Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department for the Economy
Adelaide House, 39-49 Adelaide Street
BELFAST
BT2 8FD
Contact
SSDAdmin.CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UK - UNITED KINGDOM
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
ID 3336901 DfE ApprenticeshipsNI 2021 Programme (Apps21)
Reference number
ID 3336901
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 80000000 - Education and training services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Department for the Economy (DfE) is seeking Contractors to provide a new Apprenticeship contract (Apps21) to commence in August 2021. ApprenticeshipsNI 2021 provides Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeship training provision for employed people who are contracted to work a minimum of 21 hours or more per week. The programme provides an opportunity to work towards completing an industry approved apprenticeship framework at Level 2 and/or Level 3 including a relevant competence based qualification, a knowledge based qualification where appropriate to the apprenticeship framework, employee rights and responsibilities modules and Essential Skills if required. For apprentices aged 16 – 24 years (young person), the Client funds 100 per cent of the cost of off-the-job training under the programme. For apprentices aged 25 years and over (adult) funding is paid at a rate of 50 per cent of the young person’s rate for specific frameworks aligned to priority economic sectors.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £122,100,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 80210000 - Technical and vocational secondary education services
- 80211000 - Technical secondary education services
- 80212000 - Vocational secondary education services
- 80310000 - Youth education services
- 80330000 - Safety education services
- 80340000 - Special education services
- 80500000 - Training services
- 80520000 - Training facilities
- 80521000 - Training programme services
- 80530000 - Vocational training services
- 80531000 - Industrial and technical training services
- 80531100 - Industrial training services
- 80531200 - Technical training services
- 80532000 - Management training services
- 80533000 - Computer-user familiarisation and training services
- 80533100 - Computer training services
- 80533200 - Computer courses
- 80540000 - Environmental training services
- 80550000 - Safety training services
- 80560000 - Health and first-aid training services
- 80561000 - Health training services
- 80570000 - Personal development training services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN0 - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Department for the Economy (DfE) is seeking Contractors to provide a new Apprenticeship contract (Apps21) to commence in August 2021. ApprenticeshipsNI 2021 provides Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeship training provision for employed people who are contracted to work a minimum of 21 hours or more per week. The programme provides an opportunity to work towards completing an industry approved apprenticeship framework at Level 2 and/or Level 3 including a relevant competence based qualification, a knowledge based qualification where appropriate to the apprenticeship framework, employee rights and responsibilities modules and Essential Skills if required. For apprentices aged 16 – 24 years (young person), the Client funds 100 per cent of the cost of off-the-job training under the programme. For apprentices aged 25 years and over (adult) funding is paid at a rate of 50 per cent of the young person’s rate for specific frameworks aligned to priority economic sectors.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: AC1 Teaching and Learning / Weighting: 25
Quality criterion - Name: AC2 Staffing / Weighting: 25
Quality criterion - Name: AC3 Resource Access / Weighting: 15
Quality criterion - Name: AC4 Leadership and Management / Weighting: 25
Quality criterion - Name: AC5 Partnerships / Weighting: 10
Cost criterion - Name: N/A / Weighting: 0
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £122,100,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
24
This contract is subject to renewal
No
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
The Award of Contract is anticipated to be in July 2021.The Contract will commence on 1st August 2021 for an Initial Contract Period of two years, where two years pertains to the period of recruitment of participants to the programme. There will be a run-off period following the Initial Contract Period during which all Contract provisions, terms and conditions will continue to apply. This is to accommodate the participant training entitlements set out in the Apps21 Operational Requirements. There will be options to extend the Initial Contract Period for a further two periods of up to and including 12 months each.
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: Yes
Identification of the project
European Social Fund
Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.3) Technical and professional ability
List and brief description of selection criteria
SC1 Company Experience. SC2 Use of Sub-contractors. SC3 Qualification Requirements for Learning Delivery Personnel
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.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
28 April 2021
Local time
3:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Tender must be valid until: 27 July 2021
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
28 April 2021
Local time
3:30pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.3) Additional information
The Contractor’s performance on the Contract will be regularly monitored. A Contractor not delivering on Contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a Contractor fails to reach satisfactory levels of Contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach satisfactory levels of Contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in Construction and Procurement Delivery (CPD) for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and the Contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance may result in the Contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for up to three years. The Department for the Economy (the Client) will have its own procedures in place to monitor and review each Contractor’s performance. The Client will use the outputs from these contract monitoring procedures to monitor and review the Contractor’s performance.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any special review body with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures in public procurement.
As above
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
CPD will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) and, where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the unsuccessful. tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.