Education Furniture Requirements for New School Openings

Questions

1. How does the authority procure education furniture requirements for new school openings or whole school refurbishments?

2. What are the Contact details (including email) and job titles of key staff members involved in this process.

3. Is routine education furniture purchasing devolved to individual schools or is there a centralised contract?

5. If there are different methods depending on the financial value, what are the step financial values and what are the contact details (including email) and job titles for key staff members involved in this process.

6. If there is a centralised contract or framework in place, who is the current supplier, when does the contract/framework end, what is the value, what are the contact details (including email) and job titles for key staff members involved in this process.

7. How does the authority procure corporate furniture requirements for large scale projects/refurbishments? If there are different methods depending on the financial value, what are the step financial values and what are the contact details (including email) and job titles for key staff members involved in this process.

8. Is routine corporate furniture purchasing devolved to individual council departments or is there a centralised contract?

9. If a centralised contract, are different methods depending on the financial value, what are the step financial values and what are the contact details (including email) and job titles for key staff members involved in this process.

10. Can you supply a list of any known education or corporate furniture requirements where; the spend is likely to be over £10k; where this has not already been awarded and; are likely to occur over the next 2 year period?

11. Do you use any procurement portals to procure furniture or other equipment, if so which ones and what criteria is used?

1.  The authority does not procure education furniture. Schools procure directly themselves as the school operator holds the funding.

2. Not Applicable (see above)

3. Individual schools

4. N/A (all procured by schools)

5. Not Applicable (see above)

6.  ESPO Framework MB282-22 has previously been utilised for a large-scale refurbishment.

Low quantities of furniture are purchased from the ESPO catalogue as and when required.

7.  Furniture purchasing is devolved to individual departments as their services require it.

Large scale purchases have a dedicated contract for the specific requirements of the project.

8. Same as above.

Contracts over £10k are procured through the ESPO framework.

Considerations for contracts are not made through contact to individual staff members.

9. There are no known upcoming projects of this nature in the next 2 years.

10.  We currently use a centralised procurement portal: ProContract.

However, the Council will be moving over to a new system in November 2025. More information will be available on our website in the coming weeks.