INVITATION TO TENDER (ITT) for Deepdives into Social Mobility: A Local Perspective

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) is interested in commissioning research to understand regional disparities and challenges in areas with poor mobility and prosperity. Our motivation stems from the need to understand the complex issues that keep some areas, and people, from thriving. State of the Nation 2023 (SoN23) shows very clear inequalities of mobility across the country, captured in our regional analysis of mobility rates and drivers. But the findings also show that descriptive statistics, even when split by protected characteristics and socio-economic background, cannot fully capture underlying causes. Every pattern has exceptions, and not every cause can be brought out by the data. Our current Index uses the best available data to construct regional indicators of early-life mobility outcomes, and of the drivers of mobility. The drivers of social mobility in our Index are there because there is evidence that they affect aggregate rates of social mobility at a national level. Yet, at lower geographical levels, there are individuals and local factors affecting social mobility, and for many of these, no data is currently available. So the Commission is keen to develop a comprehensive research project, or "deep dive", which will consider the complex, co-occurring and compounding factors that contribute to low social mobility at the individual and local level. Bidders must submit their Bids before 4pm on 16 August 2024. All Bids must be submitted to contact@socialmobilitycommission.gov.uk. Failure to return Bids by the time and due date or in the required format may disqualify Bidders from consideration.