Health services

Tender description

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (“the Council”) is seeking providers to deliver Childminding and Pre-School Development services in Southend. The fundamental basis for the work of early years team is legislated under the Childcare Act 2006, Children Act 2004, Education Act 2011 and Children and Families Act 2014. The service required is a team(s) that can fulfil the council’s duties, be responsive to change and developments. These contracts will be for an initial period of 3 years, with an additional extension period of 3 years, to be implemented in 12 month periods, may be applied and if so, will be based on provider performance and continued funding. The anticipated contract start date is the 1.4.2019. Lot 1: Childminding Support Service: delivers a service to individual childminders operating a childminding/early years childcare business from their own home. The successful provider must: — support and further develop the childminding workforce by providing clear and accurate information, advice and general support with all current and prospective providers. — improve and maintain the quality of childcare at the point of delivery, — assist the Local Authority in securing the statutory duty under section 7 of the Childcare Act 2006 securing early years provision free at the point of delivery for targeted 2 year olds and universal 3-4 year olds, — extended 30 hours for working families of 3-4 year olds and have regard to statutory guidance in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018, and to Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales 2015, — liaise with appropriate local authority staff and develop /enhance strategies of delivery to meet local and national requirements, — work in partnership with other agencies engaged in the delivery of the agenda as identified by the Local Authority, — contribute to the work of childcare for all aspects including working with Children’s Centres, Schools and identified areas by the local authority, — support continuous professional development working closely with the training team, — to respond and support the implementation of all current, revised and new legislation, — to contribute to the collection of monitoring data for quarterly returns or any other reporting systems as identified by the local authority, — to contribute to all general areas of childcare support as identified by the early years team of the local authority where appropriate, — target support to providers requiring improvement/inadequate Ofsted grading, — recruitment and retention of the childmining workforce. Above list is not exhaustive and further details can be found in tender documentation. Lot 2: Pre-schools and Other Establishments: delivers a service to pre-schools and other childcare businesses and all relevant staff, operating out of a specific business establishment. There are five key areas of focus for the successful provider, regarding fulfilling lot 2 requirements: (a) regulation and inspection: The successful provider must: — improve the quality of childcare at the point of delivery, — ensure the requirements of the early years foundation stage are adhered to at all times by all providers of childcare. (b) information, advice and guidance: the successful provider must: — provide information, advice and guidance to registered and non-registered childcare providers, — provide information, advice and guidance to those on the Ofsted’s Voluntary Register for children aged 0-14 and up to 18 for children with additional needs. (c) childcare cufficiency assessment: The successful provider must: — work with LA staff to complete the childcare sufficiency assessment and related action plan, — develop ways to keep the assessment up to date and accurate. (d) children’s Centres: The successful provider must: — monitor children’s centres and ensure they meet the changing needs of the local community, — ensure that childcare in the centres is of the highest quality at all times, by regular monitoring and challenging provision. (e) strategic and management: The successful provider must: — bring a national and local perspective to strategic meetings, — support response to national and local consultations. Above list is not exhaustive and further details can be found in tender documentation.