Common use of Background to the Requirement Clause in Contracts

Background to the Requirement. 3.1 Under the Apprenticeship Reforms, new Apprenticeship Standards will replace the old Specifications for Apprenticeship Standards in England (SASE) Frameworks. 3.2 A number of these new Apprenticeship Standards are already available for delivery; so at present there is a cross-over period where some new Apprenticeship Standards are being delivered alongside the SASE Frameworks. However, once a new Apprenticeship Standard is in place, the outdated SASE Framework which it replaces will be discontinued as soon as it is practical to do so. 3.3 Crown Commercial Service is working in collaboration with Civil Service Learning (CSL) to create a framework agreement with selected Education and Skills Funding Agency- registered apprenticeship training providers that supports public and third sector bodies to access training and apprenticeship services that meet UK standards. 3.4 In May 2017 the system for the funding and procurement of apprenticeship training changed with the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, which requires public sector employers with a pay bill over £3 million each year to make an investment in apprenticeships (0.5% of their annual pay bill). 3.5 Employers will access the funds through a Digital Apprenticeship Account (DAA) controlled by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The DAA is hosted on a system known as the digital Apprenticeship Service (AS). Each levy-paying employer has a virtual account equivalent in value to its contribution, minus an amount equivalent to the notional contribution for its employees that live in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus a government top-up of 10%. 3.6 Funds in the Digital Account can only be used to cover the cost of apprenticeship training and end point assessment for apprenticeships undertaken in England. To access the funds employers will need to show, through the AS, that it has a contract for the delivery of a recognised apprenticeship, by a registered provider. For these purposes a registered provider is a training provider that appears on the ESFA Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP). 3.7 Employers will inform the ESFA (through the Apprenticeship Standard) who their Apprentices are; the Training Provider will tell the ESFA who it is training for that particular employer. On the strength of this information the ESFA will then pay the Training Provider and subtract the relevant amount from the employer’s DAA. 3.8 The Public Sector apprenticeship targets equate to 2.3% of starts each year based on the headcount of employees working for a body in England. This applies to public bodies with 250 or more employees. 3.9 The aim of this procurement is to secure a centralised Framework Agreement with selected ESFA registered Apprenticeship Training Providers who will work in effective partnership with participating organisations in providing access to a range of high quality training and related services; for the provision of a number of public sector commonly required core Apprenticeship Standards and Apprenticeship Frameworks. 3.10 Civil Service Learning (CSL) provides learning and development for all civil servants. Their curriculum covers the core skills that civil servants need to provide excellent public services. 3.11 CSL is acting on behalf of government departments to procure high quality Apprenticeship training and related services, which offer good value. Consistency of learning across all formats of learning is a priority for the Civil Service, to this end the Supplier shall be expected to work with the provider of the CSL core curriculum to make sure there is consistency of models used, so as to ensure that if an Apprentice is undertaking core curriculum learning or Apprenticeship training, they receive the same messages. 3.12 Call Off Contracts entered into under this Framework Agreement may be put in place by CSL as the Contracting Authority on behalf of departments, functions and professions or directly by departments, functions and professions.