Luton Borough Council, QED Wates, and Building Schools for the Future Investments (BSFI) (BSFI) have reached financial close which means all contracts have been signed and the funding has now been received to deliver the town's £280 million Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The BSF project has gone from the start of procurement to financial close in just 18 months, reaching financial close two months early.

QED Wates, which is led by the Wates Group, will deliver the programme to rebuild or refurbish all of Luton's 13 secondary schools over the next four years - the single largest investment programme in local education for over 50 years. The first schools to benefit from the investment are Challney High School for Girls, where building works have already started (25 May), Lea Manor High School, and Luton's two academies: Barnfield West and Barnfield South, where work will commence next Monday, 8 June.

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The Luton scheme goes above and beyond the conventional BSF remit to provide world class educational facilities and services for the area's schools and to integrate those facilities into the community. As a result, the first project will also deliver a community library, theatre, adult education, youth facilities and multi agency office space to create dynamic and exciting community facilities.

Kevin Crompton, Chief Executive, Luton Borough Council, said: "This is a major milestone in the development of our plans to transform learning in Luton for the benefit of the whole community. I want to pay tribute first of all to the brilliant work of the Council's BSF team in getting us to this stage and secondly to our partners QED Wates who have worked tirelessly to reach this point in record time. I also want to acknowledge the support from Partnerships for Schools and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. This partnership will make a major difference to our town, and the progress we have made to date indicates that we are serious about making things happen."

Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnership for Schools (PfS) - the government agency responsible for delivery of the national BSF programme - said: "Luton is the latest BSF deal to reach financial close, and demonstrates that despite the challenging economic conditions in which we are operating, BSF is continuing to deliver.

"BSF is about much more than simply bricks and mortar, it's about how new and refurbished schools can transform the learning experience and make a positive difference to the lives of young people and to their communities. I look forward I look forward to following the Luton BSF project as it progresses."

(CD/JM)