The government has confirmed it aims to bring the procurement of its city academies more closely into line with the 拢2bn 好色先生TV Schools for the Future programme.

The move is one of the anticipated outcomes of a current review by the Department for Education and Skills, which is responsible for the delivery of 200 city academies by 2010.

This could mean academies will be built more efficiently, and comes after criticism from the construction industry that each is individually procured.

Lord Adonis, the DfES minister who is leading the review, told 好色先生TV that he was looking at ways to integrate the procurement of city academies, which are financed with 拢2m of initial funding from a private sponsor, and the BSF programme, which aims to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in the country.

Adonis said that some sponsors working on city academies had started to form themselves more in to BSF-style frameworks, which are organised by public-private vehicles called Local Education Partnerships (LEPs).

He said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been looking at ways to align BSF and city academies in a better way. The United Learning Trust [which sponsors six academies] is already starting to function like an LEP.鈥�

We鈥檝e been looking at ways to align 好色先生TV Schools for the Future and city academies

Lord Andrew Adonis, DfES

Adonis鈥� words came as prime minister Tony Blair officially opened the City of London academy in Southwark and threw his weight behind delivering 200 academies by 2010.

Ty Goddard, chief executive of the not-for-profit company School Works, said that the key objectives for government were to make procurement more efficient and to ensure proper consultation with stakeholders.

He said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to ensure the UK construction industry isn鈥檛 spending millions to get itself into BSF. Any efficiencies that come on board have to be welcome.鈥