Pre-school education services

Tender description

North Lanarkshire Council (the ‘Council’) is required by Scottish Government, under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, to provide a funded placement of 600 hours to all 3 and 4 years old and eligible 2 year olds. North Lanarkshire Council has made a commitment to provide 1 140 hours, where possible, to children within those age groups detailed above. As yet it is unknown when Scottish Government will make the delivery of 1 140 hours statutory. The Council have already established a Flexible Framework (see https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=NOV399541) to secure external providers who can supplement the Council’s internal early learning and childcare provision. The original framework was setup for 3 years, with included options for tenderers to apply to the framework in either years 2 or 3. This notice is for entry point 2, which is is applicable for any potential provider and/or setting that is not already on the framework. This contract award procedure is being carried out in accordance with The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, Regulation 74. The following information is intended to give potential tenderers an overview of the high level requirements. Requirements: Provision of funded placement of 1 140 hours per child. Providers must ensure one meal and one snack, per day, is available. Providers that intend to prepare meals on site will be required to work with nutritionists from the Council. Meals should be of high nutritional value and all funded providers are required to be registered as a food business operator and provide a copy of their Food Safety and Hygiene Policy. It should be noted that funded sessions should not exceed 30 hours per week and 10 hours per day. Potential tenderers seeking appointment to this flexible framework for more than one Setting will be required to submit an individual tender for each setting, i.e. a tenderer with 2 nurseries within the North Lanarkshire geographic area seeking appointment to the flexible framework for both nurseries must submit a tender for each individual nursery. Further to this overview, a detailed specification is contained within the main invitation to tender (‘ITT’) document which is accessible (and downloadable) from the buyer attachment area within the PCS-T tendering system. Service delivery must be carried out in accordance with the information provided within this contract notice, the ITT Document and the Council's framework agreement.