8.33 The procurement of major hospital schemes in batches is a new approach developed by the DoH, with the support of HM Treasury and Partnerships UK. The invitation to bid for the first batched scheme was issues in May 2003. This approach has three objectives, to:
• reduce bid costs and procurement times for major acute hospitals. The PFI batch partners will incur only one set of bid costs before being given preferred bidder status for the three schemes, without losing the benefits of PFI;
• provide greater certainty over the future flow of investment which will enable the private sector to invest in new capacity to delivery such schemes; and
• increase opportunities for greater standardisation of design and service delivery, which will improve value for money.
8.34 Although this approach should reduce the costs of the PFI procurement process, it will not be at the expense of the desired risk-sharing arrangements for each hospital, which will enjoy a separate contract with the PFI batch partner based on the standardised PFI contract.
8.35 The Church of England (CofE) schools estate comprises around 2,000 schools, individually the responsibility of the school governors and trustees, with a major aggregate investment need of £1.5 billion over 10 years. As most of these schools are small primary schools with a new build capital cost of £2 million, their staff, governors and trustees do not have the procurement experience to access the flow of investment that has been delivered in schools more generally through PFI.