Welfare services for children and young people

Tender description

The service manages the provision of early years childcare across four sites within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with capacity for 187 places for children up to the age of 5 years, or the term when they start formal education. The Early Years Childcare service will contribute to the Royal Borough's strategic objectives of (1) fulfilling the Authority's statutory duty to provide sufficient affordable, flexible and high-quality childcare places within the Royal Borough; (2) provision of places targeted at 2-year olds; and (3) universal 3- and 4-year olds funded places. The service also supports the wider aims and objectives of the Early Help model to ensure the best outcomes for local children and families, which include (1) reducing inequalities in child development and school readiness; (2) improving parenting aspirations, parenting skills and self esteem; and (3) child and family health and life outcomes. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) needed to contract with an experienced Provider with capacity for 187 places to deliver early years childcare. It has a statutory duty to ensure a sufficiency of affordable, flexible and high-quality childcare places. The procurement had also to address the Borough's wider strategic needs. (See II.1.4 above.) The service was first tendered in July 2015 but did not attract any bid; it was re-tendered in January 2016 which resulted in one bid. The contract was duly awarded in May 2016 (OJEU ref 2016/S 116-207140). In August, the Provider notified RBKC that it was going into administration and transferring its interests to Action for Children, a national charity. RBKC used the Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication to conduct a Single Tender Action and invited Action for Children to submit a Tender which was rigorously evaluated against previously published Qualification, Technical and Commercial criteria.