Specialist Education Framework Phase 1 – Independent Non-Maintained Special Schools Round 3

Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) is seeking to add further Independent non-maintained Special Schools (INMSS) to a new Framework Agreement under which the Council are looking to commission INMSS and Post-16 (where the provision is delivered in house by the school) provision of specialist school placements for pupils who are not attending mainstream or maintained special schools and who have an Education Health Care (EHC) Plan. This will replace the current Independent / non-maintained special schools Approved Provider List for Nottinghamshire (NAPL).

All Providers currently delivering or intending to deliver services detailed within the updated Specification (Part 4 – Specification) must apply to be on the new Framework Agreement as the current provider list (NAPL) will come to an end on the 31st of December 2024.

This initial phase of the framework will have two lots under which the Council can make specialist school placements. In Lot 1 commissioners will put in place block contracts with providers and Lot 2 will see the establishment of an approved INMSS provider list

The Framework Agreement will commence from the 1st of January 2025
Call off" contracts under Lot 2 may commence from 1st January 2025. "Call off" contracts under Lot 1 may commence from September 2025.

This process is the reopening of the framework for new providers to bid to join the new INMSS framework and is the third tender round. This tender round is for only open to bid to join the INMSS Approved Provider List which is Lot 2 of the Framework Agreement. The Council are not re-opening Lot 1 Block Contract in this tender round.

Any providers who were unsuccessful in the previous tender rounds (1 and 2) for Lot 2 can reapply in this tender round (3).

The establishment of a framework agreement for INMSS is the first phase of the recommissioning of the Specialist Education provision for the Council as set out in the Vision document (Part 3 – Vision document). Ultimately the framework will be extended to include Alternative Education Provision and Post-16 institutions (e.g., further education colleges that are not part of the INMSS), that will be the second/third phases of the recommissioning project and new procurement processes will be run at later dates which are yet to be decided.

A Framework Agreement is an agreement between the contracting authority and one or more Service Providers, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period.

This is a multi-provider framework.

There is no guarantee of work under this Framework.

Bidders should note that a further opportunity/opportunities for organisations to bid for inclusion on this framework may be advertised. No date/s have been set for any such process; however, further rounds for both lots 1 and 2 may periodically open again subject to demand (see section 1.2.1). Any Bidder who is unsuccessful in this tender may bid again in any future tender for admission to the framework.

The Framework Agreement is commissioned under the Light Touch Regime 74 -77 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 using an open procedure and advertised in the Find a Tender Service Find high value contracts in the public sector - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The closing date for tenders is the 28th January 2025 at 5pm.