Soft Market Testing ? Adult Learning in Merton

Tender description

The London Borough of Merton are seeking to commission their adult education service. We anticipate this being a commissioning exercise with a number of lots within them and a total commissioned value of around £1.5m per annum. As a first step we are launching a period of soft market testing and looking to talk to interested providers. We are looking for providers to deliver courses in the borough of Merton against the following Skills Funding Agency funding areas: · Specialist Arts · Towards Independence and other courses for those with learning difficulties or disabilities · Employability · Family English Maths and Languages · Wider Family Learning · Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities · Skills for Life · Healthy Living · Creative Arts · Business The funding will be for both Community Learning and Adult Skills Budget. Through this soft market testing process we are looking to test the enthusiasm and capacity of providers, to understand how we should structure the potential lots we would commission against and to understand the expectations from providers about the use of council assets as part of service provision. We intend to conduct this soft market testing exercise in two parts: 1) One to one contact with interested providers. This will include both an electronic questionnaire sent to any interested parties and face to face conversations 2) A focused bidders day to be held on the 4th May. Further details will follow but we have scheduled this to take place between 11am and 2pm in the Merton Council Chamber. We intend to publish the outcome of this process and proceed in a fair, open and transparent manner towards a formal Invitation to Tender later in the year. If you are interested in taking part in this Soft Market Testing exercise please contact Simone Buratti by e-mail simone.buratti@merton.gov.uk or on 0208 545 4148. Please note that a maximum of 2 representatives from each provider will be able attend the Soft Market Testing event.