Purpose

The County Council has a duty to provide
education for all children. To support this, the Council and local
schools commission a range of Independent Alternative Provision
(IAP) to complement school provision, bridge gaps, or support
children with agreed Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) packages. The need for IAP is
predominately for children with Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities (SEND).
 
IAP is currently commissioned through a
Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) which the County Council originally
procured in 2021. The legally permissible term of the DPS is due to
expire in February 2026.
 
To ensure the County Council can continue to
commission IAP, and in response to rising demand driven by an
increasing number of children with SEND, it is proposed that a
Framework is established to replace the DPS. Commissioning
provision via the Framework would continue to sit alongside
placements provided at the Ofsted-regulated West Sussex Alternative
Provision College, which offers full-time education.
 
The Framework itself has no contract value as
it makes no guarantee of business for any provider.  However, the 2023/24 spend on IAP was £18.7
million and the anticipated spend over the life of the Framework is
£34 million. 
 
Approval is now sought to launch a procurement
process to enable the Framework to be established replacing the
DPS.

Decision

The Cabinet Member
for Children, Young People and Learning has approved:

(1) The commencement
of a procurement process to establish a new open framework
agreement for commissioning independent alternative provision. The
framework is due to run for a period of up to 8 years and is due to
commence in March 2026.

(2)The delegation of
authority to the Assistant Director (Education and Skills) to award
places on the framework at the conclusion of the procurement
process, in accordance with the evaluation and tender requirements
described and within the financial parameters set out in this
report to providers who meet the required criteria.  This delegation to include any subsequent award
relating to these contracting arrangements throughout the Framework
duration. The Framework is to run for an initial period of 2 years
with possible extensions of 6 additional years subject to
satisfactory performance and delivery.