Decision Maker: Corporate Director Children and Young People's Services
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: Yes
To agree a combination of direct awards,
grants and limited light touch tender activity, moving to a
preferred supplier model in 2023/24 to deliver the Multiply
programme.
That the Authority direct award, through a
waiver, multiple elements of the ‘Multiply’ provision
to a range of providers such as:
• Training providers currently in receipt of Adult Education
grants
• Further Education Colleges
• Charity and Voluntary sector organisations
This procurement exercise is to establish
multiple new contracts for the delivery ‘Multiply’
provision as this has not been previously procured. The Department
for Education will provide the Authority with £2,700,000 of
grant funding over a period of three years which to be spent on
adult numeracy education. Some elements of this provision are
currently provided by ALSS however, a number of modules are not.
The identified new provision includes;
• Courses designed to help people use numeracy to manage their
money, • Courses designed to increase confidence with numbers
for those needing the first steps towards formal numeracy
qualifications
• Numeracy activities, courses or provision developed in
partnership with community organisations and other partners aimed
at engaging the hardest to reach learners
• Courses aimed at people who can’t apply for certain
jobs because of lack of numeracy skills and/or to encourage people
to upskill in numeracy order to access a certain job/career
A number of paths to deliver this requirement have been identified,
many of which could be provided by local SMEs and VCSEs. Awarding
directly a contract to these groups would allow for rapid delivery
of the service whilst best utilising SMEs and VCSEs in the local
community.
Statutory guidance states that under section 507B of the Education
Act 1996, every local authority in England must “so far as
reasonably practicable, secure for qualifying young
persons…access to sufficient educational and leisure-time
activities which are for the improvement of their wellbeing”
therefore the Authority commissions Voluntary and Direct Funded
Youth clubs across the County.
None
Publication date: 21/09/2022
Date of decision: 20/09/2022
Effective from: 29/09/2022