Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Kent County Council
County Hall
Maidstone
ME14 1XQ
Contact
Mr Jordan Gurr
Telephone
+44 3000414141
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKJ - South East (England)
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
County Council
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Holidays, Activities and Food (HAF) services (SC240025)
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 92310000 - Artistic and literary creation and interpretation services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme offers free places at holiday clubs at Easter, Summer and Christmas holiday periods to children and young people aged 4-16 years old who are in receipt of benefits-related free school meals. The funding for HAF is provided to Local Authorities through the Department for Education.
Subject to acquiring funding, it is Kent County Council’s intention to commission HAF provision for 2025/2026 and beyond. The Council therefore wants to conduct market engagement to determine the most appropriate service model for HAF provision across Kent.
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 the HAF Programme across Kent.
• To explore the most viable commissioning approach to deliver the HAF Programme.
• To explore whether recruitment and retention to the model is achievable.
Currently, HAF funding is allocated through a grants process by one of KCC’s Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCO). However, KCC is seeking to engage with providers to explore alternative options to meet future delivery requirements.
As part of this process a short questionnaire and workshops are available to interested providers, with multiple time slots available. To register an interest in this opportunity providers must submit an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) through the Kent Business Portal and complete the associated ‘Holiday Activities and Food Funding 2025/2026: Market Engagement Questions’.
By completing this questionnaire, providers will be able to provide their feedback and, if they wish to, select preferences for dates to attend market engagement workshops. Each workshop will cover the same questions.
These workshops will be delivered via Microsoft Teams and will last for 1.5 hours.
They are scheduled on the following dates:
• Wednesday 1 May 2024 – 10:00-11:30
• Wednesday 1 May 2024 – 13:00-14:30
• Thursday 9 May 2024 – 10:00-11:30
• Friday 10 May 2024 – 10.00-11.30
When selecting a preference for a workshop slot, please state your first and second preference, if possible, and we will try our best to accommodate.
If you are unable to attend the workshops and still wish to have an input, please ensure that you complete all sections of the questionnaire and submit this via the Kent Business Portal.
Please note that feedback from questionnaires and the workshops will be shared with every provider who has expressed an interest.
Please be aware that this PIN will close on Thursday 9th May 2024 at 17:00, and all responses will need to be submitted via the Kent Business Portal by this time.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKJ - South East (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme offers free places at holiday clubs at Easter, Summer and Christmas holiday periods to children and young people aged 4-16 years old who are in receipt of benefits-related free school meals. The funding for HAF is provided to Local Authorities through the Department for Education.
Subject to acquiring funding, it is Kent County Council’s intention to commission HAF provision for 2025/2026 and beyond. The Council therefore wants to conduct market engagement to determine the most appropriate service model for HAF provision across Kent.
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 the HAF Programme across Kent.
• To explore the most viable commissioning approach to deliver the HAF Programme.
• To explore whether recruitment and retention to the model is achievable.
Currently, HAF funding is allocated through a grants process by one of KCC’s Local Authority Trading Companies (LATCO). However, KCC is seeking to engage with providers to explore alternative options to meet future delivery requirements.
As part of this process a short questionnaire and workshops are available to interested providers, with multiple time slots available. To register an interest in this opportunity providers must submit an ‘Expression of Interest’ (EOI) through the Kent Business Portal and complete the associated ‘Holiday Activities and Food Funding 2025/2026: Market Engagement Questions’.
By completing this questionnaire, providers will be able to provide their feedback and, if they wish to, select preferences for dates to attend market engagement workshops. Each workshop will cover the same questions.
These workshops will be delivered via Microsoft Teams and will last for 1.5 hours.
They are scheduled on the following dates:
• Wednesday 1 May 2024 – 10:00-11:30
• Wednesday 1 May 2024 – 13:00-14:30
• Thursday 9 May 2024 – 10:00-11:30
• Friday 10 May 2024 – 10.00-11.30
When selecting a preference for a workshop slot, please state your first and second preference, if possible, and we will try our best to accommodate.
If you are unable to attend the workshops and still wish to have an input, please ensure that you complete all sections of the questionnaire and submit this via the Kent Business Portal.
Please note that feedback from questionnaires and the workshops will be shared with every provider who has expressed an interest.
Please be aware that this PIN will close on Thursday 9th May 2024 at 17:00, and all responses will need to be submitted via the Kent Business Portal by this time.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
19 August 2024
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