Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Scottish Government
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ
Telephone
+44 412425466
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.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
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
DLEARN-Childcare Early Adopter Communities - Full 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, wishes to commission a process, impact and economic 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.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £250,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79315000 - Social research services
- 79311410 - Economic impact assessment
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKM - Scotland
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 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, their economic benefit, and on how these changes are enabled. 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 impact evaluation across all 6 EACs
5. Conduct an economic evaluation across all 6 EACs.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
22 October 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
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=780284.
(SC Ref:780284)