Insolvency and legal services to support the insolvency regime for further education and sixth form colleges in England and Wales

See Attachments for full description and additional information.

The Government is introducing a new insolvency regime for further education (FE) and sixth form colleges in England and Wales. The regime will apply aspects of normal corporate insolvency law to colleges that are statutory corporations, and will also introduce a special administration regime known as education administration, with a special objective to protect learner provision for existing students at an insolvent college.

This contract will allow the Secretary of State (in relation to a further education body in England) or Welsh Ministers (in relation to a further education body in Wales) to secure the services of relevant insolvency-related professionals (such as licensed insolvency practitioners, accountants and legal advisors). This will enable a quick response to potentially rapidly-changing situations in individual colleges which are in severe financial distress.

Additional information: In line with best practice, DfE is holding pre-market engagement events for potential contractors, to provide further information about the insolvency regime and our proposals. Officials from the relevant policy and commercial teams will be in attendance, and there will also be an opportunity to ask questions.

The events will take place at our office at Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT on Friday 7th September 2018.

The first event will run from 10:00 - 12:00 and will focus on insolvency services (IBRs and formal insolvency appointments).

The second event will run from 14:00 - 16:00 and will focus on legal services.

Potential attendees are requested to provide advance notification of their wish to attend. Due to limited space, we have had to restrict attendances to two people per organisation, and places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. If the event is fully subscribed, we may ask for only one attendee per organisation, or look to hold an additional event if required.

Please email FEinsolvency.consultation@education.gov.uk by 12 noon on Friday 31st August 2018, with the name and contact details of your organisation, the names of the people who wish to attend and specify which event (insolvency or legal services) you would like to attend. We will respond to confirm your place(s).