School’s out for summer – which means the start of improvement works at several academy schools and sixth form colleges. Having assisted a number of schools and academies to achieve funding under the Department for Education’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), Lea Hough will be overseeing several programmes of works in a Project Management capacity.
Some of the projects Lea Hough will be project managing include refurbishment works, safeguarding schemes, fire alarm replacements, boiler and heating upgrades, roofing schemes, window replacements, asbestos removal schemes, asbestos removal and fire door replacement projects.
As well as working alongside existing academy school clients, including Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School and Standish High School, Colne Primet Academy, Southlands High School and Tarleton Academy, this year saw Lea Hough assist several new school clients with CIF bid applications, including academies in Barrow-on-Furness, Sedbergh, Ashton-Under-Lyne, and St Mary’s College in Blackburn and Rochdale Sixth Form College.
Altogether, Lea Hough will be overseeing over £6 million of improvement works across the North West this summer. Across the country, 1413 projects will be undertaken at 1210 academies and sixth-form colleges, comprising a total fund allocation of £433 million.
The Condition Improvement Fund is one of the most significant opportunities available to academy schools and sixth form colleges to gain access to government funds. Criteria for attaining funding is specific and each application must be thoroughly evidenced. Due to the number of applications increasing each year, competition is getting tougher. The level of funding awarded in the current round is also down from £513 million in the 2018/19 round, so only bids of the highest quality are likely to succeed.
As specialists in the education sector and having helped achieve over £17.5 million in funding over the past 5 years, Lea Hough are able to provide a comprehensive service to academy schools and sixth form colleges. In the first instance, our school building consultants will conduct a site visit to assess the projects that might be eligible for CIF funding. Thereafter, we will work alongside key stakeholders to prepare the submission, also following through with the final submission via the DfE’s portal.
Lea Hough are already consulting with academy schools and sixth form colleges to begin preparations for the next CIF 2020-21 bidding round – which is likely to have a deadline of December 2019.
For more information or to book a site visit from one of our school building consultants regarding CIF 2020-21, please get in touch.
