WIDER PARTNERSHIP BRIEFING
Friday 16th May 2014
9.30am – 12.00pm
The Blossom Suite, Solihull College
General Notes ,Delegate Questions and responses
Procurement
Top Tips
Please don’t contact BVSC staff with any queries or questions as they need to be dealt with centrally on the InTend system
Please don’t include any marketing literature
Read the basic instructions and ensure you stick to them
Procurement Q&A
If you are tendering as a consortium, does each member of the consortium need to complete a PQQ?
There is a specific paragraph in the PQQ documentation relating to this, which states....
Consortia Arrangements
If the Potential Supplier bidding for a requirement is a consortium, the following information must be provided:
- full details of the consortium; and
- the information sought in this PQQ in respect of each of the consortium’s constituent members as part of a single composite response.
Potential Suppliers should provide details of the actual or proposed percentage shareholding of the constituent members within the consortium in a separate Annex. If a consortium is not proposing to form a corporate entity, full details of alternative proposed arrangements should be provided in the Annex. However, please note BVSC reserves the right to require a successful consortium to form a single legal entity in accordance with regulation 28 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.
BVSC recognises that arrangements in relation to consortia may (within limits) be subject to future change. Potential Suppliers should therefore respond in the light of the arrangements as currently envisaged. Potential Suppliers are reminded that any future proposed change in relation to consortia must be notified to BVSC so that it can make a further assessment by applying the selection criteria to the new information provided.
If you’re the prime contractor, you’ll need to submit a PQQ for each of your subcontractors
What’s the rationale for the Talent Match wage subsidy not being part of the PQQ?
The wage subsidy option will be delivered by the Talent Match Company (TMC). The young people will be employed by the TMC and seconded out to other organisations. This enables BVSC to support the organisations and the young people. This arrangement was submitted to BIG as part of the Business Plan and agreed by them.
WEIGHTING QUESTION
How are conflicts of interest going to be determined?
A conflict of interest register has been developed. All evaluators will need to complete a conflict of interest form and a confidentiality agreement, which will help BVSC to ensure that any issues are flagged up early. Evaluation teams are being put together now, and weightings and criteria are being developed for the PQQ.
Delivery
The number of young people obtaining employment - BVSC’s internal target is 400 with 50% obtaining sustainable employment lasting over 12 months.
The number of young people undertaking work placements is set at 500 – this refers to the number of young people on the subsidised wage option element of the programme (employed by TMC and seconded to another organisation).
Solihull doesn’t want to be overshadowed by Birmingham – there are different needs in these areas. TM has made a commitment for this not to happen. TM embraces the unique challenges faced by the young people of Solihull.
The Coach/Mentor will continue with the young person throughout their TM journey and up to 6 months after they finish the programme.
Wrap Around service- Specialist support can be purchased where it cannot be provided by the Coach/Mentors. This support will be available through the wrap around provision.
Wage subsidy option – TMC will recruit employers and second young people out dependent on their need. A secondment agreement will be in place.
Delivery Q&A
Are the coach/Mentors employed by BVSC?
The coach mentors will be BVSC employees throughout the lifespan of the programme. They are currently based at BVSC Offices in Digbeth, but if client demand requires ,may be based out within the community in the future.
Why has the national minimum wage (NMW) been chosen and not the living wage?
The submission to the BIG Lottery was for the NMW and this is what as been budgeted for, adopting the living wage would mean we would have less people undertaking the wage subsidy. BVSC will encourage host organisations to pay over the living wage.
How long will volunteer placements be for?
Each placement will be for 4 weeks. The young person could be on multiple journeys, for example, a volunteering placement and receiving a wrap around service.
Where does TM fit in with other youth employment initiatives?
We want TM to work in partnership with other employment initiative providers. We need to work together to make sure that the young people get what they need.
How does TM dovetail or compete with apprenticeships?
We don’t want to compete with apprenticeships; we would like to work in partnership with them and will look for a structured way to work together.
TM will be working with those young people furthest removed from the job market – those who would struggle to get a job even if there were lots of jobs available.
We recognise that the wrap around provision will be required for 6 months after the young person finishes the programme. Where possible we will seek to springboard a young person onto an apprenticeship afterwards.
What happens after the 4 weeks volunteering?
In special circumstances the young person may continue with the volunteering placement with the host organisation receiving payment, if the budget allows. Otherwise the young person can continue to volunteerindependently without the host organisation receiving payment. We need to consider whether the 4 weeks of placement can be stretched over a longer period (ie, 120 hours of volunteering over a set number of weeks)