Further education capital projects

Since 2003 the Department for the Economy, through the further education capital projects team, has worked closely with colleges to deliver over £340m of capital developments across the entire sector. This has been delivered through conventional procurement, public-private partnerships and programme allocations.

Further education capital projects team

Further education (FE) capital projects team is a distinct business unit within FE division. The primary function of the branch is to ensure that the further education estate is equipped to provide a quality learning environment capable of meeting the skills needs of the Northern Ireland economy. In order to achieve this, the team works closely with colleges to maintain, develop and improve campuses across Northern Ireland. The imperative is to ensure that college buildings, facilities and equipment are capable of meeting the curriculum delivery needs and demand for quality services.

What we do

FE capital projects team has been responsible for securing and overseeing capital investment of almost £250m in colleges over the last ten years. This has helped to address weaknesses in the overall estate and to create state-of-the-art learning environments which encourage the continuing development of links between colleges and local businesses and support the delivery of high quality learning designed to strengthen the local economic base.

This major investment was delivered through a range of conventional major works projects; public private partnerships (PPP); or other procurement routes as identified by Department of Finance (DoF) / Treasury. The team also distributes capital programme funds to colleges for minor works to address deficiencies identified in the estates.

FE capital projects team oversees this capital funding and supports colleges in the delivery of major capital investment projects through its representation as Investment Decision Maker on project boards and project teams .