UK SBS PS16149 Reviewing Post-16 Education and Training Establishments in England Support for the Area Review process

*** This tender requirement was abandoned prior to a Contract award decision. ***

As set out in the Governments policy document "Reviewing post 16 education" the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE) is currently overseeing the review of all FE and Six Form Colleges in England. BIS and DfE are separate Government Departments, reporting ultimately to their respective Ministers who are accountable to Parliament.

The reviews themselves are locally steered reviews, overseen by the FE Commissioner and the Sixth Form College Commissioner, and carried out by FE Advisors. Support is provided via JARDU (Joint Area Review Delivery Unit with staff from BIS, DfE, and the Skills and Education Funding Agencies).

The reviews report to a local Area Review Steering Group comprising typically of College Principals and Governors, Local Economic Partnerships (LEPs), the Regional Schools Commissioner and the local authority. It is the responsibility of the Steering Group to agree and implement review recommendations.

So far 3 of 5 "Waves" of reviews have either been completed or are under way. Waves 4 and 5 are due to start in September and November 2016 and comprise of 15 reviews involving 118 colleges. We need additional resources to undertake some of the Wave 4 and 5 reviews.

The contract involves contributing to a total of 4 reviews involving 38 colleges, divided into four Lots plus a fifth Lot to provide the FE Commissioner's team with additional capacity. The requirement could be delivered with one contractor managing the overall delivery, working with sub-contractors. Alternatively, delivery could be based on individual contract arrangements. Tenderers are therefore invited to bid for one or more Lots. We aim to appoint one successful supplier per Lot;

Additional information: UK Shared Business Services eSourcing

As part of the strategic alliance between UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), UK SBS can use the CCS eSourcing Suite for future procurements.

If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link ‘Register for CCS eSourcing’. Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.

Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This is done by emailing Expressionofinterest@crowncommercial.gov.uk.

Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered Bidder; and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.

Crown Commercial Service will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done.

The Sourcing documents can then be accessed on the eSourcing Suite at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in the Specification documents within Contracts Finder.

As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event. Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information.

For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service Helpdesk : Telephone: 0345 010 3503

Training documents to support Bidders utilise Emptoris CCS eSourcing are available in the Contracts Finder Tender documents section.