Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Scottish Government
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Telephone
+44 1312444000
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKM - Scotland
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA10482
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
DLEARN-Childcare Early Adopter Communities – Process, Impact & Spend Evaluation
Reference number
722380
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79315000 - Social research services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Scottish Government, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, has awarded a contract for a process, impact and spend evaluation of six ‘early adopter communities’ who are testing out local, place-based approaches to childcare from the very early years up to the end of primary school.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £244,959
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79311410 - Economic impact assessment
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Scottish Government has committed to building a system of school age childcare that provides care before and after school, all year round, to support parents and carers – particularly on low incomes – to access secure and stable employment.
The School Age Childcare Transformational Change Programme was established to deliver this commitment. The Programme is taking a phased approach to policy design in order to test and refine what an effective system will look like in different communities, and to adapt and scale different approaches. This includes work within six ‘early adopter communities’ (EACs) to understand how to co-design local systems of childcare which will meet the needs of families living within those communities. This work is targeted at families most at risk of living in poverty, as set out in Best Start, Bright Futures, the Scottish Government’s tackling child poverty delivery plan.
In the 2023 Programme for Government, Scottish Government also made a commitment to expand the EACs to include families with younger children for the first time. This will mainly focus on children up to age three, given that all three- and four-year-olds (and eligible two-year-olds) are already entitled to 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare. In the coming year the EACs will conduct engagement work with families to better understand their needs in relation to childcare for younger children. Some limited delivery will also begin for families in selected communities where this engagement work has already taken place.
The Scottish Government, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, wishes to commission a process, impact and spend evaluation of the EACs. The contractor will be required to build on a first phase of evaluation of the EACs (which involved development of a theory of change and a monitoring and evaluation framework, an early process evaluation, and an evaluability assessment) and work with the Scottish Government to meet the aims outlined below.
This next phase of work is to provide robust findings on the impact of these community-based childcare projects on children and families, how these changes are enabled, and how the resources put into the EACs have been used. These findings will in turn inform both continuous improvement for local partners and wider local and national childcare policy.
The aims of this evaluation are:
1. Scope and refine a detailed evaluation approach, building on a preliminary evaluability assessment.
2. Work with leads and partners in the EACs to refine and improve monitoring and evaluation data, as required
3. Conduct a process evaluation across all 6 EACs
4. Conduct an early impact evaluation across all 6 EACs
5. Conduct a spend evaluation across all 6 EACs.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Understanding the Requirement / Weighting: 10
Quality criterion - Name: Research, Design and Methodology / Weighting: 40
Quality criterion - Name: Staff, Skills and Task Allocation / Weighting: 20
Quality criterion - Name: Project Management and Risk Assessment / Weighting: 15
Quality criterion - Name: Ethical Sensitivities / Weighting: 10
Quality criterion - Name: Fair Work First / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: Climate Emergency / Weighting: 0
Quality criterion - Name: Community Benefits / Weighting: 0
Quality criterion - Name: Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery (BCDR) / Weighting: 0
Price - Weighting: 30
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2024/S 000-034726
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
CASE/722380
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
3 February 2025
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 2
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 2
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 2
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Ipsos (market research) Ltd
4 Wemyss Place
Edinburgh
EH3 6DH
Telephone
+44 7583001246
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKM75 - Edinburgh, City of
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £244,959
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
(SC Ref:790087)
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Edinburgh Sheriff Court
27 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LB
Country
United Kingdom