Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Kent County Council
Sessions House
Maidstone
ME14 1XQ
Contact
Ms Orla Miller
Telephone
+44 3000412878
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKJ4 - Kent
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Skills Bootcamps - CN240143
Reference number
DN739196
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 80500000 - Training services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Skills Bootcamps seek to unlock UK economic growth by improving the pipeline of
intermediate and higher-level skills among adults (19+), particularly in priority sectors such
as digital, construction and green skills. Courses are designed to increase participation in
adult training, especially those wishing to retrain or upskill, and employer engagement is
intrinsic to delivery.
Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks in sectors
where there are evidenced skills gaps nationally or locally. Kent County Council therefore
intends to commission this type of provision for 2025/2026 and beyond. The provision will
focus on the areas with skill gaps which require training interventions to meet the sector
suitability assessment criteria.
Furthermore, due to changes in procurement regulations moving from Public Contract
Regulations (2015) to the Procurement Act 2023, the Council wants to conduct market
engagement to raise awareness of the implications of the changes in these regulations and
to further determine the most appropriate service model for this provision.
As part of Kent County Council’s commitment to fairness, openness and transparency the
Prior Information Notice (PIN) is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre procurement market testing with the following aims:
• To develop a suitable delivery model.
• To understand the market and readiness to deliver Skills Bootcamps across Kent.
• To explore the most viable commissioning approach to deliver Skills Bootcamps.
As part of this process workshops are available to interested providers, with two time slots
available. To register an interest in this opportunity providers must submit an ‘Expression of
Interest’ (EOI) through the Kent Business Portal and send a message through the messaging
function with their preference for a time slot.
These workshops will be delivered via Microsoft Teams and will last for 1.5 hours.
They are scheduled on the following dates:
Wednesday 12th February 2025: 14:30 to 16:00
Friday 14th February 2025: 09:00 to 10:30
Please note that feedback from the workshops will be shared with every provider who has
expressed an interest, and this information will be made available to all bidders in any future
tender.
Please be aware that Expressions of Interest must be received by Tuesday 11th February 2025 @ 2pm, and all responses will need to be submitted via the Kent Business Portal by this time.
Section six. Complementary information
six.6) Original notice reference
Notice number: 2024/S 000-026841
Section seven. Changes
seven.1.2) Text to be corrected in the original notice
Section number
II.1.4
Place of text to be modified
Short Description
Instead of
Text
New Market Engagement Workshop dates entered.
Instead of original dates which were abandoned (see last amendment)
Read
Text
Wednesday 12th February 2025: 14:30 to 16:00
Friday 14th February 2025: 09:00 to 10:30