Civica BSF deal gets go ahead

VAR set to start work on overhaul of Wandsworth schools' IT infrastructure next month

Civica's Building Schools for the Future contract (BSF) with Wandsworth Council has been given the go ahead.

Under the terms of the £70m deal, clinched in conjunction with construction partner Land Lease, the VAR will provide two secondary schools in south west London with a fully managed service infrastructure.

Land Lease, which was appointed as a preferred bidder in June 2010, will be responsible for the structural redevelopment of the schools and expects work on the project to start next month.

According to analyst TechMarketView, the deal was originally intended to cover all the schools within the council's jurisdiction.

However, following the government's decision to axe the BSF programme last July, the project has been scaled back to include just two.

Kathy Tracey, education representative at Wandsworth Council, said its priority is to secure similar deals for the other schools under its jurisdiction.

"Securing government funding for the rest of our schools remains our number one priority and we will continue to lobby ministers to bring forward this much needed investment," she said.