---
title: "Multi Lot: School Resource Management Advisers and Accreditation - Contract numbers con_10112, con_10113, con_10114 modification"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-029be3"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-029be3"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029be3.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029be3.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2024-07-12"
---

# Multi Lot: School Resource Management Advisers and Accreditation - Contract numbers con_10112, con_10113, con_10114 modification

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-029be3

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## Summary

The Department for Education has initiated a procurement process for School Resource Management Advisers and Accreditation services. The procurement involves up to four organisations to supply a minimum of 50 Accredited Persons annually over three years, commencing in September 2021. The contracts aim to continue providing SRMAs to improve resource management in schools until August 2024. The procurement stage is currently in the tender award phase, with a contract already signed with ISBL Trading Ltd for an amount of £7,677,896.63.

This tender represents an opportunity for organisations involved in education and training services, especially those experienced in resource management and accreditation processes. Businesses looking to supply SRMAs or develop induction and accreditation services can benefit from engaging in this tender process. The Department for Education's commitment to supporting schools through expert advice and mentoring programmes presents a chance for suitable businesses to contribute to the improvement of educational outcomes.

## Notice

School Resource Management Advisers Programme Since 2017 ESFA has developed the role of School Resource Management Advisers (SRMAs) to provide direct support to academy trusts and local authorities to help them identify opportunities to improve their approach to resource management. This is part of ESFA's overarching objective to help improve outcomes for pupils by schools getting the best value from their resources. SRMAs are sector experts, such as practicing school business professionals or head teachers with specific expert knowledge in resource management. Each SRMA has to go through an accreditation process to ensure they have the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out the role. ESFA currently has contracts in place for the accreditation and supply of SRMAs through to August 2021. Due to the success of the programme to date, we are looking to ensure the continued supply of SRMAs though to August 2024. ESFA wishes to contract with up to four organisations for the supply of a minimum of 50 Accredited Persons, to deliver a total of 200 Accredited Persons across the framework per year over the next three years. This will involve both the continued supply of SRMAs already accredited and the recruitment and training of new SRMAs to support the programme. The contracts will commence in September 2021 once the current contracts have ended. The second procurement opportunity seeks one organisation to develop and deliver a consistent induction service and a robust accreditation process for all SRMA candidates that are sourced by the sourcing supplier(s). This will build on the process already developed with the current contractor and will also involve the development of a new training element for SRMA candidates. This contract will also commence on 1 July 2021. Chief Finance Officer Mentoring Pilot In addition to the above, we now wish to complement this programme with a Chief Finance Officer (CFO) mentoring pilot by providing longer term support to academy trust CFOs working in some of the most challenging situations; those in trusts in intervention or with some financial difficulties, those in trusts that are growing and those that are new to the sector. The duration for this contract will be 14 months, from 1 July 2021. ESFA will work with a Supplier who will identify, recruit, screen, induct and manage a minimum of 50 individuals (mentors) to fulfil the CFO mentoring programme. The supplier will oversee the mentoring process, ensuring the relationships are on target and will work with ESFA to unblock any issues. The Supplier will also lead on developing an evaluation for the pilot, working closely with ESFA to agree the best way to do this. By providing sustained support, a CFO mentoring programme can play a key role in building capacity and capability for effective financial management within the academies sector. Results from this pilot will provide an indication of emerging outcomes and the effectiveness of the programme and will inform any decision as to whether we will scale up the pilot in the future.

### Lot Information

Multi Lot: School Resource Management Advisers and Accreditation - Contract numbers con_10112, con_10113, con_10114 modification

School Resource Management Advisers Programme Since 2017 ESFA has developed the role of School Resource Management Advisers (SRMAs) to provide direct support to academy trusts and local authorities to help them identify opportunities to improve their approach to resource management. This is part of ESFA's overarching objective to help improve outcomes for pupils by schools getting the best value from their resources. SRMAs are sector experts, such as practicing school business professionals or head teachers with specific expert knowledge in resource management. Each SRMA has to go through an accreditation process to ensure they have the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out the role. ESFA currently has contracts in place for the accreditation and supply of SRMAs through to August 2021. Due to the success of the programme to date, we are looking to ensure the continued supply of SRMAs though to August 2024. ESFA wishes to contract with up to four organisations for the supply of a minimum of 50 Accredited Persons, to deliver a total of 200 Accredited Persons across the framework per year over the next three years. This will involve both the continued supply of SRMAs already accredited and the recruitment and training of new SRMAs to support the programme. The contracts will commence in September 2021 once the current contracts have ended. The second procurement opportunity seeks one organisation to develop and deliver a consistent induction service and a robust accreditation process for all SRMA candidates that are sourced by the sourcing supplier(s). This will build on the process already developed with the current contractor and will also involve the development of a new training element for SRMA candidates. This contract will also commence on 1 July 2021.

