There is no strict definition of “community use” in the Building Schools for the Future Programme. As set out in the Extended Schools prospectus, published in June 2005, the Government have encouraged all schools to offer a core set of extended services by 2010, including wider community access to sports facilities. However, it is up to individual governing bodies to decide the extent to which they do this, since they are responsible for controlling the occupation and use of school premises both during and out of school hours. Governing bodies are also best placed to define what the community is that each school serves.
Secondary schools built or upgraded under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme must conform to the Department's Building Bulletin (BB) 98, "Briefing Framework for Secondary School Projects". This recommends that each school should have, as a minimum, a “four-court” sports hall designed to Sport England's specifications that cover community use. BB 98 also includes recommendations for outdoor sports pitches and games courts.
BSF investment is therefore ensuring that secondary schools will have sports facilities for use by the communities in which they are placed.