Published
By Ashley Cox
Having previously been open to colleges, the 2025-26 Condition Improvement Fund has recently extended its scope to schools, academies and sixth forms, unlocking new funding opportunities for even more of our 10,000+ CPC members.
In the November 2024 issue of the CPC Members’ Newsletter, we provided information on the latest Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) funding window, which had opened to eligible institutions at the end of October. Read our previous article here.
The CIF’s purpose is to provide helpful financial support for school building works and works on school land, with its primary focus on condition/maintenance projects that can help to ensure a safe education environment. Tackling issues such as health and safety compliance while addressing substandard or deteriorating building conditions, the CIF offers institutions a priceless resource that could well prove itself invaluable.
For the CIF's 2025-26 funding round, the Department for Education (DfE) has committed approximately £470m in support, with this money spread across no fewer than 656 institutions, covering a total of 789 outlined projects around the United Kingdom.
With many of those successful CIF applicants being CPC member institutions, we are keen to remind members of the CPC purchasing frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems that may be of great use in steering their projects to realisation.
Indeed, and in contrast to embarking on such projects alone, there are multiple benefits to employing a CPC framework or DPS - from professional instruction and user guide support to respective slates of approved suppliers, with each of these assessed on their quality and ability to deliver (saving you the time and effort of sifting through a myriad of budding tradesmen).
Essentially, CPC has done the due diligence for you, while creating an environment for value-fuelling competition, helping you get more out of any CIF grant funding received in the 2025-26 window.
Bringing a host of worthy suppliers under our umbrella, CPC’s procurement frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems can help initiate your tendering process and deliver a backbone of support throughout, making us a winning procurement partner.
Some of the resources CPC members might wish to make use of include:
Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS
Recommended to schools and academies by the Department for Education, CPC’s Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS is a go-to for refurbs, maintenance work, conservation and preservation. With a remit which covers roof refurbishments, window replacements, asbestos removal, drainage works and more, this compliant Dynamic Purchasing System benefits from the flexible DPS format, which allows an uncapped number of suppliers to join and vie for work across its multi-year lifespan. Keen to learn more? CPC Senior Procurement Officer, Natalia Piecyk has the details.
Another Dynamic Purchasing System, as established prior to Procurement Act 2023, CPC’s Minor Works DPS can help you ensure your minor works do not become major hassles. No fewer than 29 different categories are catered for, ensuring our members have access to a varied and extensive range of minor works solutions, from joinery, cladding and insulation to painting and decorating via fences and gates. With this Dynamic Purchasing System to expire in October, we encourage members to use it while it remains live. To begin the process, get in touch with CPC Procurement Officer John Ogunjobi.
Fire Safety Equipment, Fire Alarms, Suppression Systems & Associated Services
Provided by our partners at the North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium, the Fire Safety Equipment framework is a relatively new addition to the CPC catalogue, at a little over a year old. This agreement effectively serves as a one-stop shop for fire safety and detection, connecting you with a cohort of suitable suppliers. Works undertaken via this compliant purchasing framework include fire safety improvements and precaution works, fire alarm replacements, fire door replacements/repairs, plus compliance work. For more about this framework, contact our Senior Procurement Officer, Natalia Piecyk.
As safety and security go hand-in-hand, you might also be interested in CPC’s Security Systems framework, which provides yet another convenient and compliant route to market for our education sector members. This agreement can support institutions seeking to update their CCTV and access control systems, as well as their intruder alarm and car park safety provisions. With a minimum of six approved suppliers per lot, this multi-lot CPC framework presents our members with Further Competition and Direct Award options, with Natalia Piecyk able to discuss in further detail how members can utilise it in the 2025-26 period.
Mechanical & Electrical Maintenance
Finally for this feature, CPC’s Mechanical & Electrical Maintenance framework is able to bring CIF-funded projects to life, with boiler replacements, water quality upgrades and heating/ventilation improvements among the relevant works our agreement can support. Whether looking to initiate planned preventative maintenance or reactive maintenance solutions, this retendered CPC agreement is made up of nine English regional lots, with lots also for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands/Isle of Man, as well as a final, UK-wide option. To kickstart a conversation around this framework, we welcome you to contact CPC Procurement Manager Keeley Blackburn, who oversees the Mechanical & Electrical Maintenance offer.
If your school, academy or sixth form establishment has recently benefitted from the Condition Improvement Fund, you may have already heard from one of CPC’s Contract Managers, who will be happy to help facilitate your framework/DPS usage.
With the impending summer holidays offering an opportune time to carry out any works, we encourage you to get in touch to get the ball rolling and capitalise on the new opportunities presented by the CIF. Contact CPC's professional team today here.
Remember, through using a CPC framework or DPS, you are helping boost the funds of our pioneering Giving Back initiative, which serves to make difference-making purchases and bring game-changing projects to life across the UK education sector.
Established in 2019, Giving Back has approved the return of more than £2m in surplus funds to the sector/young people, with its focus during 2025 devoted to helping SEND learners, empowering physical and mental wellbeing and tackling absenteeism.
In addition to the frameworks and DPS services outlined in this article, CPC can help with a variety of other aspects of your procurement journey, including the provision of consultancy expertise, plus managed service offerings. This is ideal for any institutions lacking the confidence or capacity to lead on the procurement project themselves.
Curious to learn more of what we can do to support Condition Improvement Funding recipients? Contact us at CPC here.