Education & Skills Funding Agency Provision for Adults

Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council (BCP Council) is seeking a supplier to provide the following Service:

Education & Skills Funding Agency Provision for Adults.

Skills & Learning Adult Community Education is the merged local authority adult learning service covering all of Bournemouth, Dorset, Christchurch & Poole.

It holds a contract for the delivery of Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funded provision for Adult Skills provision within Dorset. Some of the funding received is allocated to third parties to enable the Service to increase its reach to priority learners.

The funding paid to the supplier will be 80% of the funding received from the ESFA for each learner recruited. Skills & Learning retain 20% of the funding and this figure represents the total cost that the Service incurs in effectively identifying, selecting and managing all sub-contracted provision.

Skills & Learning is looking for bidders, with a proven track record of ESFA delivery to Adult learners, who can:

• Recruit priority learners aged 19+ who are either unemployed or with insecure employment / low wage employment
• Deliver a high-quality provision that will move individuals either closer to or into employment and increase their wellbeing. For example, by improving their: English, maths and digital skills, work-skills and general employability behaviours, as relevant to the workplace. The provision should be up to Level 2.
• Understand the priorities and workings of the ESFA
• Contribute to local area skills needs as identified by Skills & Learning ACE in the Accountability Agreement and the Dorset Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP)
• Deliver the provision on the bidder’s premises, within Dorset, with the delivery being undertaken by appropriately qualified members of staff
• Undertake the necessary registration, certification and liaison with the awarding bodies (desirable)
• Maintain effective monitoring of learner progress
• Maintain a quality of delivery that will be judged at least ‘good’ by Ofsted
• Achieve a high level of learner outcomes, both in terms of success rates and positive progressions from their programmes for learners.

The anticipated start date of the contract is August 2024. The contract will be for four years with the option to extend for a further two years (4+2). Therefore, if all extensions were taken the full length of the contract would be for six years. This duration is subject to change if a skills devolution deal is agreed for the area.

1 extension option(s) available, 0 taken; up to 24 months in total