4 Manchester is refurbishing or rebuilding 32 of its 35 secondary schools (including seven Academies) and installing new ICT in all. It is the one of the first Local Authorities to sponsor Academies.
5 Manchester is using its own procurement model. It has established a conventional four year framework with two construction contractors: Balfour Beatty and Laing O'Rourke. It has a separate contract with Ramesys to provide ICT services. An interface agreement regulates the interaction between the three companies. It also has pre-existing joint ventures with other companies to provide facilities management. These contracts are managed directly by Manchester. All the partners sit on the Manchester Partnering Board, where joint issues are discussed.
6 Competitive tension is maintained between the two construction contractors through the use of key performance indicators and the threat of switching all the work to the other provider depending upon their overall performance. But frameworks can only last four years by EU regulations, so Manchester needs to start all its contracts under the framework by September 2009 or set up new arrangements for any remaining work after that.