---
title: "Adult Education Budget Service Contract 1 - FTS Contract Award Notice"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03336b"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03336b"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03336b.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03336b.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "WEST MIDLANDS COMBINED AUTHORITY"
published: "2022-06-20"
---

# Adult Education Budget Service Contract 1 - FTS Contract Award Notice

Buyer: WEST MIDLANDS COMBINED AUTHORITY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03336b

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## Summary

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is seeking to award contracts for Adult Education Services under the "Adult Education Budget Service Contract 1," focusing on the provision of educational training and qualifications aimed at supporting unemployed adults, those already in employment, and innovative delivery within the region. This procurement process is currently in the contract award stage following a limited procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. The initial contract duration is set for 6 months, commencing from 1st August 2022, with an option to extend for an additional 6 months. Significant funding for this initiative comes from the European Social Fund, aiming to enhance skills and qualifications for key target groups in the West Midlands area, specifically from the education and training services industry.

This tender presents substantial opportunities for training and education providers, particularly those specialised in adult education. Businesses that focus on grassroots community engagement, innovative training solutions, or tailored programs addressing employment barriers would be well-positioned to compete for these contracts. Given the emphasis on supporting vulnerable groups such as care leavers, the long-term unemployed, and low-skilled workers, firms with experience in flexible, needs-based learning methods will find this procurement beneficial for growth and expansion within the educational sector.

## Notice

From the 2019/20 academic year, the WMCA will take responsibility for the region's Adult Education Budget (AEB) and how it is delivered supporting eligible adult learners. The AEB is a key enabler of inclusive growth through the improvement of the qualification levels and skills of our adult residents. Our focus with the AEB is to address key issues including tackling unemployment amongst young people and creating more grass-roots provision to better engage hard to reach communities. We also want to ensure that AEB provision can be targeted to address the needs of key target groups such as care leavers and those over the age of 50. Finally, there are challenges for those residents in work and in low pay who struggle to re-train to access opportunities in our priority sectors including automotive/advanced manufacturing, business and professional services, construction and digital that we will use AEB to support. This service relates to the provision of adult education training services.

### Lot Information

Support for the Unemployed

The provision of Adult Education Services - Lot 1 includes: * general AEB qualifications focussed on tackling unemployment especially but not exclusively amongst young people * Grass-roots delivery to better engage hard-to-reach communities and support priority groups (including care leavers and homeless) * Sector Based Work Academies including flexible funding models for work experience * Entitlement provision at all levels Additional information: Funding awarded through the AEB commissioning process is classified as being clean in terms of being able to be matched with EU structural investment funds (e.g. ESF). Organisations commissioned to deliver AEB-funded provision must not endeavour to independently match AEB funding to any other funding stream without the express and complicit consent of the WMCA.

Options: The initial contract period is for 6 months, with an option to extend for a further 6 months (12 months total).

Support for those already in employment

The provision of Adult Education Services - Lot 2 includes: * AEB qualifications delivered flexibly so those working can access them outside of work * Re-training to improve the skills of low-paid and low-skilled workforce * Increased delivery in key sectors - Level 3 qualifications in digital, engineering and construction offered in flexible ways with funding subsidies * Pre-apprenticeship provision that supports the uptake of Apprenticeships Additional information: Funding awarded through the AEB commissioning process is classified as being clean in terms of being able to be matched with EU structural investment funds (e.g. ESF). Organisations commissioned to deliver AEB-funded provision must not endeavour to independently match AEB funding to any other funding stream without the express and complicit consent of the WMCA.

Options: The initial contract period is for 6 months, with an option to extend for a further 6 months (12 months total).

Innovative Delivery

The provision of Adult Education Services - Lot 3 includes: Innovative project and pilot-based approaches to respond to needs within the seven constituent local authority areas of the WMCA. Lot 3 provides greater flexibility but providers must ensure that the bid meets the overall ambitions of our adult offer and Regional Skills Plan (RSP). Additional information: Funding awarded through the AEB commissioning process is classified as being clean in terms of being able to be matched with EU structural investment funds (e.g. ESF). Organisations commissioned to deliver AEB-funded provision must not endeavour to independently match AEB funding to any other funding stream without the express and complicit consent of the WMCA.

Options: The initial contract period is for 6 months, with an option to extend for a further 6 months (12 months total).

### Procurement Information

The impact of the pandemic has been unprecedented and widespread across our residents communities, and businesses and we are currently experiencing a challenging economic picture. Employment is flat, while falling unemployment masks a continuing decline in the size of the labour force as economic inactivity rises. While short-term unemployment is at its lowest ever, long-term unemployment is significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. Record vacancies signal that employers are finding it increasingly hard to fill posts. And while pay is increasing, soaring inflation means that it is declining in real terms. Taken together, this creates a toxic mix for living standards that will not resolve itself. The provision of training has a key role to play in moving people back into the labour force; improving workplace support; and helping people find good, well-paid employment and progress at work. We want to align our skills funding to be able to deliver maximum impact so we intend to procure provision collectively - meaning we are aiming to run a single procurement opportunity for Adult Education Budget, National Skills Fund and Multiply. The estimated length of time expected to be able to create the new offering is anticipated to be in the region of 6 to 12 months. We are therefore intending to let the contract for an initial period of 6 months with the option to extend for a further 6 month period. To ensure service continuity, the West Midlands Combined Authority has taken the decision to award the contract to their current providers (please see list above), under Regulation 32 of the Procurement Regulations 2015 as the Services consist of a repetition of similar services entrusted to the current providers which are the same as or similar to the Services awarded under their original contracts.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/016748-2022 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large, SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Jun 2022 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 3 May 2022 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £8,955,592 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | WEST MIDLANDS COMBINED AUTHORITY |
| Additional buyers | EUROPEAN UNION |
| Locality | BIRMINGHAM |
| Post town | Birmingham |
| Postcode | B19 3SD |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands |
| ITL 3 | TLG31 Birmingham |
| Local authority | Birmingham |
| Electoral ward | Newtown |
| Westminster constituency | Birmingham Ladywood |
| Delivery location | TLG West Midlands (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 16 |
| Supplier names | BACK 2 WORK COMPLETE TRAINING; BCTG; EAST BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY FORUM; ENTERKEY TRAINING; GECKO PROGRAMMES; JBC SKILL TRAINING; NETCOM TRAINING; PET-XI; PHOENIX TRAINING SERVICES (MIDLANDS; PILOT IMS; RELEASE POTENTIAL; SERCO; SKILLS TRAINING; SYSTEM GROUP; VOCATIONAL SKILLS SOLUTIONS; WITTON LODGE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services

## Release History

- 20 Jun 2022 at 05:19 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/016748-2022
- 4 May 2022 at 10:55 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011470-2022

## Notice URLs

- http://www.wmca.org.uk
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:069933-2019:TEXT:EN:HTML

## 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-03336b. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03336b.json.