Restructuring, stress and more...

Some schools have been running into problems recently with the small print on contracts. A contract is a contract, whether it is to provide meals at a price that can only be met by stuffing children with turkey twizzlers or to provide whiteboards for the next 25 years as part of a PFI contract.

If a school wishes to break a contract, it can expect to have to pay a price for it. That price should at least equal anticipated profits or additional costs to the contractor. That is only fair.

Therefore, it is essential for schools to make sure that a contract is future-proofed as far as possible and that any clause in the contract is not so prohibitive that it is, in practical terms, impossible for a school to alter.