---
title: "Con_16490 Step Up to Social Work Administration Solution (Cohort 8)"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-cd34cdbb-43ab-4a46-9d84-d67830777482"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-cd34cdbb-43ab-4a46-9d84-d67830777482"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-cd34cdbb-43ab-4a46-9d84-d67830777482.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-cd34cdbb-43ab-4a46-9d84-d67830777482.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2022-12-07"
---

# Con_16490 Step Up to Social Work Administration Solution (Cohort 8)

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-cd34cdbb-43ab-4a46-9d84-d67830777482

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## Summary

The Department for Education has awarded a contract for the delivery of a fully managed service to support the Step-Up to Social Work programme. The contract involves IT system design, administration support, staffing at assessment centres, quality assurance, and recruitment advice across England. The procurement method was selective, called off from a framework agreement, with a contract period from November 29, 2022, to December 31, 2024, extendable to 2025. The total contract value for two cohorts is £1,025,049.98 (GBP). Capita Resourcing Limited was awarded the contract, and the tender period ended on September 2, 2022.

This tender presents opportunities for businesses in health and social work services to provide support in evaluating applications, staffing assessment centres, and offering quality assurance services. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are suitable to compete for this tender. The contract aims to expand the recruitment pool for social workers while ensuring workforce quality and sufficiency. Interested businesses should note the location coverage across various regions in the United Kingdom for service delivery.

## Notice

This contract is for delivery of a fully managed service that performs administration of the assessment and recruitment support services to enable the national recruitment of candidates onto the Step-Up to Social Work programme. Notably, the service involves both IT systems and in person support at assessment centres. The Step Up to Social Work training programme ("Step-Up") as delivered by Local Authorities ("LAs") in partnership with local Higher Education Institutions ("HEIs") was designed to deliver a consistent supply of high-quality social workers into the sector from wide ranging backgrounds. The rationale for Step-Up was, and continues to be, to expand the recruitment pool for social work while addressing deficiency in workforce quality and sufficiency. The Step-Up programme requires a fully managed service to be provided by the supplier to LAs within their Regional Partnerships. A summary of the required services is set out below: - Design, supply and hosting of an IT-based application data capture system to coordinate the assessment process and assessment centres across England; - Administrative support to Regional Partnerships, to assess application pool of c.8,000 - 10,000 applicants; - Staffing function at Regional Partnership assessment centres to recruit 700 trainees for the eighth cohort; - Quality assurance function on applications at all stages of the process; - Targeted Recruitment advice and support to minimise and remove any inequitable barriers candidates may face. The Department for Education (DfE) elected to procure the full Administration Solution service by carrying out a further competition under an existing Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) Framework specifically for managing temporary and permanent recruitment (Framework 942, Lot 11 'recruitment process outsourcing 'RPO'). This Contract shall expire on 31st December 2024 unless the Contracting Authority elects to extend the Contract for a further cohort of the Step Up to Social Work Programme, in which case the Expiry Date for this Contract shall be 31st December 2025, and activity associated with the delivery of the service for cohort 9 will commence in October 2024. The contract includes an extension provision for 1 further cohort subject to satisfactory performance and a demonstration of future efficiencies. The total Contract Price for the Initial Contract Period is PS512,524.99 (excluding VAT). The total value set out in this notice includes the maximum value of the contract over 2 cohorts in the event that the contract extension is enacted, excluding the cost of administrators for assessment centres.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/3d385fc6-931b-4aad-946e-2362928687f6 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Call-off from a framework agreement |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 7 Dec 2022 |
| Submission deadline | 2 Sep 2022 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 29 Nov 2022 |
| Contract period | 29 Nov 2022 - 31 Dec 2024 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £1,025,049 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,025,049 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 3BT |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | CAPITA RESOURCING |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 7 Dec 2022 at 17:33 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/3d385fc6-931b-4aad-946e-2362928687f6

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/3d385fc6-931b-4aad-946e-2362928687f6
  7th December 2022 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/0fd38807-6510-4ca9-bf1b-684cc42e0b47
  n/a

## Provenance

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