AQO 3025/22-27 Oral question to the Minister of Education
To ask the Minister of Education to outline any work that is ongoing to ensure schools are getting value for money through maintenance contracts and are not having to pay excessive amounts.
Asked by Michelle Guy MLA on 22 January 2026
- Answered
- Oral
- Answered in the Chamber
- Tabled
- 22 January 2026
- Answer due by
- 2 February 2026
- Answered
- 2 February 202611 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Education
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Answered in the Assembly Chamber on 2 February 2026. Extract from the Official Report (Hansard), including any supplementary questions:
Mr Givan (The Minister of Education)
The Education Authority (EA) is implementing its new term service contracts for maintenance and minor works. Sixteen of the 18 lots have been awarded, with 10 lots already implemented across Northern Ireland. It is anticipated that all 16 lots awarded will be fully implemented by 1 April 2026. The new contracts have been designed to strengthen value for money, through a combination of improved commercial controls, clearer performance management and greater cost certainty. Contract pricing has been benchmarked through competitive procurement, with clear schedules of rates and fixed pricing addendums. Stronger contract management arrangements, including enhanced reporting and governance, provide earlier visibility of emerging issues and reduce the risk of cost escalation over the contract term. The contracts also include a local management of schools addendum for cost certainty. That means that the most requested maintenance activities have set prices fixed for the duration of the contract, ensuring assurance and transparency for school leaders. In addition, improved data and reporting requirements support better forward planning and more informed decisions for capital investments. In addition to the new contracts, a pilot project is currently being agreed by the EA to test the delegation of low-value tenant maintenance, such as painting and carpeting, to schools in the 2026-27 financial year.
Mrs Guy
Thank you, Minister, for that response. In the midst of the financial crisis in education, it is vital that we have confidence that procurement is achieving value for money. A school leader in our constituency recently vented his frustration to me that the EA procurement frameworks were not delivering on that. He was forced to pay an annual fee of over £600 for one supplier, yet he still had to pay that supplier a further £500 in fees to deliver pretty much nothing. Yet, in another sector, he used the same supplier who charged him considerably less. Minister, can you provide an assurance that the new systems will achieve value for money for schools and ensure that the taxpayer and our schools are not being ripped off by those contracts?
Mr Givan
I share exactly the same sentiments that the Member has articulated. It is a frustration of mine when principals outline that they would be able to achieve greater value for money by going into a direct contract award instead of having to go through the EA. When I engage with the EA on that, it outlines that, when it comes to the economy of scale of being a large purchaser and being able to secure contracts, it can deliver greater value for money than allowing schools to be able to procure things individually. That is an open question for people to interrogate. I have engaged with the EA on that to try to identify lower-value spend, which should be at the discretion of the school. Understandably, there needs to be a procurement framework for significant capital works, but, where there is low-value spend, there should be greater levels of autonomy for schools, and I outlined in my initial response some of the work that is being taken forward to provide for that.
Mrs Cameron
Will the Minister outline the work that is being done to allow schools greater flexibility in procurement within the existing frameworks?
Mr Givan
I touched on that in my earlier response. The EA is looking at options through a pilot scheme to give schools greater autonomy in purchasing low-value consumables through their delegated budget and choosing whether to use EA frameworks or alternative suppliers. The main objective of the project will be to assess the potential benefits and impact of removing the mandate to use framework arrangements. In addition, the pilot will assess the level of risk attached to schools undertaking procurement below the £10,000 threshold in the absence of the EA's centre of procurement expertise support and knowledge, and that will be part of the outworkings of the pilot that the EA wishes to take forward.