Maintained schools: contracts and leases

Maintained schools entering contracts and lease arrangements with service providers need to follow certain rules. 

Get permission

If the total contract value is £5,000 or more, the school must get permission from the Director of Children and Families at Southwark Council before the contract or lease is signed.  

The Director can be emailed at: alasdair.smith@southwark.gov.uk.

Our legal team will review the proposed contract or lease to make sure there is not an unacceptable level of legal risk. We aim to let the Director of Children and Families know the outcome within 15 working days from receiving the request.

We send a formal letter to the headteacher, School Business Manager and the Chair of Governors. The letter will also confirm the outcome of the review by the legal team.

Contract template

To help schools make sure that purchases made with public funds are fair, legal and open, Southwark Legal Services have created a template contract for services for schools to use. 

The template is for contracts with a value under £200,000 Iinclusive of VAT). 

The template includes:

• Specific Terms: a document where you add the details of your project, like contract term, start date, and price. There are also a number of optional clauses which need to be chosen
• General Terms: the main terms and conditions which apply to the project. There should be no need to vary or amend this document as any options or revisions can be detailed in the Specific Terms

Optional documents

There are also a number of optional documents which might be required depending on the value and nature of the procurement.

• Letter inviting quotations
• Invitation and instructions for tendering
• Form of tender
• Confidentiality undertaking
• Letter to unsuccessful bidders
• Letter of award to the successful bidder

Guidance

• checklist for documents needed and information maintained schools need for the contract
• guide to completing the Specific Terms and an explanation of the general terms, quotation and tendering requirements
• guide to writing a specification  

Applying to use the council's approved list

Maintained schools in Southwark, can apply to see our approved list of contractors who meet our supplier expectations.

Email procurement@southwark.gov.uk to request a form.

After you have completed and submitted the form, you will get a username and password within 10 working days. Then you can sign in and use the service.

Using framework agreements

Some maintained schools in Southwark use framework agreements.

These allow schools to join agreements and place orders for goods, works or services using pre-agreed terms and conditions and rates.

We encourage maintained schools to consider whether there are existing frameworks which could be used for future procurements. We do not support any particular arrangement. 

Schools should consider carefully if a particular framework meets their needs in terms of:

• price
• range of provider
• levels of insurance
• terms and conditions
• cost to join

You can also find useful information on the Crown Commercial Service website.

Contact us

Template contract documents and framework agreements: contact the contracts team in legal services by emailing contractsnewinstructions@southwark.gov.uk

Approved List: contact the procurement advice team by emailing procurement@southwark.gov.uk