CSR/128 - The Civil Service Central Government Apprenticeship Training and Related Services Contract

The Civil Service Apprenticeship Unit (CSAU) sits within the Cabinet Office (Authority) and is a centrally delivered support function for departments and suppliers for all aspects of apprenticeship training. The CSAU, on behalf of the Authority, sought to award contracts to certified apprenticeship training provider(s) who could deliver national or regional coverage of the services across the UK to Civil Service Departments.

The CSAU, on behalf of the Authority, intended to award one contract to the highest-ranked tenderer for each National Lot and each Regional Sub-Lot (as described below).

National Lots and Regional Sub-Lots

The Services have been divided firstly into eight (8) main national lots based on profession areas (the "National Lots") as listed below:

National Lots (x8 award opportunities)

Lot 1 Operational Delivery

Lot 2 Business Administration

Lot 3 HR

Lot 4 Finance

Lot 5 Commercial

Lot 6 Policy

Lot 7 Project Management

Lot 8 Digital

Each profession area is also divided into eight (8) 'sub-lots' by region as set out below (the "Regional Sub-Lots"). This provides a further sixty-four (64) Regional Sub-Lots.

Regional Sub-Lots (x64 award opportunities)

For each of the above profession areas:

North East - Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham

North West - Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire

Yorkshire and the Humber - North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, East Riding, South Yorkshire

East Midlands - Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire

West Midlands - Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire

East of England - Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex

South East - Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex, London, Berkshire, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Isle of Wight

South West - Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

The Authority ran the procurement and entered into awarding contracts on behalf of itself and other Civil Service Departments. The Civil Service Departments have third party rights under the contracts and can award services to the appointed suppliers.

In addition, there may be some requirements for delivery of the Apprenticeship training services to apprentices based outside of England or outside the relevant Region.

This procurement was conducted under the Light Touch Regime in accordance with regulations 74 to 76 of PCR 2015, and related to the administrative social, educational, healthcare and cultural services which are listed in Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) 2015.

The contract period is from Monday 6th June 2022 for an initial period of 24 months until Sunday 5th June 2024, with a unilateral option for the Authority to extend the term of the contract for a period of up to two years (on the basis of two periods of 12 months).