Adult and other education services

Tender description

The main purpose of the AEB is to provide adults with the skills needed for entering and sustaining employment, an apprenticeship, a traineeship, or other further learning. The funding pays specifically for learning programmes (predominantly qualifications) and provides an element of learner support funding for those with learning difficulties and disabilities. The purpose of the procurement is to procure training provision for eligible West Yorkshire residents aged 19 plus in line with the AEB Strategy. This will cover a number of different learner groups and sectors. Contracts will deliver provision that responds to individuals as set out in the West Yorkshire Funding and Performance Management Rules and will encompass all eligible provision delivered as part of the statutory and policy entitlements, as well as regulated and non-regulated learning. Contracts will need to be West Yorkshire-wide, meaning that all eligible West Yorkshire residents should be able to access provision, and that the provider must ensure accessibility of learning across West Yorkshire, taking into account reasonable travel to learn patterns. It is important to ensure that AEB provision caters for residents who need additional, bespoke person-centred learning support or specific employment sectors that are geographically focused. Therefore, Lot 2 is for organisations who are interested in bidding for services that provide targeted, specialist interventions for: specific groups of residents, residents from particular communities within West Yorkshire, including those defined by geography as well as particular needs/barriers; targeted sector skills areas, which are not West Yorkshire wide although are priorities within certain local authority areas. We need to ensure West Yorkshire’s Adult Education Budget provision remains agile in the ever-changing economic picture and is in a position to quickly respond to shocks and new opportunities that arise. These contracts will be awarded to organisations who are interested in bidding for services that provide targeted, specialist interventions for emerging economic needs: • targeted sector skills areas; • training to address unemployment; • training to support progression in work, particularly for those on low wages; • engaging with residents from particular communities within West Yorkshire, including those defined by geography as well as particular needs/barriers. Contractors will deliver highly responsive provision that is targeted and specific to a range of learner and employer needs that require more flexibility and intensity to deliver than core AEB provision.