Babcock 4S: improving school standards and saving cash
Surrey County Council has benefited from improved school results and multi-million pound savings from its joint venture partnership with Babcock 4S to deliver education services to all Surrey's schools
Schools aim to prepare the UK's young people for the future and give them the skills and confidence to lead fulfilling and successful lives, enter the world of work and develop productive and rewarding careers. Many schools and local authorities use partnerships with external partners to help deliver these objectives.
Surrey County Council took the decision to collaborate with Babcock 4S in 2004 to raise performance across its schools. More than 300 staff were transferred under TUPE agreements from the local authority into the new joint venture partnership. The council’s management team was integrated within the new executive, and proper governance and accountability was ensured via a board, to which both the council and Babcock appointed directors.
Through the resources of the joint venture, Babcock 4S has been able to provide a comprehensive package of professional HR, finance, leadership, governance and teaching and learning support to all 396 maintained schools in Surrey, alongside significant investment in staff development.
Education standards in Surrey schools have improved considerably since the establishment of Babcock 4S. At Key Stage 4, Surrey is now ranked 19th in the country, a significant improvement from 47th in 2004. At the same time, more than 70% of all schools inspected by Ofsted up to March 2011 were judged to be either good or outstanding.
Babcock 4S has also delivered cash savings of approximately £11.3m for the council to date, and the local authority received a dividend payment of £1.7m from Babcock 4S last year. These savings have been achieved primarily through business improvement techniques brought in by Babcock, particularly service innovations, effective resource management and the proper costing of services.
By engaging the commercial expertise of Babcock, Surrey County Council has been able to sustain investment in education services to ensure that local children continue to have access to high-quality schools across the county.
