After a four month delay at the final contract stage, building is about to start on the Sir John Colfox School, in Bridport, Dorset. It has taken Dorset County Council and their private sector partner Jarvis plc eighteen months to reach agreement on the details of the contract. The school will be built and run using private finance and management expertise.Education and Employment Minister Kim Howells welcomed the signing of deal worth around £12 million in capital investment. He said: “Through this deal, Dorset County Council has shown the way for others to tap into private sector investment for the benefit of parents and children. The existing Colfox school suffers from design and maintenance problems – through PFI the people of Bridport will benefit from a new school in two years’ time. That would not have been possible without PFI.

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