Delivering core services to improve support offered to children and young people with SEND and their families

SEND programmes currently deliver core services to improve provision offered to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families by providing support to:

schools, and Further Education settings via SEND-specific Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for the workforce to improve the quality of education for children and young people with SEND, particularly in mainstream settings.

parent, carers and young people through supporting their participation in the SEND system (e.g. grant funding to Parent Carer Forums) and ensuring they receive high quality information, advice and support (including through funding a national helpline); and local authorities through targeted improvement and intervention work particularly where Ofsted/CQC identify areas of weakness.

Please see attached 'Description of services' for more information

Additional information: The Department wishes to assess market capability and capacity to administer and deliver a response. Details of a virtual pre-market engagement event will be given at a later date to all those who have registered. The intended date of the Market Engagement Event will be on the 27 July 2021.

Please register an interest in attending (max two per organisation) to:[email protected] by 19th July 2021

SCHEDULED DATE FOR PUBLICATION OF CONTRACT NOTICE: Estimated Mid August 2021

START AND END DATES OF THE CONTRACT: April 2022 - March 2025

This notice does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services for the Department. The procurement of any services will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The purpose of this PIN is to stimulate early market interest and invite interested parties to take part in preliminary market consultations.

As part of the market engagement, we wish to test views on areas such as:

Whether you believe you have the capacity to successfully manage these potential opportunities?

Whether you believe you have the expertise to successfully manage these potential opportunities?

Whether you have any other provision/ contracts/ grants with any other government department?

Would you expect to submit a tender as a single supplier, consortium, framework, lots, managed service or any other appropriate vehicle?

Whether you feel there are any issues or challenges in delivering these potential opportunities?

How you would see your business model working with the proposed tendering opportunities? 

Whether there are other opportunities to improve provision offered for children and young people with SEND and their families which could be included in these programmes?

Whether you have specific suggestions for how the opportunities could be delivered to ensure the greatest impact on children and young people with SEND?

With all government departments driving for continual efficiencies, forward looking for challenges/risks and delivering savings, do you feel these requirements are achievable within the range of estimated values provided above?

Responses can be for any one of the procurements, or all of them, depending on your interest.