The Edinburgh schools PPP contract began in August 2001, lasts for 31 years and fulfils a facilities management role for 17 educational establishments. It includes the provision of cleaning, catering, janitorial and security, grounds and building maintenance, fire and emergency management and disaster recovery. Self-delivery of building maintenance services commenced in August 2004 and self-delivery of catering services began in January 2007.
City of Edinburgh Council meets the educational needs of 15,000 pupils. They are looking to improve the environment in which all these pupils are taught and in the future, extend the community use of these schools with the support of the private sector.
Amey provides total facilities management to eight primary, five secondary and two Special Schools. A Secure Unit and a Community Centre also fall under our remit. The contract went live in August 2001 and will run until July 2033.
Amey has enjoyed an excellent relationship with both the City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh Schools Partnership. Over the past five years we’ve worked on projects that have gone beyond the contract guidelines. And as importantly, we’ve been getting positive feedback from end users as well as clients.
An important aspect of the contract is our ability to work with the clients and other stakeholders in encouraging the use of schools by the wider community. Through extended let hours, janitorial cover and security, the Edinburgh contract has helped schools to become a focal point in their communities. In recent years Amey has implemented several initiatives and improvements into the contract.
We aimed for catering to be self-delivery and in January 2007 we launched our new catering brand ,‘Reload’. A cashless card catering system has also been implemented in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council. It removes the stigma associated with free meal entitlement and enhances the overall service capability.
The self-delivery of building maintenance implemented in August 2004 has also been a success for the contract. Reactive maintenance has increased the professionalism and capability behind Amey’s self-delivery and in addition has significantly improved overall compliance.
As part of the our effort to improve the contract, the Edinburgh Schools team has got behind the Eco School scheme, an international initiative designed to encourage whole-school action for the environment. The contracted facilities management service to the client has continued to prove successful and its capabilities continue to grow.
In collaboration with Performance Measurement Group (PMG), a division of Amey's business services, the Edinburgh schools contract team has implemented a customer satisfaction survey to obtain user feedback at all levels. A report of these findings will be available in August 2007.