Published
With the next CIF deadlines impending this December, CPC is eager to stress to our members the importance of getting organised for the subsequent 2025-26 opportunities.
We would like to let members know that the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) opened at the end of October 2024 - and, if you are eligible to apply for CIF funding, CPC urges you to act immediately, due to the time involved in the application process.
The deadline for any new applicants to register for a CIF portal account is noon on Tuesday 10th December (2024), while the deadline for institutions to submit applications (along with all supporting documents) is noon one week later, on Tuesday 17th December. Please be aware, there is a short turnaround with these dates and, therefore, if you want your own institution to be included in this round of funding, you need to act quickly. Successful applicants will be notified of their outcome in May 2025.
There will be other CIF funding opportunities available in the new year, but CPC's advice is to get your affairs in order now, to help you with what may be a lengthy process in future. To reiterate, we recommend any CPC members interested in applying in 2025-26 to start work on this ASAP, in order to be in the best possible position for next year - and we are here to assist you.
About the Condition Improvement Fund
The Condition Improvement Fund is there to support funding for school buildings and land and the Department for Education (DfE) have produced these guidance notes to support any applications. The CIF’s core priority is to support condition projects and the focus of the fund is to keep school and college buildings safe and in good working order. Most CIF funding aims to address building issues with significant consequences that revenue or other funding cannot meet. These include issues with poor building condition, building compliance or health and safety.
CPC has two Dynamic Purchasing Systems which can be utilised for the scheme:
Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS (DfE recommended)
The Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS is currently the only agreement recommended by the DfE for estates-related professional services. We anticipate Minor Works being a potential route to market for funding recipients from May.
We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of the broad range of services Crescent Consultancy can offer your institution. Our consultancy is available to help support you with the CIF process, so get in touch today to find out more info.
Be prepared for condition-based grant funding! Each year, central government makes available grant funding to address public sector building conditions issues. Normally, the application window for such grants is very short and notified with little time to prepare. We recommend your condition survey is updated annually during the summer recess. An up-to-date condition survey at your fingertips puts you in a much better position to apply for funding when it is announced. It also demonstrates to funders that you are serious about the condition of your built environment. Take a proactive approach to condition surveys at your college, using the CPC DPS as a route to market. Consider calling off a term contract on a 2+1+1 yearly basis to appoint a qualified condition surveyor to maintain your college survey over the next few years. Better to be informed and ready for the next round of funding, than to react when that funding is announced and be on the back foot when it comes to proving your college’s need for the grant-aided investment.
Condition surveys
In terms of condition surveys, our aforementioned Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS can provide, but with the 2024 submission date being 17th December, any applicants likely to require condition surveys ahead of their application will need to initiate this process immediately.
CPC Sourcing Cloud
CPC’s Sourcing Cloud makes it easy to perform and manage further competition exercises. It’s free for CPC members to use and offers quick, compliant access to all suppliers on the DPS. To login/register as a member, or to create a Sourcing Cloud account and send your further competition to the DPS suppliers, please use this link.
A further competition template is available in the Associated Documentation section.
Click on the links below to access the documents for the relevant DPS:
Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS (DfE recommended)
Help using Sourcing Cloud is available in our Sourcing Cloud User Guide.
Potential suppliers
If you have a trusted supplier that you think would be a good fit for a DPS place, we would like to encourage you to share the details with any contacts. Suppliers will then be able to participate in opportunities published by members through the DPS.
A CPC DPS is managed through the MultiQuote platform and interested parties will need to create an account for their organisation (if not already set up) and then navigate to the opportunity, using the project reference via the 'Opportunity Search' tool on the dashboard. The framework reference for the Estates and Facilities Professional Services DPS is CA11274, while the reference for the Minor Works DPS is CA7638.
If you have any questions or difficulty navigating to/accessing DPS opportunity on MultiQuote, please contact CPC Procurement Officer, Natalia Piecyk or the CPC Helpdesk. CPC is currently targeting new surveyors to apply for DPS participation and is interested in those offering similar services to the ones potentially required by eligible institutions, to accommodate the demand. For more on potential DPS opportunity, please get in touch via the same channels.
Social value and Giving Back
Don’t forget that, by using any CPC framework or DPS, you are helping to support our Giving Back charity work, which can help member institutions in quests to adequately aid learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), support the physical and mental wellbeing of all learners and assist with absenteeism.
Supporting documents
Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) information for applicants
Estates & Facilities Professional Services further competition (please login to your account to access).