Delivery of the free entitlement for early education to two year old children
Specification for the supply of services to support local authorities and providers: delivery of the free entitlement for early education to two year old children. Reference number: 1018
Deadline date: 26/04/2012
This deadline is for… 12 noon 26th April 2012 for return of tenders
Contract value: £1 – £4,000,000
Location where the contract is to be carried out: England
Is this suitable for smaller suppliers? Yes
Is this contract suitable for a voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations? Yes
Name of the buying organisation: Department for Education
Description of the contract
Delivery of the entitlement, for eligible families, to free early education for two year olds is a challenge for both local authorities and providers, in what is a large and diverse sector. The Department for Education is, therefore, seeking to procure a national support contract to support delivery at a primarily local level to achieve the statutory duty, from September 2013, and its further expansion from September 2014. The contract is intended to operate across the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years. The successful supplier will need a good understanding of the early education sector and the legal framework within which it operate. We envisage that the successful supplier will support local authorities and providers in: a. ensuring there is sufficient capacity to meet the entitlement b. improving the quality of provision so that it best meets the needs of 2 year olds (within the context of the regulatory framework for early education including the Early Years Foundation Stage and the statutory guidance for free early education) c. stimulating parental demand for free early education places. While the Department is looking for innovative and creative proposals we would expect bids to include proposals which as a minimum: offer (rather than require) all local authorities a review of capacity, delivery systems, local constraints and challenges in delivering free early education to two year olds to help them assess their degree of preparedness; to deliver and to signpost to appropriate support; and support the sharing of learning between local authorities and between providers.
Documents
Classification of the contract
80000000 Education and training services
75200000 Provision of services to the community
79400000 Business and management consultancy and related services
Additional information
Contract type: Services – Unspecified
Is it a framework agreement? No
Is this contract related to a programme of funding? No
Contract will be awarded based on: Most economically advantageous tender in terms of: The criteria stated in the contract documents
Estimated length of contract: 01/06/2012 – 31/03/2015
Who to contact
Contact name Elizabeth Kay
Address Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street,, London, SW1P 3BT
Telephone 0207 783 8135
Extension number:
Fax
Email EarlyEducation.TRIALS@education.gsi.gov.uk
Web address