The Executive Office (TEO) Communities in Transition (CIT) Employability Pilot Programme in the Lurgan / Craigavon CIT Area

Tender description

The Executive Office (TEO) is seeking to establish a Contract for the provision of an Employability Pilot Programme to young people in seeking to address some of the issues / barriers facing them in relation to unemployment in Lurgan / Craigavon CIT Area. Annex A of the Specification provides maps of the designated areas, referenced as Super Output Area Drumnamoe 1 and 2 (Kilwilke) and Drumgask 2 (Craigavon). This tender is linked to the CIT Project which had been due to end in June 2021, however the Executive made a commitment within ‘New Decade New Approach’ to continue its delivery with a renewed focus and additional funding up to 31 March 2024. The CIT Project is therefore being delivered in two phases, with Phase 1 having been completed in 30 June 2021 and Phase 2 to be completed by 31 March 2024. Phase 1 of the Project provided a firm foundation for continuing to address the issues that allow Paramilitarism, criminality and coercive control to persist within communities. Phase 2 presents an opportunity to further refine the work as we move forward. This Contract falls under Phase 2 and will support the Department in its overall delivery of the CIT Project. For this tender opportunity, the Contractor will design and deliver a programme that seeks to deliver early intervention work with compulsory school aged youth at an early age as well as young people who are eligible for employment in the 16 – 24 years old age range, who are vulnerable and in danger of recruitment from paramilitary organisations. This Programme will be delivered as a partnership with the Department for Communities (DfC) JobStart Programme. Taking this into consideration, the delivery of the programme will be a pilot project for a 12 month period and will inform delivery of such intervention in subsequent years. The Contractor’s programme will incorporate and deliver a number of programme activities, described at paragraph 6.5 of the Specification. These activities will include the Contractor recruiting individuals from the CIT Area to participate in the programme. Tenderers shall note that there is also a requirement to recruit additional individuals from within the Area of Influence (Mourneview) around the core outlined CIT area. Tenderers will therefore need to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the Lurgan / Craigavon CIT Area (as defined in the Specification of Requirements Schedule) including the issues and needs facing the youth community within it, taking into account the aims of the CIT Project (Action B4), and the overall Executive Action Plan on Tackling Paramilitary Activity, Criminality and Organised Crime. Tenderers must demonstrate what they consider to be the challenges in aligning a programme(s) to the issues. The core purpose of the proposed intervention is multi-fold: • Raise educational attainment, employment and life aspirations • Improve learning outcomes for young people • Build the capacity of the wider community to support the young people to achieve the necessary skills and qualifications to enable them to aspire to a better quality of life. All activities which the Contractor proposes to carry out must clearly link to the objectives listed above. Full details of all the requirements for this Contract are provided for within the Specification of Requirements Schedule. The Contractor will be expected to start delivering the Contract in December for a period of one year.