Nottinghamshire CC has launched a joint venture to deliver more than £200m of built environment projects over the next 10 years.

Arc Partnership, a joint venture between the council and Scape Group, will deliver design and project management, construction services and procurement.

It will initially focus on school projects before branching out to cover the wider public estate. 

The partnership will mean more than 70 council staff transfer to the joint venture from today.

‘The launch of the Arc Partnership marks a new and exciting chapter for the way in which the council delivers property repairs, maintenance and the future design and build of major public buildings in our county,' said Cllr David Kirkham, chairman of the council's finance and property committee.

Mark Robinson, chief executive of Scape, added: ‘In these times of austerity, councils are looking at increasingly innovative business models to draw efficiencies and socioeconomic value from the public purse and this includes the formation of new companies.

‘Arc Partnership is a prime example, which combine the diverse and focused skills that have been developed internally at the authority with the most efficient and effective working practices we have developed at Scape.'