WMCA Technical Education, Skills and Employment Support Flexible Procurement System - Application 2

This notice is being used to inform the market of Application 2 of the Flexible Procurement System (FPS) for Technical Education, Skills and Employment Support by West Midlands Combined Authority.

WMCA have opted to establish an FPS under the Light Touch Regime rules, within the Public Contracts Regulations (PCR, 2015) to deliver our Technical Education, Skills and Employment Support services provision. An FPS is an overarching agreement that allows FPS Providers who are admitted onto it to subsequently compete for Call-off Contracts through further competitions. It operates in a similar way to a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) but will have set windows for evaluation of Applications to join. This will allow WMCA to continually expand our network of providers and welcome new FPS Providers that are able to meet our requirements for the duration of the FPS.

The FPS will offer an expedient route to market and direct access to the provider base for WMCA’s Skills and Employment Support requirements. The refresh of this route to market has been made in order to align with WMCA’s Employment and Skills Strategy and to streamline the bidding process for employment and skills providers. Through engagement with key stakeholders, WMCA identified where improvements could be made to the Adult Skills DPS for the benefit of WMCA, our providers and our residents.

The FPS will include five categories of delivery, linked to pillars within the Employment and Skills Strategy. In order to be included on 4 of the categories, Applicants will be required to demonstrate their understanding and capability of delivering in those category areas. The categories will include;

• Building strong and inclusive communities
• Providing a good education up to level 2
• Moving residents into employment and supporting career progression
• Meeting future skills needs at level 3 and above through upskilling and reskilling
• Innovation

Although this FPS is established in order to facilitate immediate and easy access to the Adult Skills and Employment Support Market, WMCA will not be mandated to use it for every requirement.

It is the Authorities attention that Call-off Competitions will be ran under this FPS in order to find suitable FPS Providers to deliver individual Technical Education, Skills and Employment Support provision Call-off Contracts. Call-off Contracts will be awarded to the successful FPS Provider/s in line with the award criteria stated in the Call-off ITT documents, which will be formulated using the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) principle, comprising of Technical, Commercial and (if applicable) Social Value criteria.

The deadline for submission of initial applications is Tuesday 31st March 2026 at 12:00pm. As this is an open opportunity, applications may be submitted between 16/01/2026 and 31/03/2026 (12:00pm). While the e-tendering system will allow applicants to update their submission after it has been submitted, please note that WMCA will evaluate applications on a “first submission received” basis.

Only the initial submission will be evaluated. Any updates or amendments made after submission may not be considered or evaluated. Applicants are therefore strongly advised to submit their application only once it has been fully finalised.