Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
governance.recruitment@education.gov.uk
Telephone
+44 8700012345
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
Education
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Trustee Recruitment for Academy Trusts
Reference number
Market Engagement Event
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 80000000 - Education and training services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The purpose of the future procurement is to recruit academy trustees, including chairs of trustees, onto academy trust boards that have been identified by Department for Education (DfE) Regional Directors’ teams.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79600000 - Recruitment services
- 80100000 - Primary education services
- 80200000 - Secondary education services
- 80300000 - Higher education services
- 80400000 - Adult and other education services
- 80500000 - Training services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
Main site or place of performance
UK
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Academy trustees have a huge opportunity to make a positive impact on children and young people’s futures by supporting academy trusts to be high quality through effective and robust governance. Academy trust boards need skilled trustees to uphold the charitable objects of the trust, oversee the strategic direction, and hold the executive to account for educational performance, and financial and risk management. Academy trust governance is modelled on charitable company governance, and boards need volunteers with the expertise and commitment required for effective governance of large charitable organisations.
The contractor will recruit academy trustees, including chairs of trustees, onto academy trust boards that have been identified by Department for Education (DfE) Regional Directors’ teams. These will be academy trusts that are experiencing significant challenges with financial or educational performance and need additional experienced, high calibre individuals to join the board and improve the governance of the trust.
The successful contractor will also promote awareness of the role of academy trustee to target audiences to increase the supply of volunteers for trustee vacancies more broadly. This activity will be complemented by DfE communications and stakeholder engagement activity.
This procurement is subject to financial business planning, and the DfE reserves the right to not procure the services outlined below following the conclusion of this review.
It is expected that the contractor will, as a minimum, need to:
• Identify and recruit suitable, high calibre, skilled volunteers in England who have the commitment to serve on academy trust boards, whilst prioritising support to those boards most in need, in areas of the country where capacity is weakest.
• Ensure the volunteer pool is wide enough to support academy trusts in securing diversity of their boards. Trusts of a religious nature may need to recruit people who meet certain faith requirements.
• Ensure that volunteers understand the roles and responsibilities of a trustee, and the time commitment required, particularly in academy trusts experiencing significant financial/educational challenges, in advance of their accepting a position on a board.
• Work effectively with DfE Regional Directors’ teams who will identify boards where academy trustees are most needed and put forward those volunteers with the relevant and desirable skills, knowledge, and characteristics to support boards with the challenges they face.
• Provide high quality induction support to all academy trustees recruited through this funded recruitment service.
• Work with stakeholders, employers, and sector bodies to promote and raise awareness of the role of trusteeship to target audiences.
• Collect and report on specified management information data, undertake self-evaluation, and build in continuous improvement throughout the contract lifetime to ensure that findings are fed into delivery on an ongoing basis.
Indicative Timeline
The DfE will be hosting online market engagement events to summarise the requirement and provide an opportunity for the DfE to test our broader questions around delivery and feasibility. Your organisation can choose to attend either of the following dates:
23rd February 16:00 – 17:00
28th February 14:15 – 15:15
Please register your interest in attending one of the events via the DfE e-Tendering portal Jaggaer, http://education.app.jaggaer.com, by completing the Market Engagement – Expression of Interest form (Ref – ssq_351), no later than 1pm on 21 February.
Once your organisation has expressed their interest in the opportunity, event details and joining instructions will be issued.
The procurement is anticipated to be launched later in Spring 2023 with contracts being awarded in Summer 2023, with a view to delivering in Autumn 2023. More information on the procurement process will be provided following market engagement through the ITT.
two.2.14) Additional information
This notice is for information only and is not a call for competition. The DfE reserves the right not to enter into a formal procurement process and not award contracts. Accordingly, the DfE will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work, or effort incurred by a provider in acting on the basis of this Prior Information Notice.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
17 April 2023
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
All future information will be issued to potential providers via the DfE e-Tendering Portal. Providers can access this system at: https://education.app.jaggaer.com for details of how to register and the terms of free registration.