UK6 - Contract award notice - Fidelity Assurance
Estimated value
—
Awarded value
£7.7m
Suppliers
1
Lots
1
Published
30 Jun 2025
Description
Connect to Work will be delivered using two of the most recognised quality standards for supported employment: IPS and SEQF. The Fidelity Assurance requirement supplements the delivery of Connect to Work by supporting delivery partners in following the requirements of the IPS and SEQF supported employment models. Both models have Fidelity Scales. The Fidelity Assurance Supplier will be required to deliver the Fidelity Assurance services across England and Wales. DWP will fund delivery of the Fidelity Assurance requirement for IPS and SEQF through one contract. The Authority has considered whether the Fidelity Assurance services could reasonably be supplied under more than one contract by dividing the procurement into lots based on geographical area. The Authority has concluded that splitting the procurement into lots could make the requirement disproportionately expensive to manage and increase the technical risk to deliver the requirement. The Authority is awarding a public contract under section 19 of the Procurement Act 2023. The award of that public contract was through an open procedure in accordance with section 20(1) and (2)(a) of the PA 2023, The procurement for the award of that public contract was conducted in accordance with sections 20(1) and (2)(a) the Procurement Act 2023 as an open procedure for the award of a light touch contract.
Scope
- Reference
- ITT_22170
- Commercial tool
- Standalone contract
- Contract dates
- 31 Jul 2025 to 31 Mar 2030Possible extension to 31 Mar 2032
The Authority currently anticipates awarding a contract for the services for an initial period of 56 months with an option (subject to governance approval, available funding and satisfactory performance) for the Authority to extend the contract for a further period of up to 24 months by giving the Supplier written notice of no less than 3 Months before the initial period of the contract expires, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the provisions of the Contract.
- CPV classifications
- 75112000751210007512200080500000
- Contract locations
- North East England, United KingdomNorth West England, United KingdomYorkshire and the Humber, United KingdomEast Midlands, United KingdomWest Midlands, United KingdomEast of England, United KingdomLondon, United KingdomSouth East England, United KingdomSouth West England, United KingdomWales, United Kingdom
- Particular suitability
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Award criteria
Criteria the buyer will use to evaluate bids.
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2.2.1 Implementation | Please set out an Implementation plan that demonstrates how you will implement the Fidelity Assurance services in accordance with the requirements set out in the Specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Identification of the key milestones; • Timescales for delivering key milestones; • Identifying dates for key deliverables; and • How implementation will be managed and monitored. Where a bid does not achieve the required minimum score of 3 (Satisfactory) for this Implementation criteria, the Authority will not proceed to evaluate the remaining Qualitative Questions and will reject the tender. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 1 side of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. A separate Gantt document can be attached to support the response. This should be a maximum of 1 x A3 in size and in PDF format. Files submitted in any other format (including but not limited to Microsoft Project) will not be accepted. The Gantt document will not count within the question page limit of 1 side of A4. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.2 Establishing and maintaining the IPS and SEQF (Supported Employment) Expert Reference Groups | Please provide a detailed description of how you will identify and engage with potential IPS and SEQF experts to form part of the Expert Reference Groups (ERGs), specifically in relation to paragraph 2.1 to and including paragraph 2.6 of the Fidelity Assurance specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Explain how you will establish IPS and SEQF ERGs within one month of the contract start date and review membership throughout the life of the contract to ensure that the supported employment experts remain engaged; • Describe how you will use the ERGs to validate the language of the IPS and SEQF models so that they are relevant in the context of Connect to Work and adapt if required; • Outline how you will obtain sign off of the language adapted Fidelity Scales by ERG members within three months of the contract start date; • Explain how you will engage with ERG members through quarterly forums, to review the latest evidence base and use innovative measures, to continually improve the IPS and SEQF models; and • Describe how you will capture adaptations and continuous improvement initiatives and communicate these to DWP. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 2 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.3 Engagement with Accountable Bodies, Delivery Partners and DWP | Please describe how you will engage with Accountable Bodies, their Delivery Partners and DWP, specifically in relation to paragraphs 2.5, 2.10 to and including 2.15 of the Fidelity Assurance specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Explain how you will facilitate the launch of the Fidelity Assurance requirements, communicate the purpose of Fidelity Assurance and advocate for Fidelity Assurance to Accountable Bodies and Delivery Partners, within 120 days of the contract start date, in line with KPI 2; • Outline how you will establish quarterly national communities of practice forums and ensure Accountable Bodies, their Delivery Partners and other relevant attendees are invited on a continual basis; • Describe how you will build Accountable Bodies and Delivery Partners' knowledge of Supported Employment, the IPS and SEQF models and Fidelity Assurance requirements; • Explain how you will encourage active participation from the Accountable Bodies and their Delivery Partners to work collaboratively to build knowledge and share best practice of the Fidelity Scales; • Demonstrate how you will communicate changes relating to the Fidelity Assurance models to Accountable Bodies and Delivery Partners, specifically in relation to paragraph 2.5 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification; • Outline how you will implement a mechanism to receive and consider feedback to drive forward continuous improvement of the IPS and SEQF models; and • Describe how you will work with DWP to ensure cohesion of the Fidelity Assurance services with the delivery of Connect to Work. