Official UK procurement notice
DCS/Aspirant Leadership Programme · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Department for Education (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe DCS/Aspirant Leadership Programme (currently branded as Upon) is in the last year of delivery and the contract expires in March 2024. We are now seeking to appoint a suitably experienced organisation to deliver the next iteration of the leadership programme from April 2024.
The Department for Education has funded a national DCS/Aspirant leadership programme since 2020. The programme comprises two strands:
- to provide leadership development training and support to DCSs in their first year within the role
- to provide training for aspirant DCSs, to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed for the challenging DCS role, creating a pipeline of skilled, confident, and capable strategic leaders.
CPV: Adult and other education services · Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Description of ServicesRenewalPublished value£2,500,000
Description of Services
The programme aims to equip DCSs in their first year in the role with the necessary skills and support needed to be exemplary leaders, whilst simultaneously creating a pipeline of effective future DCSs via the Aspirant strand. The programme will also seek to improve diversity amongst DCSs by recruiting Aspirants from a range of protected characteristics and socio-economic backgrounds, leading to greater DCS diversity as they progress through their careers.
The programme will need to flex and adapt to the changing landscape of the sector and the needs of DCSs whilst simultaneously creating a pipeline of future leaders who will be ready to become the effective, strategic and resilient leaders the sector needs. DCS will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to drive sustainable strategic improvement that will contribute to the improvement in outcomes for children and families.
Both programme strands will embed child and family centred thinking to help support the delivery of children’s services within LAs. Content will also need to align with central government policy, including the recommendations from Stable Homes, Built on Love report.
Contract Term
The initial contract period will run until December 2026 and will be structured into the following:
- A set up period estimated to commence end of January 2024 (to last no longer than 12 months)
- Programme Delivery: 1st April 2024 - 31 March 2026
- Aspirant Coaching Period: Up to 9 month coaching period from 31 March 2026 – 31 December 2026
Contract Value
Funding available is structured as follows:
- £300k will be made available for the set up period, separate to the Programme Delivery Budget.
- Funding of up to £1.1m (VAT exclusive) will be made available each year for the first 2 years of Programme Delivery, including any activity undertaken in the Aspirant Coaching Period.
The Requirements that are the subject of this procurement are captured by PCR 2015 Chapter 3, Section 7 (Social and Other Specific Services); the so called "Light Touch Regime".
To register your interest to tender and view the tender documents, you will need to be registered as a supplier on the DfE Jaggaer eTendering portal, available at
education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html ↗
Once registered the information will be accessible via the ‘View Opportunities’ link on the Homepage. Select the Opportunity Notice for DCS/Aspirant Leadership Programme; (ITT_2563) and this will take you directly to the live tender. The closing date for submitting your tender is 12pm NOON 23rd October 2023.
A Bidder Engagement Event will be held on 20 September 2023 to provide an overview of the procurement requirements. This will be an online event hosted on Microsoft Teams.
To book a place, please visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dcsaspirant-leader… ↗
Following the publication of the If you cannot / or do not intend to attend the Bidder Event, we would welcome your comments/questions via Jaggaer by Tuesday 19th September, 12pm. Please use the Jaggaer e-procurement system education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html ↗ to submit any questions you may have about the requirements and tendering procedure at this time.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 11 Sept 2023, 13:52 BST
- Last source update
- 11 Sept 2023, 13:52 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 23 Oct 2023 – …
- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-026814- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-03fbbcFind a Tender
- Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
The Authority will incorporate a voluntary minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the Contract is communicated to Potential Suppliers. Potential Suppliers who are unsuccessful shall be informed by the Authority as soon as possible after the decision has been made as to the reasons why they were unsuccessful. If any clarification regarding the award of the Contract has not been successfully resolved, The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No. 102) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by breach of the regulations to take legal action
Any such action must be brought within the applicable limitation period. Where a contract has not been entered into, the Court may order the setting aside of the award decision or order the Authority to amend any document and may award damages.
If a contract has been entered into the Court may, depending on the circumstances, award damages, make a declaration of ineffectiveness, order the Authority to pay a fine, and/or order that the duration of the contract be shortened. The purpose of the voluntary standstill period referred to above is to allow the parties to apply to the Courts to set aside the award decision before the Contract is entered into.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 23 Oct 2023, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission","written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Participation fee
- document
- Bids opened
- 23 Oct 2023, 12:00 BST
Timeline
11 Sept 2023 → 23 Apr 2024 · 4 dates- Notice published11 Sept 2023, 13:52 BST
- Submission deadline23 Oct 2023, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened23 Oct 2023, 12:00 BST
- Bids must remain valid until23 Apr 2024, 23:59 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.