Award

Prison Education Service Core Education Lot 2: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Group and Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk Group

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

29 Jul 2025 at 15:47

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Justice has completed the award stage of a public procurement process for the Prison Education Service Core Education Lot 2, covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, as well as Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. This £97 million contract, under the industry category of services related to the detention or rehabilitation of criminals, aims to deliver educational services across the adult prison estate in the East of England. Conducted under the Open Procedure and adhering to the Light Touch Regime of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the procurement method involved a selective call-off from a framework agreement. Key dates include the award date on 1 July 2025, with the contract period running from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2032.

This contract presents opportunities for businesses specialising in educational services and rehabilitation, particularly those that can deliver a two-layered curriculum focusing on numeracy, literacy, digital skills, and additional learning needs. However, the contract is not marked as suitable for SMEs or voluntary, community, and social enterprises. The selected supplier, PeoplePlus Group Ltd, a large-scale organisation, will play a pivotal role in enhancing prisoner rehabilitation outcomes, offering significant long-term growth opportunities for similar-sized businesses with the capability to deliver high-quality, consistent education services. The initiative is part of a strategic push to improve prisoner skills and employment prospects, thereby reducing reoffending rates and boosting public protection.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Prison Education Service Core Education Lot 2: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Group and Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk Group

Notice Description

This notice is for the award of Lot 2: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Group and Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk Group The Prisoner Education Services (PES) is a UK government initiative with three overarching strategic priorities; improving prisoner numeracy and literacy skills, incentivizing prisoners to improve their qualifications and skills to increase their prospects of finding work on release, and ensuring that Governors and their teams have the knowledge, tools, support and accountabilities that they need to make this work. PES seeks to transform learning in jails as part of a renewed push to skill up offenders and protect the public. PES Core Education will include teaching and delivery of a two-layered curriculum for independence and for opportunity which meets the needs of prisoners, as well as high quality, timely screening and assessment delivery and tailored and impactful additional learning needs support. The Ministry of Justice launched the PES Panel to reform how education is delivered across the adult prison estate in England. The first call-offs under this framework focused on Core Education Services, including teaching and delivery of a two-layered curriculum for independence (essential subjects such as English, Maths, digital skills) and curriculum for opportunity, which meets the needs of prisoners. The Core Education contracts also include high quality, timely screening and assessment delivery; tailored and impactful additional learning needs support; and (where applicable) prison library services. The contracts are split into 11 regional lots and aim to provide a consistent, high-quality education offer that supports rehabilitation, reduces reoffending, and improves employability and resettlement outcomes for prisoners. The procurement was conducted under the Open Procedure in accordance with the Light Touch Regime of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-7ffc9018-d4b7-4c2d-b390-565fc3338f05
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7f5bcf24-1ad7-40e7-9fd9-e4e15a5527a2
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Call-off from a framework agreement
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

CPV Codes

75231200 - Services related to the detention or rehabilitation of criminals

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£97,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£97,000,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
29 Jul 20256 months ago
Submission Deadline
13 Nov 2023Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
30 Jun 20257 months ago
Contract Period
30 Sep 2025 - 30 Sep 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

PEOPLEPLUS GROUP

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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