Call for competition: Wave 3 Skills Bootcamps Procurement consisting of 7 defined Lots

Concepts

• national skills fund
• education and training
• overall aims of the skills bootcamps
• demand skills training
• higher-skilled job
• demand’ skills needs
• range of digital skills
• specific skills shortage vacancies
• skills bootcamps
• procurement consisting

Location

North East England:

Description

The Department for Education previously issued an opportunity notice through Contracts Finder publication reference: 96fbcbb9-36ca-4071-b4e9-703d557c633e & URL: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/1c7f4032-d5a0-4593-ab9a-1cddeb... The Government is investing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) in the National Skills Fund. This is a significant investment and has the potential to deliver new opportunities to generations of adults who may have been previously left behind. Skills Bootcamps aim to secure benefits for adults 19+ by giving them access to in-demand skills training and a guaranteed interview for a more sustainable, higher-skilled job and higher wages over time. The benefits for employers include helping them fill specific skills shortage vacancies, enabling them to become more productive, more quickly. The overall aims of the Skills Bootcamps are: a. to deliver *flexible training programmes lasting up to 16 weeks, based on employer / sector ‘in-demand’ skills needs which may be either regulated (i.e. qualification based) or non-regulated (e.g. based on alignment with industry standards) enabling adults (19+) to do training around work and other commitments, looking to gain work, additional responsibilities, or access new opportunities and will offer a guaranteed job interview (in the case of a new job) to individual participants on completion of the course. b. to address the needs of adults (19+) who are full-time and part-time employed, unemployed, returning to work after a break or self-employed, and provide individuals with wider access to opportunities to retrain, update or formalise their skills or acquire specialist skills. c. to address the needs of employers and the wider economy, to deliver targeted interventions to meet short-medium term demand to fill vacancies and drive productivity. They will help fill medium-higher level vacancies and bring individuals closer to better jobs, by linking them with line of sight to a job/ different role, additional responsibilities or new opportunities/contracts. d. to help fill vacancies and bring individuals closer to better jobs (including those currently in employment), by linking them with line of sight to a job / different role, additional responsibilities or new opportunities / contracts. We initially tested Skills Bootcamps in a range of Digital Skills such as digital marketing, software development and cyber security from Autumn 2020 and have expanded across England to include a wider range of more technical and specialist courses such as construction, retrofit, electro technical, photonics, marine design, electrical installation and more. Any future mainstreaming decisions will be based on an evaluation of the Skills Bootcamp model to evidence what works and is subject to funding availability beyond FY2022-23. Potential Suppliers awarded contracts from this procurement exercise will be informed of future mainstreaming decisions in due course. We are keen to see innovative proposals of realistic and sustainable options that demonstrate commitment from all sides to a successful outcome. Wave 3 Skills Bootcamp summary Lots (1-7): Lot 1 – Digital Core Lot 2 – Digital Bespoke Lot 3 – Technical Core Lot 4 – Technical Bespoke Lot 5 - Construction Lot 6 - Pathway to Accelerated Apprenticeships Lot 7 – Green Skills THE ANTICIPATED COMPETITION LAUNCH DATE IS EARLY W/C 24.01.22. IT IS ENCOURAGED THAT YOU CHECK JAGGAER REGULARLY FROM MONDAY 24.01.22 - 12 NOON ONWARDS, TO ACCESS THE OPPORTUNITY AT THE EARLIEST (POST LAUNCH). PLEASE NOTE: THE MAXIMUM VALUE THAT CAN BE AWARDED THROUGH CONTRACTS ARISING FROM THIS PROCUREMENT (ALL x 7 LOTS) INCLUDING ALL POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS IS £150,000,000.00. EXTENSIONS WILL BE AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION. The Authority's key objective is to deliver a commercial solution which achieves the ‘Skills Bootcamps’ policy aims, efficiency and value for money by using industry best practice approaches to training design and delivery which demonstrate benefits in terms of learner participation and outcomes, cost, innovation, operational resilience and meets the timescales for implementation prescribed. The Authority wishes to procure the Services, the primary purpose of which is to support design, development and implement delivery of Skills Bootcamps across England as defined in the requirements specification. The Authority intends to award a number of Contracts to the Potential Provider(s) that offers the Most Economically Advantageous Tender in the opinion of the Authority (as determined through the application of the Evaluation Methodology).

Lot Division

CPV Codes

• 80000000 - Education and training services

Indicators

• This is a one-off contract (no recurrence)
• Renewals are available.
• Technical restrictions apply.

Other Information

This procurement is for seven separate Lots. Potential Providers can bid into more than one Lot but must not attempt to bid for the same Skills Bootcamp in different Lots. If Potential Providers submit bids for the same Skills Bootcamp in different Lots, the Authority reserves the right to use its discretion to decide which Lot to include this bid in and which Lot to exclude it from, as it sees fit. Note. the Authority will require Potential Providers to complete an SSQ as part of the procurement. ONLY 1 SSQ response is required, whether Potential Providers bid for one Lot or multiple Lots. See Attachment containing 'Core Subject Areas' & suggested possible 'Skills Bootcamp Subjects' in relation to this Lot. ** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** Interested suppliers must ensure they are registered on the Jaggaer portal in order to participate in this procurement. Please ensure that the person who will be conducting the communications for your bid is the official contact in your Jaggaer registration. All associated bidder questions and/or clarifications must be communicated through the Jaggaer E-Sourcing portal, adhering to Public Contracts Regulations 2015, section 18, transparency requirements The publication of this notice does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education to award funding and commits only to the call for competition and subsequent invitation to tender. Please see Jaggaer guidance instructions attached.