Specialist Education Framework Phase 1 - Independent Non-Maintained Special Schools Round 2

Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) is seeking to add further Independent non-maintained Special Schools (INMSS) to a new Framework Agreement under which the Council are looking to commission INMSS and Post-16 (where the provision is delivered in house by the school) provision of specialist school placements for pupils who are not attending mainstream or maintained special schools and who have an Education Health Care (EHC) Plan. This will replace the current Independent / non-maintained special schools Approved Provider List for Nottinghamshire (NAPL).

All Providers currently delivering or intending to deliver services detailed within the updated Specification (Part 4 - Specification) must apply to be on the new Framework Agreement as the current provider list (NAPL) will come to an end on the 31st of December 2024.

This initial phase of the framework will have two lots under which the Council can make specialist school placements (See paragraph 5 below for further details). In Lot 1 commissioners will put in place block contracts with providers and Lot 2 will see the establishment of an approved INMSS provider list

This process is the reopening of the framework for new providers to bid to join the new INMSS framework and is the second tender round. Providers who have already been successful in round 1 for Lot 2 (INMSS Approved Provider List) of the Framework Agreement DO NOT need to bid for Lot 2 in this round 2. However, these Providers may wish to consider applying for a block contract and therefore will need to apply to Lot 1 in this tender round.

Any providers who were unsuccessful in the previous tender round (1) for either Lot 1 or Lot 2 can reapply in this tender round (2)

The establishment of a framework agreement for INMSS is the first phase of the recommissioning of the Specialist Education provision for the Council as set out in the Vision document (Part 3 - Vision document). Ultimately the framework will be extended to include Alternative Education Provision and Post-16 institutions (e.g., further education colleges that are not part of the INMSS), that will be the second/third phases of the recommissioning project and new procurement processes will be run at later dates which are yet to be decided.

To register your interest in this tender and to view the tender documents, the tender is published on https://www.eastmidstenders.org/ Reference DN719545. The closing date for all tenders is the 22nd of July 2024 at 5.00pm.

The Framework Agreement is commissioned under the Light Touch Regime 74 -77 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 using an open procedure and advertised in the Find a Tender Service Find high value contracts in the public sector - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).