UK-Coventry: education and training services

2010/S 47-069366

CONTRACT NOTICE

Services

SECTION I: CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

• I.1)NAME, ADDRESSES AND CONTACT POINT(S):

  Learning and Skills Improvement Service, Friars House, Manor House Drive, Attn: Contracts and Procurement Team, Coventry CV1 2TE, UNITED KINGDOM. Tel. +44 2476627900.

  Internet address(es):

  Address of the buyer profile: http://www.mytenders.org/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA19421 [1].

  Further information can be obtained at: Learning and Skills Improvement Service, Friars House, Manor House Drive, Attn: Contracts and Procurement Team, Coventry CV1 2TE, UNITED KINGDOM. Tel. +44 2476627900.

  Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained at: Learning and Skills Improvement Service, Friars House, Manor House Drive, Attn: Contracts and Procurement Team, Coventry CV1 2TE, UNITED KINGDOM. Tel. +44 2476627900.

  Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: Learning and Skills Improvement Service, Friars House, Manor House Drive, Attn: Contracts and Procurement Team, Coventry CV1 2TE, UNITED KINGDOM. Tel. +44 2476627900.

• I.2)TYPE OF THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY AND MAIN ACTIVITY OR ACTIVITIES:

  National or federal agency/office.

  Education.

SECTION II: OBJECT OF THE CONTRACT

• II.1)DESCRIPTION
• II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

  LSIS Expression of Interest.

• II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance:

  Services.

  Service category: No 24.

  Main place of performance: UK.

  NUTS code: UK.

• II.1.3)The notice involves:

  A public contract.

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement:

• II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s):

  LSIS is inviting expressions of interest from all organisations who may wish to tender for future delivery opportunities in LSIS activities and services for the learning and skills sector.

  NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the myTenders Web Site at http://www.myTenders.org/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=64223 [2].

• II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV):

  80000000.

• II.1.7)Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):

  Yes.

• II.1.8)Division into lots:

  No.

• II.1.9)Variants will be accepted:

  Yes.

• II.2)QUANTITY OR SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:

• II.2.2)Options:

  No.

II.3)DURATION OF THE CONTRACT OR TIME-LIMIT FOR COMPLETION:

SECTION III: LEGAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION

• III.1)CONDITIONS RELATING TO THE CONTRACT

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:

III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions regulating them:

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

• III.1.4)Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject:

  No.

III.2)CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers:

III.2.2)Economic and financial capacity:

III.2.3)Technical capacity:

III.2.4)Reserved contracts:

• III.3)CONDITIONS SPECIFIC TO SERVICES CONTRACTS

III.3.1)Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession:

• III.3.2)Legal entities should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service:

  Yes.

SECTION IV: PROCEDURE

• IV.1)TYPE OF PROCEDURE
• IV.1.1)Type of procedure:

  Restricted.

• IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate:

  Envisaged number of operators 100.

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue:

• IV.2)AWARD CRITERIA
• IV.2.1)Award criteria:

  The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document.

• IV.2.2)An electronic auction will be used:

  No.

• IV.3)ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract:

IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document:

• IV.3.4)Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate:

  6.4.2010 - 17:00.

• IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates:

  30.6.2010.

• IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up:

  English.

IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender:

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening tenders:

SECTION VI: COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

VI.1)THIS IS A RECURRENT PROCUREMENT:

VI.2)CONTRACT RELATED TO A PROJECT AND/OR PROGRAMME FINANCED BY EU FUNDS:

• VI.3)ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

  Expression of interest. Instructions and procedures. For LSIS Programme Delivery.

  1. Background

  The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) aims to accelerate the drive for excellence in the learning and skills sector, building the sector’s own capacity to design, commission and deliver improvement and strategic change. This will help realise our vision that every learner acquires the skills, knowledge and appetite for learning, living and working and that every provider is valued by their community and employers for their contribution to sustainable social and economic priorities.

  Our Strategic Ambitions, which we published in July 2009, demonstrate how we will contribute to delivering core improvement principles and sets out our new ways of working to engage the sector in everything we do to make LSIS a truly sector-led organisation. You can find full details about our Strategic Ambitions by visiting the LSIS website http://www.lsis.org.uk/AboutUs/OurStrategicAmbitions.aspx [3].

  Information about LSIS activities and services for the learning and skills sector can be found by visiting http://www.lsis.org.uk/Servicesandsupport.aspx [4].

  As a sector-owned public body, LSIS is owned, directed and governed by FE and skills colleges and providers. Find out more about the governance structure of LSIS and its board and council by visiting http://www.lsis.org.uk/Governance/LSISBoard.aspx [5] and http://www.lsis.org.uk/Governance/LSISCouncil.aspx [6].

  2. The Business Opportunity

  LSIS is inviting expressions of interest from all organisations who may wish to tender for future delivery opportunities in LSIS activities and services for the learning and skills sector. A full list of current LSIS activities and services can be found here http://www.lsis.org.uk/Servicesandsupport.aspx [7].

  (For clarity: Alongside this opportunity, LSIS is also tendering for work in three specific areas, to be delivered in 2010-11: Support for Literacy Language and Numeracy; Skills and Employer Responsiveness; and Science Technology, Engineering and Maths. Further tendering details for these can be found on the LSIS website at: http://www.lsis.org.uk/Opportunities/Tenders/Tenders1.aspx [8] ).