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 3 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.4 Fidelity Assessment Delivery Model | Please provide a detailed description of how you will deliver the Fidelity Assessments in line with the requirements set out in paragraph 2.7 to and including paragraph 2.9, paragraph 2.16 to and including paragraph 2.27, and paragraph 2.45 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Explain how you will meet requirement to deliver face to face Fidelity Assessments across England and Wales; • Detail how the Fidelity Assessment requirements will be communicated with Accountable Bodies and their Delivery Partners; • Demonstrate how you will facilitate the collection of evidence from Accountable Bodies/Delivery Partners to assist in the Fidelity Assessment meeting the time scales detailed in paragraph 2.21; and • Describe how you will engage with the Accountable Bodies to ensure full participation at the face to face Fidelity Assessments. • Outline how you will align resources to meet the varying demand for Fidelity Assessments and meet the requirements in the KPIs throughout the life of the contract. • Include details of how you will recruit the appropriate number of FTE employees with the suitable skills to deliver the Fidelity Assessments and outline any contingencies should recruitment numbers not materialise. • Describe how you will put in place a process for Fidelity Assessment scores to be moderated to ensure the Connect to Work services are assessed independently and objectively against the IPS and SEQF Fidelity Scales and ensure consistency of scoring across all Fidelity Assessments. • Describe how you will establish and implement safeguarding policies when carrying out Fidelity Assessments. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 4 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.5 Fidelity Assessment Report | Please provide a detailed description of how you will create and disseminate the Fidelity Assessment Reports in line with the requirements set out in paragraph 2.28 to and including paragraph 2.32 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Describe how you will format the Fidelity Assessment Reports to capture the minimum data requirements of paragraph 2.29 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification; • Explain how you will meet all requirements set out in the Quality Standards at Annex 9 of Fidelity Assurance Specification in relation to the Fidelity Assurance Report; • Demonstrate how you meet the requirements set out in KPI 6 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification; and • Include details of how you will facilitate and respond to clarification requests as set out in paragraphs 2.30 to 2.31 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 2 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.6 Local Community of Practice | Please provide a detailed description of how you will facilitate the Local Community of Practice in line with the requirements set out in paragraph 2.33 to and including paragraph 2.38 of the Fidelity Assurance Specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Outline how you will work with Accountable Bodies to organise and manage the Local Community of Practice whilst meeting the requirements of KPI 7 of the Fidelity Assurance specification; • Demonstrate how you will encourage engagement and ensure a collaborative environment for all attendees; and • Include details of how you will capture the key discussion points of each Local Community of Practice, transfer these into a quality output note for dissemination to all attendees, and DWP, to feed back into improved delivery and continuous improvement of Connect to Work delivery. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 2 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.7 Fidelity Assurance SMART Action Plan Refinement | Please provide a detailed description of how you will facilitate the virtual interactions with the Accountable Bodies and/or their Delivery Partners to assist in the refinement of their Fidelity Assurance SMART Action Plans in line with the requirements set out in paragraph 2.39 to and including paragraph 2.40 of the Fidelity Assurance specification. Your response should include but not be limited to the following elements: • Outline how you will put in place a mechanism to facilitate virtual interactions with the Delivery Partners; and • Include details of how you will deliver the service/adapt the mechanism to address varying levels of demand from Delivery Partners in terms of refinement to the Fidelity Assurance SMART action plans. Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 2 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. | quality | — |
| Q2.2.8 Social Value - Theme 4: Equal Opportunity | Please describe the commitment your organisation will make to ensure that opportunities under the Fidelity Assurance contract deliver the policy outcome to reduce the disability employment gap in line with the Specification. Your response should include a timed project plan and process, including how you will implement, monitor, measure, and report on your commitment across the life of the contract and outline the existing or planned effective measures within your organisation to deliver the elements set out in this Question • The response should also include but not be limited to the following elements: Demonstrate action to increase the representation of disabled people in the contract workforce: o Explain how you will gain an understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry, or sector relevant to the contract, and in the tenderer's own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. o Outline how you will collect and use the views and expertise of disabled people and their representative organisations on successfully supporting disabled employees or applicants. o Describe what measures your organisation will implement to reduce barriers to securing more jobs for disabled people in the contract workforce. The following metric will apply to this element: Demonstrate through the Fidelity Assurance Supplier Management Information that you have achieved and are on-track to deliver against the timed project plan and process outlined in respect of the Social Value requirement to Increase representation of disabled people, in the tender response, and evidence that the representation of disabled people in the Fidelity Assurance Contract Workforce has increased by [x%]. NB: Percentage to be determined from tender response and will be assessed on an annual basis. o Support disabled people in developing new skills relevant to the contract, including through training schemes that result in recognised qualifications: Demonstrate your understanding of the issues affecting the development of new skills by disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the tenderer's own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. o Describe your understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to apprenticeships and training schemes (Level 2, 3, and 4+) for disabled people in the contract workforce. o Outline how you will take account of inclusive and accessible development practices, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition. o Describe the specific actions your organisation will take to reduce barriers to improve the representation of disabled people on apprenticeships and training schemes (Level 2, 3, and 4+) in the contract workforce, demonstrating a year-on-year increase. Illustrative examples can be found in the Social Value Model document Social-Value-Model-Edn-1.1-3-Dec-20.