8.  In line with the Government's Better Public Buildings initiative, ensure that bids are selected on which design will provide buildings that promote learning and achieve VFM over the whole life of the contract rather than on the basis of apparent lowest cost.

9.  Ensure that working protocols are developed with schools at the outline business case so that schools understand, for example:

•  their role in each stage of the process - from the procurement phase through to contract management - setting out key milestones and decision points so that the client role is clearly delineated between the LEA and the school;

•  how information flows will work between the LEA and school and vice versa;

•  what support will be available to schools through procurement and the implementation phases - technical, legal and other;

•  what financial support will be available to allow schools to participate fully in the process;

•  how relationships with bidding consortia and the selected PFI provider will work; and

•  how decisions about the use of devolved capital should be made; and how problems will be resolved.

10.  Develop a system of checks and balances above the level of individual contracts that can help to capture general lessons about, for example, contract compliance, how partnership working can be made more effective, ways of refreshing deals and securing wider benefits.