Content

It is recommended that the Director authorises
the award of framework agreements to appoint suppliers to the Wave
6 & Wave 7 Skills Bootcamps training to the suppliers listed in
Appendix D.  The Framework will be for a
period of 2 years with no option to extend with effect from
1st April 2025.  The total
value of the Skills Bootcamps Training Framework is estimated to be
£4,850,000 funded by the Department for Education.
 
It is recommended that the Director award call
off contracts for the provision of Wave 6 Skills Bootcamps training
to the suppliers listed in Appendix A.
 
It is also recommended that the Director
delegate the authority to deal with all matters relating to the
award and management of additional Wave 6 call off contracts to the
Programme Director and the Skills Bootcamp Programme Lead.
 
The total value of the Wave 6 Skills Bootcamps
Training Framework is estimated to be £2,746,725.08.
 

Reasons for the decision

Skills Bootcamps are an established mechanism
for addressing skills gaps in key sectors of the
economy.  Funding from the DfE covers
the costs of delivery of Skills Bootcamps by training providers, as
well as the Council’s setup and contract management costs not
awarding the Framework to the Suppliers detailed in Appendix D
would result in no Skills Bootcamps being delivered across Cumbria
for Waves 6 and 7 and funding would need to be returned to the
DfE.
 
Not awarding the contracts to the Suppliers
outlined in Appendix A would result in no Skills Bootcamp delivery
for Wave 6 and failure to comply with the requirements of the
DfE.
 
Over 50% of the suppliers on the Framework are
Cumbrian based organisations, awarding the Framework would
economical beneficial to these suppliers.
 

Alternative options considered

Not to re-tender/no contract for supply
– This is not considered appropriate due to the following
reasons:
 

·      
We would be non-compliant with the Council’s Contract
Procedure Rules and the Public Contract Regulations 2015 due to
value of the annual spend.
 
To re-tender through a National
Framework – This is not considered appropriate as there
are no local suppliers on the National Frameworks which would not
align with the Councils values around localism.