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) The following metric will apply to this element: Demonstrate through the Fidelity Assurance Supplier Management Information that you have achieved and are on-track to deliver against the timed project plan and process outlined in respect of the Social Value requirement of Supporting disabled people in developing new skills, in the tender response; and evidence a year-on-year increase of disabled people within the Fidelity Assurance Contract workforce represented on apprenticeships and training schemes (Level 2, 3 and 4+). Present your response at the top of a new page in the question template, within the pre-set margins in Arial font size 12 up to 2 sides of A4, excluding the question text and these instructions. A separate timed project plan document can be attached to support the response. This should be a maximum of 1 x A3 in size and in PDF format. Files submitted in any other format (including but not limited to Microsoft Project) will not be accepted. The timed project plan document will not count within the question page limit of 2 sides of A4. | quality | — |
| Contract Cost Register | Suppliers will be required to complete a Contract Cost Register for the delivery of the Fidelity Assurance Services and Deliverables showing their indicative total contract price for the initial contract period. This should be calculated by the potential supplier based on the Specification of requirements. The maximum total contract price for this procurement is £7,750,000 (excluding VAT) for the initial contract period. The Authority is applying a 10% tolerance below the maximum total contract price that all offered prices must be within. Therefore, any offers below £6,975,000 (£7.75m x 90%) will be rejected. | price | — |
Participation
Conditions suppliers must meet to bid.
The questions within the Procurement Specific Questionnaire relating to Financial Capacity Conditions are listed below: PSQ 13 - Are you intending to rely on another supplier to act as a guarantor? If you have answered no please go to PSQ 15 PSQ 13 (a) - If you are proposing to rely on another supplier to act as a guarantor please provide the following details: - Full name of immediate parent company, - Registered or head office address, - Registration number (if applicable), - VAT number (if applicable), PSQ 14 - Please confirm whether you already have, or can commit to obtain, by the commencement of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated below: Employer's (Compulsory) Liability Insurance* = £5m Public Liability Insurance = £5m PSQ 14 (a) - Insert details of your insurances already in place or insurances which would be obtained following contract award (including information on how you will obtain this insurance - e.g. a quote) The questions within the Procurement Specific Questionnaire relating to Legal Capacity Conditions are listed below: PSQ 15 - Please confirm that you have in place, or that you will have in place by contract award, the human and technical resources to perform the contract to ensure compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulations and to ensure the protection of the rights of data subjects. PSQ 15 (a) Please provide details of the technical facilities and measures (including systems and processes) you have in place, or will have in place by contract award, to ensure compliance with the UK data protection law and to ensure the protection of the rights of data subjects. Your response should include, but should not be limited to facilities and measures: ● to ensure ongoing confidentiality, integrity, availability and resilience of processing systems and services; ● to comply with the rights of data subjects in respect of receiving privacy information, and access, rectification, deletion and portability of personal data; ● to ensure that any consent based processing meets standards of active, informed consent, and that such consents are recorded and auditable; ● to ensure legal safeguards are in place to legitimise transfers of personal data outside the UK (if such transfers will take place); ● to maintain records of personal data processing activities; and ● to regularly test, assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the above measures. Tackling Modern Slavery in Supply Chains (Central Government Contracts) Any modern slavery statement or other statement or document should contain at least the following information: a. the organisation's structure, its business and its supply chains; b. its policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking; c. its due diligence processes in relation to slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains; d. the parts of its business and supply chains where there is a risk of slavery and human trafficking taking place, and the steps it has taken to assess and manage that risk; e. its effectiveness in ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its business or supply chains, measured against such performance indicators as it considers appropriate; f. the training and capacity building about slavery and human trafficking available to its staff. PSQ 16 - If you are a relevant commercial organisation subject to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and if your latest statement is available electronically please provide: ● the web address, ● precise reference of the documents. If it is not available electronically, please state this and go to question PSQ 16 (a) PSQ 16 (a) - If your latest statement is not available electronically, please provide a copy. PSQ 16 (b) - If you are not a relevant commercial organisation subject to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (for example if your turnover is less than £36 million or you do not carry on your business, or part of your business, in the UK), please provide a link to an equivalent statement or document which demonstrates information to a to f above. PSQ 16 (c) - If all the information set out in a to f above is not included in your modern slavery statement or other statement or documents, please provide an explanation as to why not and/or assurances that it will be included before contract award.
Submission & procedure
- Procedure
- Open procedure
Award details
Awarded supplier(s), contract period and value as published in the award notice.
Awarded value
£7.7m
Award date
29 Jun 2025
Contract start
31 Jul 2025
Contract end
31 Mar 2030