Education and training services

Tender description

Staffordshire County Council's Skills and Employability Service is seeking to diversify its provision and to align its offer more closely to the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership priorities and particularly the STEM priority sector. The tender process will commence on/around 1.7.2017, preceded by a Provider Event on 28.6.2017. The event will provide more detail on the project as well as a chance to meet with the tender team. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions prior to the tender being published. If you wish to attend the event, to be held in Stafford on Wednesday, 28.6.2017, please contact Grace Holford (grace.holford@staffordshire.gov.uk) and book a place. Please note that there is a limit of three places per organisation. It is likely that this procurement will be divided into eight Lots, based on the eight Districts within Staffordshire. However, at this stage the exact distribution of the Lots has yet to be decided. Providers with capacity and capability to deliver provision in the STEM sector will be invited to bid for funding to deliver preparatory programmes to engage adults with a particular focus on adults from disadvantaged groups and/or districts within Staffordshire. The programmes should enable the learners to progress to a trainee-ship, an apprenticeship, an accredited programme at level 1 or 2, work experience or employment in a STEM vocational area. It is envisaged that most learners will have few or no previous qualifications or alternatively hold historical skills and experience and wish to undertake a refresher programme to progress in the sector. The programme content could include the development of basic skills in a STEM vocational area, study skills, English, maths and IT, depending on assessed learner need. The suggested programme length for non-accredited programmes is between 30 and 60 guided learning hours. Providers can also bid to deliver accredited programmes which are listed on the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) learning aims database and must comply with the relevant awarding body requirements. Key performance indicators for all programmes will include the percentage of learners achieved and the percentage progressed to a successful outcome as detailed above. Funding Non-accredited programmes will be funded at the rate of 15 GBP per learner hour. Funding earned for the delivery of accredited programmes will be in accordance with the funding rates listed on the ESFA learning aims database. A management charge of 15 % will be deducted from the total funding earned from delivery of accredited programmes. Providers can opt to deliver accredited or non-accredited programmes only or a mix of both. In 2017-18 an allocation of 200 000 GBP is available for the non-accredited programme offer and a total allocation of 150 000 GBP is available for the accredited programme offer. Essential Requirements There is a requirement for all successful providers to comply with: — ESFA funding rules 2017-2018, — Quality standards set out in the Ofsted common inspection framework, — Awarding body guidance and regulations (for accredited programmes), — The Skills and Employability Service's performance and quality monitoring processes and approaches, — The Skills and Employability Service's data collection and submission requirements, — The Staffordshire County Council's safeguarding arrangements. Providers are also expected to have and maintain robust processes for internal quality assurance and improvement. The full specification, provider guidance and quality framework which will detail all compliance requirements will be available at a later date. Successful providers will provide a comprehensive and high quality STEM vocational programme for adults with a particular focus on adults from disadvantaged groups and/or districts within Staffordshire, with the aim of increasing further learning and employment opportunities for Staffordshire residents.