Trustee and Governor Recruitment and Induction Support Programmes

The purpose of this Early Engagement Notice is to notify the market that the Department for Education (DfE) will be undertaking an online market engagement event on 25 September 2020 for providers and consortiums, including Multi Academy Trusts with excellent governance, interested in bidding for the procurement of trustee and governor recruitment services and induction support.

The department's vision is to see robust and effective governance in every school and academy trust. As the first line of accountability, the department recognises that high quality, effective and ethical governance is key to success in our school system and for the future of children and young people.

Schools and academies need governing boards that have a balance and diversity of knowledge, skills and experience to enable it to be effective. Governors and trustees have a huge opportunity to make a positive impact, and we need even more people to come forward to invest in their local community and help shape young people's futures.

The department is therefore seeking providers to deliver governor and trustee recruitment and matching services, combined with support for volunteers and the recruiting board throughout the recruitment process and into the early stages of the volunteer's term (induction support).

Contracts will run for an initial period of two years from April 2021 to March 2023 with provision to extend for two further single year periods

There will be three lots to deliver: 1. A national service to recruit and match trustees to the boards of Single Academy Trusts (SATs) and to Trusts with multiple academies (MATs) 2. A national service to recruit governors to the boards of Local Authority maintained schools and academy Local Governing Bodies. 3. A national induction and support service providing high quality induction training and expert guidance for all governors and trustees recruited through lots 1 and 2.

Additional information: This procurement is subject to the ongoing 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review and the DfE reserves the right to not procure the services outlined below following the culmination of this review.

To achieve our aim of helping governing boards to recruit and retain people with the right skills and from a range of backgrounds in order to govern well, it is expected that lead providers will as a minimum need to:

-Identify and recruit suitable, high-calibre, skilled volunteers across all areas of England who have the commitment to serve on governing boards. They will need to prioritise supporting those governing boards most in need, or in areas of the country where educational standards and capacity to improve are weakest

-Design and deliver a quality 'onboarding' service to help ensure that volunteers understand the roles and responsibilities of a governor/trustee, the time commitment required and what will be expected of them in their role in advance of their accepting a position on the board. This will help in recruiting committed volunteers who understand the challenges and expectations of the role from the start.

-Work effectively with a range of stakeholders, including but not limited to DfE Regional Schools Commissioner teams, other appointing and nominating bodies such as foundations, dioceses and local authorities to identify boards where additional support is most needed and to put forward those volunteers with the relevant and desirable skills, knowledge and characteristics to support boards with the challenges they face.

-Design and deliver high-quality induction guidance, resources and training, which all new governors and trustees recruited through our funded recruitment services are able to access for the first 12 months of being in role.

-Collect and report on specified management information data, undertake self-evaluation and build in continuous improvement and lesson learned throughout the contract lifetime to ensure that findings are fed into delivery on an ongoing basis.

Indicative Timeline An online market engagement event will be held on 25 September 2020. Please contact [email protected] to register your interest

Procurement is expected to open from late October 2020 with contracts being awarded in February 2021. More information on the procurement process will be provided following market engagement through the Invitation to Tender process.

Other information This notice is for information only and is not a call for competition. The department reserves the right not to enter a formal procurement process and not award contracts. Accordingly, the Authority will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work or effort incurred by a provider in acting on the basis of this Prior Information Notice.

All future information will be issued to potential providers via the DfE eTendering Portal. Providers can access this system at: https://education.app.jaggaer.com.