Supply of SRMAs

1. The role of the Accredited Person will be to support academy trusts and local authority maintained schools who have come to the ESFA's attention as requiring support to improve their financial health. Accredited Persons will take a holistic view of the school's/trust's financial situation, including consideration of the following issues: 1.1 Human resources: Effective curriculum delivery, workforce planning and wider use of staff and leadership time through the use of Integrated Curriculum and Financial Planning (ICFP); 1.2 School management and governance: financial management and challenge across the senior leadership team and board of governors; 1.3 Resources: Procurement (including, for example, consideration of National Deals, schools' buying strategies etc.), value for money, capital finance and estate management. 2. Accredited Persons will support effective resource management by providing independent and impartial advice to schools and trusts on how to maximise resources in order to maintain and improve educational outcomes for all pupils, including those with SEN. Accredited Persons should take into account the nature of the school, i.e. whether it is academy or maintained, MAT or SAT, mainstream, special or Alternative Provision, primary or secondary, and whether it is a faith school. 3. In the most serious cases, an Accredited Person shall be required to support a school or trust to develop a viable budget plan by examining its financial planning and proposed spending plans. As part of this, the Accredited Person will be expected to consider whether the trust or school uses an ICFP approach and, if so, how this is carried out. This includes identifying whether it uses ICFP diagnostic tools and models and how. 4. In cases where the school or trust is in a less serious financial position or already in good financial health, the Accredited Person shall be required to make recommendations on how the school or trust can further improve its approach to financial management to ensure every possible resource is being directed to the areas that have greatest impact on educational outcomes. Again, a part of this will be determined by the school or trust's approach to ICFP. 5. Where the trust or school does take an ICFP approach, the Accredited Person shall work through the key metrics to identify options that could potentially deliver improvements in the way staff are deployed. Where the trust or school does not, the Accredited Persons shall help it introduce ICFP into its planning processes as well as suggesting other options for improvements. 6. In most instances, Accredited Persons will be expected to carry out a 'follow-up' deployment to the same setting at least six months after report submission. The purpose of this deployment will be to check on progress against the recommendations. 7. All Accredited Persons must carry out a minimum of two deployments per year (from the date of their accreditation) to maintain their accredited status.

Accreditation of SRMAs

1. ESFA currently has contracts in place for the accreditation and supply of SRMAs through to August 2021. Due to the success of the programme to date, we are looking to contract with one organisation for the development and delivery of induction and accreditation panels and complementary training. 2. SRMAs were introduced in 2017 to provide direct support to academy trusts and local authorities to identify opportunities to improve resource management. This is part of ESFA's overarching objective to help improve outcomes for pupils by schools getting the best value from all of their resources. 3. In higher risk cases, SRMAs provide advice and support to address current or future forecast deficits and in all cases they help trusts and schools identify opportunities to make better use of their funding, enabling them to target resources where they have the most impact on outcomes for children. 4. Prior to deployment, all Accredited Persons will have participated in an induction and successfully completed an accreditation process led by an independent Accreditation Body. Persons who were accredited before 31 August 2021 will automatically become Accredited Persons for the purposes of this Contract and will not need further accreditation, assuming they are still currently active SRMAs and have fulfilled the criteria set by ESFA to maintain their accredited status. Accreditation will provide assurance to ESFA that the Accredited Person can use the findings of their deployment (including analysis and discussions with trust/school leaders) to develop appropriate recommendations, with costed savings, for the trust/school to take to improve their approach to resource management. 5. Specific requirements of the role are set out in the ITT. All Potential Providers must describe how they will deliver against each requirement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021463-2024 |
| Notice type | Planning Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large, SME |
| All stages | Planning, Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Jul 2024 |
| Submission deadline | 3 May 2021 |
| Future notice date | 15 Mar 2021 |
| Award date | 30 Jun 2021 |
| Contract period | 30 Jun 2021 - 31 Dec 2024 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £6,800,000 |
| Lots value | £6,849,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £8,813,916 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## 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 | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 3 |
| Supplier names | EDUCATION PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT (EPI; ISBL TRADING; NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services

## Release History

- 12 Jul 2024 at 13:06 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021463-2024
- 2 Sep 2021 at 21:45 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021808-2021
- 26 Mar 2021 at 22:56 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/006302-2021
- 15 Mar 2021 at 22:56 - Planning - Planning Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/005234-2021

## Notice URLs

- http://www.gov.uk
- https://education.app.jaggaer.com
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-029be3. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029be3.json.