WISE Ability Services' Building Better Opportunities (BBO) UCan Project: Procurement of an Evaluation Partner

WISE Ability Services are requesting tenders from interested organisation to evaluate the overall impact of the BBO UCan Project in Dorset. The evaluation should assess: the UCan Project design; appropriateness; relevance; efficiency; effectiveness; impact; outcomes; and, progression, delivered through the BBO UCan project in Dorset. Bidders should note that the UCan Project Evaluation has a maximum budget of £86,000, inclusive of expenses and VAT. This funding is a fixed value and therefore no bids over this will be accepted.

WISE Ability Services' BBO UCan project is an education, training and employment-focused project operating in Dorset with the aim of supporting disadvantaged adults and their families living in deprivation across the Dorset LEP area and facing multiple and complex barriers. The project offers significant holistic support to overcome personal challenges, gain and enhance skills, build resilience, complete training, gain sustainable employment, independence, and social inclusion.

The evaluation will need to report upon and provide understanding of:

• The success of the UCan project in terms of achieving the originally specified outcomes, outputs and targets;

• The impact WISE Ability Services have had through the delivery of the BBO UCan Project on the individuals who participated;

• The impact and success of specific interventions accessed through UCan including WISE Choices, Weymouth Community Volunteers, Relate and Livability (Flourish);

• The cost benefit analysis, cost per outcome, social value, and return on investment provided by the UCan Project;

• The project's overall impact across Dorset, including its effect on the people, how it is embedded in the local community;

• The project's resilience and potential for realising a sustainable legacy in the area of Dorset;

• Key successes of the UCan Project, including those over and above the specified objectives;

• Activities or areas of the UCan Project that haven't achieved expected outcomes, and the reasons for this;

• The wider benefit of the UCan Project, for individuals and the communities in addition to its original aims and objectives;

• The impact of the UCan Project for participants in comparison to those who have not been able to access the service;

• The impact of the UCan Project for participants in comparison to those who are engaged with other programmes such as Individual placement and Support (IPS) programmes across Dorset;

• The comparative impact of UCan when compared to similar BBO projects, and similar projects in the Dorset area, by way of a benchmarking comparison.;

• Specific recommendations as to how the project could be modified and/or scaled up to a regional, and/or national approach;

• A specific evaluation of WISE Choices, assessing its benefits, any notable weaknesses and recommendations for enhancement. Further information about this opportunity can be found in the accompanying tender documents.

Additional information: Interested bidders are kindly requested to email [email protected] by the 11th January 2019 to confirm their intention to submit a tender for the opportunity.

For tender queries and the submission of the tender, bidders should use the following contact details: FAO. Laura Shepherd [email protected]

Bidders should refrain from using any other forms of direct communication other than the email above during a tender provision as this reduces the effectiveness of the audit trail required for all European Social Fund projects. For the avoidance of doubt, WISE Ability Services will not accept any telephone clarifications from any bidder in any circumstance whatsoever.

All questions and requests for clarification or further information from bidders may only be made by 5pm on 11/01/2019. We will endeavour to respond to all requests for clarification within 2 working days. We reserve the right not to reply to any clarification submitted after this deadline. Please note that between the 21st December - 2nd January the office will be closed and therefore any requests for clarification will be dealt with on the 2nd January.

We will endeavour to circulate responses to questions and requests for clarification or further information from bidders by 5pm on 14/01/2019.

All such queries received, and their responses will be circulated to all bidders (anonymising the identity of the bidder) unless they are commercially sensitive.

WISE Ability Services reserve the right to amend the tender documentation (including the terms and conditions of contract) as a result of queries which affect the overall nature of the scope. In the event of this occurring will write to all bidders with the same information and tenders will be assumed to take such amendments into account.

Bidders are asked to submit their bids and all requested accompanying documentation in a zip file clearly titled with their organisation name, to be emailed to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 18th January 2019.

All bidders' responses must be: • Written in English. • Submitted in MS Word compatible files (.doc, .rtf, .docx), or PDF format (for plans requested), Arial 12 font. • Aligned to word counts and page limits where given in the format requested. • Ensure all references to currency are expressed in Pounds Sterling.

Any bids not received by 5pm on Friday 18th January 2019 will not be considered. It is the responsibility of bidders to ensure that tenders are delivered on time and to obtain an electronic receipt via the system. Additional appendices not requested in the tender will not be considered in the evaluation of the tender.