Purpose

To approve commencement of the procurement
process of a course provision and management information system for
Adult Learning Service.

Decision

For the reasons set out in this
report, the Corporate Director has decided that:
1)   
Approval be granted to commence a full and
transparent procurement process, with the support of the Commercial
Procurement Unit (CPU), to award a contract for the supply and
support of a Course Provision and Management Information System
commencing on 1 August 2026, with an estimated total value of
£85,000 per annum.

Alternative options considered

One option considered was to
develop an in-house MIS System. However, the Service considers this
may be ineffective due to the frequent changes in funding rules and
regulations, particularly in devolved areas, and may undermine the
integrity of the data used to support grant funding
claims.  Additionally, the Service does
not have the knowledge base within the current workforce and
overall, the risk of not being able to return accurate, correctly
formatted data, within the required timeframe, means this is not a
viable option.
 
Retain the current system
– whilst this would ensure a consistency of approach,
awarding a new contract to the current supplier without a
competitive procedure would not be compliant with Public
Procurement legislation.
 
Do nothing option please – breach of GFA / data protection
etc