Wraparound School Age Childcare and Early Years Entitlements (Delivery Partner) - Early Engagement

Concepts

• education and training
• early years entitlements
• market of a forthcoming market engagement event
• early engagement
• purpose of this early engagement notice
• wraparound school age childcare
• additional delivery support
• school age children
• early years
• delivery of the expanded childcare entitlements

Location

Description

The purpose of this early engagement notice is to notify the market of a forthcoming market engagement event relating to the Department's wraparound school age childcare programme and the delivery of expanded early years entitlements announced at the 2023 Spring Budget. It is not a call for competition. This PIN is intended to inform the market of an opportunity to help shape the future delivery ahead of a possible procurement. Providers will need to register their interest via the DfE eTendering portal (Jaggaer). Providers can access this system at: https://education.app.jaggaer.com for details of how to register and the terms of free registration. The Department is currently investigating options to procure additional delivery support to local authorities and potentially schools, early years settings and private providers for the establishment and expansion of wraparound and delivery of the expanded childcare entitlements. We are interested in hearing from suppliers with the skills and expertise to work proactively and reactively with LAs to support the delivery of this childcare agenda, which support both early years and school age children. In pursuance of this, the Department is seeking information from suppliers in order to help inform the options available to the Department in regard to how the programme are delivered. We will be undertaking an online event on 27 July 2023. This event is anticipated to last approximately 1 hour from 4 to 5pm. The market engagement event is an opportunity to shape the core responsibilities and delivery offer of the Department's future programme ahead of possible future procurement. During the engagement session we will be asking questions which we list in Jaggaer. We would also like a follow up response after the session to help inform our approach to any potential procurement. Purpose From September 2025, all eligible working parents of children aged nine months and over will be entitled to 30 hours free childcare per week up until their child starts school. In addition, the government also announced that there will be £289m funding to support local authorities to work with schools and other providers to increase the supply of wraparound childcare, so that all parents of school-age children can access childcare from 8am - 6pm if they need it. Provision will be available from September 2024. This is a hugely exciting programme that will remove barriers preventing parents from participating in the workforce or working longer hours, and provide more children with access to high quality early education.

CPV Codes

• 80000000 - Education and training services

Indicators

• Contract is suitable for SMEs.
• Contract is suitable for VCOs.

Other Information

Attendees will be invited to respond to a post-event questionnaire. The market engagement event and the questionnaire document form part of the DfE initial market research in which we are seeking information from a range of providers to inform any future approach and delivery. For information: Attendance at the market engagement events is not a pre-requisite for being able to submit a tender against this opportunity. If you are unable to attend the market engagement events, the slides and Q&A outcomes will be made available. Procurement, if taken forward, is expected to open later this year, more information on the procurement process will be provided in due course. This notice is for information only and is not a call for competition. The Department reserves the right not to enter a formal procurement process and not award contracts. Accordingly, the Authority will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work or effort incurred by a provider in acting on the basis of this PIN. All future information will be issued to potential providers via the DfE eTendering Portal. Providers can access this system at: https://education.app.jaggaer.com for details of how to register and the terms of free registration. All information included in this notice is indicative and subject to change. DfE eTendering Portal https://education.app.jaggaer.com