudential Code The CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance, being the Financial code which authorities must have regard to when setting and reviewing their affordable borrowing limits.
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PSC
Public Sector Comparator
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PSP (Private Sector Partner)
The private sector organisation with which a local authority enters into a PPP or PFI contract. In BSF, the PSP will have the majority stake within the LEP, and may also be in direct contract with the authority through PFI contracts.
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SBC (Strategic Business Case)
The SBC demonstrates the linkages between the authority's corporate and educational vision, incorporating its strategic estate planning. It is the first major document to be submitted for approval in the BSF process, prior to Outline Business Case.
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SCE(C) (Supported Capital Expenditure (Capital))
This refers to capital grant usually paid by DfES to local authorities through the standards fund.
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SCE(R) (Supported Capital Expenditure (Revenue))
This refers to support to local authorities for borrowing for capital purposes, paid through a revenue stream by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
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Service Provider
The concessionaire, consortium, contractor, private sector partner or SPV appointed to deliver the contracted services
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SHA (Shareholders Agreement)
The agreement between the co-shareholders in the LEP (the Local Authority, Partnerships for Schools (PfS) and the Private Sector Partner (PSP) which provides the basis for joint working within the Local Education Partnership (LEP), including their individual rights and obligations.
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SOC (School Organisation Committee)
The SOC considers and approves the annual School Organisation Plan for the LEA area and considers individual statutory proposals for changes to schools (e.g. new schools, school closures, enlargements and additions of nurseries and sixth forms). Proposals have to be agreed unanimously by the Committee; if not they must pass the proposals to the independent schools adjudicator. There are up to six interest groups on a School Organisation Committee. Each group must have one and not more than seven members. Each group has one vote no matter how many members it contains.
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SOP (School Organisation Plan)
Each Local Authority is required under statute to produce a plan covering at least 5 academic years from the time of writing, broadly setting out how the authority will meet its statutory responsibilities to provide sufficient educational provision within its area.
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SoPC (Standardisation of PFI Contracts)
Guidance documentation and approved drafting produced by PUK on behalf of HM Treasury, which sets out national standards for PFI contracts. The third edition (SoPC3) was updated in April 2004 and is binding on all PFI funded projects.
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SoPC (Standardisation of PFI Contracts)
Guidance documentation and approved drafting produced by PUK on behalf of HM Treasury, which sets out national standards for PFI contracts. The third edition (SoPC3) was updated in April 2004 and is binding on all PFI funded projects.
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SPA (Strategic Partnership Agreement)
The contractual agreement between the Local Authority and the Local Education Partnership (LEP) which sets out the details of the partnership working between them and defines key terms such as exclusivity and the new project approval process.
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SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle)
The company that will be established by the LEP to operate and manage individual tranches of the BSF project. Its sole purpose will be the delivery of the tranche. It will deliver the services using either PFI or traditional funding.
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Technical Dialogue
A formal process of dialogue to assist in Project Scoping, undertaken by the authority and potential candidates in the period after issuing the PIN but before issuing the Contract Notice.
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Test glossary
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TUPE
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981
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Unitary Charge
The payment made by the local authority to the Service Provider for the provision of the contracted service.
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VFM
Value for Money
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Wave
A group of BSF projects in a number of authorities with funding starting in a particular financial year.
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Workforce Issues
Issues relating to the terms and conditions of a workforce, for example remuneration and pension issues.