  This is the first stage of a two-stage OJEU procurement process. Organisations that successfully complete the first stage may also be invited to compete for smaller contracts that are not covered by OJEU regulations.

  Future opportunities could include:

  The 14–19 Agenda and Qualifications Development;

  Community Development;

  Continuous Improvement;

  Equality & Diversity;

  Excellence & Innovation;

  Improvement Adviser Service.

  Leadership & Governance;

  Learner Support;

  Management;

  Teaching & Learning.

  (NB: this is not a definitive list; it summarises the possible LSIS programme areas from within which opportunities may be tendered.).

  These opportunities will normally be for nine regionally-based contracts (that is to say one contract for each of the nine standard government regions in England).

  Contracts will normally be for a delivery period of 12 months with possibly an option to extend the contract up to 24 further months. Some contracts may include a contracted lead-in period before the start of service delivery.

  Expressions of interest will be evaluated in the following areas:

  1. The learning and skills provider’s knowledge of the English further education system (that is to say the system currently funded by the Learning and Skills Council);

  2. The quality of the learning and skills provider’s systems to ensure equality and diversity;

  3. The quality of the learning and skills provider’s systems that ensure data security;

  4. The learning and skills provider’s financial capacity; and

  5. The learning and skills provider’s ability to deliver services using 60 % proportion of staff currently employed in the learning and skills sector.

  3. Contract Value

  We envisage that contracts will be awarded for 12 months initially, with ‘options to extend’ for up to a further 24 months.

  Our best forecast is that the value of ‘Year 1’ contracts will be in the region of GBP 50 000 to GBP 1 000 000 (inclusive of VAT). Clearly, different areas of work will attract different levels of funding. We forecast that the total 3-year value of these opportunities will be in the region of GBP 100 000 - GBP 3 000 000, if the ‘options to extend’ are taken-up and the budget is available.

  4. The Expression-of-Interest Questionnaire

  To submit an expression of interest for delivering LSIS activities and services for the learning and skills sector please complete and return the questionnaire document 'PR04 – The Expression of Interest Questionnaire for LSIS programme delivery’.

  Please complete fully the eight sections of the questionnaire. This includes:

  1. Lead organisation identity

  2. Lead organisation information

  3. Area of business

  4. Learning and skills sector knowledge & experience (5/5)

  5. Equality & Diversity (3/5)

  6. Data Security

  7. Engagement with the learning and skills sector (4/5)

  8. Contact details of the person completing the questionnaire

  5. Score Weightings

  The first three sections ask for factual details that will not be assessed or 'scored'. The following four sections, however, will be assessed and/or 'scored'.

  Elements to be scored carry a pre-determined weighting. These are shown alongside each heading above as, for example, 3/5 (i.e. 3 out of 5). 5/5 is the maximum weighting.

  6. Financial Accounts

  Please supply one copy of your most recently audited accounts. We will assess the 'financial health’ of your organisation, via a series of standardised calculations.

  7. Legal Terms & Conditions

  The Legal Terms and Conditions that will form part of the contract should be fully read before submitting an expression of interest. You should visit our website at http://www.lsis.org.uk/Opportunities/Tenders/Tenders1.aspx [9] to view LSIS Legal Terms and Conditions of business.

  8. Data Security

  Within our Legal Terms and Conditions, clause 19 this deals with data security. Please supply details of how your organisation will satisfy these requirements.

  Demonstrating your organisation’s ability to meet our data security requirements is a prerequisite to the invitation-to-tender stage two.

  9. Submission of Expression of Interest

  Please submit five hard copies and one CD ROM copy of your response to this QUESTIONNAIRE.

  The CD ROM copy should contain the response to the equality and diversity and data security questions as separate word documents.

  The CD ROM copy should contain a PDF of your organisations most recent audited financial statements.

  Any information given at this stage may also be used during the subsequent tender evaluation stage-two. Please note; LSIS reserves the right not to consider an expression-of-interest submission if the potential supplier has failed to provide all of the requested information by the deadline date.

  Five hard copies of your expression-of-interest and your CD should be sent to:

  Procurement and contracts team.

  Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS).

  Friars House.

  Manor House Drive.

  Coventry.

  CV1 2TE.

  Your expression of interest should reach the office no later than 5.00pm Tuesday 6.4.2010.

  10. Relationship between this Expression-of-Interest and LSIS Frameworks

  We currently operate a framework register for Research & Development, which came into being for April 2009 and is still current. The business opportunities that we tender from this register are primarily research oriented. For clarity: this Expression-of-Interest (E-o-I) does not conflict with, nor replace our Research & Development framework.

  Similarly, we are presently in the process of creating/finalising a second register – the ‘Educational Consultancy Framework’ – specifically for individual consultants who will be contracted directly to LSIS. Projects from this register are capped at GBP 50 000. For clarity: this E-o-I does not conflict with our Educational Consultancy Framework. This E-o-I is targeted primarily at organisations with the capability to manage and deliver support programmes across at least one of nine standard government regions in England.

  11. Timeline

  We hope to be able to communicate the expression-of-interest outcome by the end of June 2010.

  12. Contact

  Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions regarding this expression of interest business opportunity. Please address your query to Contracts.Team@lsis.org.uk [10].

  Thank you for your interest in LSIS.

  (MT Ref:64223).

VI.4)PROCEDURES FOR APPEAL

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures:

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals:

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:

• VI.5)DATE OF DISPATCH OF THIS NOTICE:

  4.3.2010.