Free School Meals Contingency - December 2023 Onwards

Tender description

Please Note: Only suppliers registered on Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Framework RM6248 - Payment Solutions 2 – LOT 3 will be permitted to register for the market engagement webinar. The purpose of this invitation is to notify suppliers of a forthcoming market engagement webinar. For this procurement, DfE intention is to procure via Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Framework RM6248 - Payment Solutions 2 – LOT 3 DfE is committed to the provision of free school meals (FSM) to children from disadvantaged households. During the Covid-19 pandemic, DfE worked with suppliers to ensure that pupils eligible for FSM continued to receive this support while national attendance restrictions were in place, and pupils were learning remotely. This was achieved through the delivery of an online ordering platform which allowed schools and families to order £15 worth of supermarket vouchers per FSM pupil, for each week that national attendance restrictions were in place. We are looking for a supplier to support similar contingency arrangements through the provision of supermarket vouchers for FSM eligible pupils during periods of significant disruption and interference to the normal provision of school food. In particular, we are interested in exploring whether the scope of a national voucher scheme could be broadened to cover scenarios outside of pandemic-related school closures. In order to engage with suppliers and provide further information on the potential opportunity a market engagement webinar will be held on 14 September 2023 at 2:00pm-3:00pm GMT. This event is anticipated to last approximately 1 hour. This will be an online event hosted through the Microsoft Teams platform. DfE has developed the MARKET ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE available in Jaggaer for interested suppliers to complete and it seeks to obtain feedback in relation to the potential procurement for a Free School Meal Contingency Scheme to help inform our approach to any potential procurement.