Expression of Interest Questionnaire
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Specialist Employability Support (SES)
Lot 3: Pan Disability
(National: including England, Scotland and Wales)
Please return your completed Expression of Interest to:
partnerships@shaw-trust.org.uk by 9am Monday 9th February 2015
1.
Introduction to Shaw Trust
Shaw Trust is a national charity that helps people facing disadvantage into work, to gain skills and
take control of their futures. We deliver both mainstream (Work Programme) and specialist (Work
Choice) employment support contracts across the UK and support over 50,000 people on their
journey into employment every year. We help people develop and gain new skills in order to help
move them closer to work and independence.
Shaw Trust offers extensive support for our
customers through a wide range of other activities, including education, retail, volunteering, as well
as health and social enterprise projects.
Shaw Trust has a turnover of £96.6 million per year and employs over 1,600 people across 200-plus
locations. We are supported by over 600 volunteers and deliver contracts for eight major funding
agencies including the European Social Fund, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Skills
Funding Agency and the Big Lottery Fund.
2.
SES Programme Overview
This new national voluntary programme will support individuals with the most severe barriers
to work, who are facing a range of disabilities and health conditions and are furthest from the
labour market, such as:

not being ready to access mainstream Work Programme or Work Choice provision;

facing multiple disabilities - therefore encountering more complex labour market entry
needs

those who have recently acquired an impairment and as a result lost a job, and
require re-training and support to enable re-entry, and

those with deteriorating existing conditions
The provision is designed to help unemployed disabled adults gain a combination of
guidance; work placements and work experience in order to progress into and sustain
employment or self-employment.
The provision will support individuals requiring a more
intensive, holistic approach to employability, could include wrap around care and
rehabilitation, adjustment to an acquired disability and some care may need to be provided on
site/residentially.
SES will consist of two types of flexible and tailored support options:
1.
SES Start Back for those who do not feel immediately able to access employment, but
who, with a short defined period of support, could enter another programme (such as
Work Choice and Work Programme), or enter work
2.
SES Intensive Employability Support for individuals requiring more fundamental,
specialist support. Provision length will be longer (up to two years), and needs to be
flexible depending on individual needs.
3.
Contract Areas
There will be three Lots, each requiring national delivery, providing coverage across England,
Scotland and Wales:

Lot 1 – Sensory Impairment - Visual: one contract to be awarded.

Lot 2 – Sensory Impairment - Hearing: one contract to be awarded.

Lot 3 – Pan-Disability, to also include visual and hearing impairments: four contracts to
be awarded.
Shaw Trust intend to bid for Lot 3 – Pan Disability
4.
Eligibility
Eligibility will not necessarily be condition-related, but it will be dependent on how much the
condition impacts the customers’ employability. Referrals will be via a central DWP ‘gateway’
team.
All enrolments must:
-
not be in employment
-
be aged 18 years or over
-
be disabled as defined by the Equality Act 2010
-
have a disability or health condition that has a significant impact on their current
employability.
-
have employment needs which cannot currently be met by other DWP or non-DWP
provision
5.
Timescales
Contracts will run for two years, from 1st September 2015 to 31st August 2017.
Time Table:
6.
-
Deadline for receipt of ITT’s: 20th February 2015 – 12 noon
-
Evaluation of Tenders: 21st February – 5th March 2015
-
Contract Award: 26th March 2015
-
Contract Go Live: 1st September 2015
Partnership Opportunity: Lot 3 – Pan Disability
Shaw Trust is seeking interest from high performing delivery organisations who can help us to
develop an innovative and effective delivery model through either specialist or pan disability
interventions. Providers will ideally be able to demonstrate:-
-
a successful track record of engaging and working with customers who have a
disability or health condition
-
strong local links – a joined up approach of working with local partner networks
-
relationships with key local stakeholders and access to additional funding streams
-
relationships with employers to support work placements and experience, traineeships
and apprenticeships
-
Existing delivery infrastructure.
If you are NOT an existing Shaw Trust Work Choice delivery partner and feel that your
organisation could support this opportunity, please complete the Expression of Interest by:
9am on Monday 9th February 2015
Please return to the email address below
Partnerships@shaw-trust.org.uk
The information provided will be assessed and shortlisted organisations will be contacted to enter
into next stage discussions.
Part 1 – Organisation & Contact Details
1.1
Name of Organisation
1.2
Contact Address and postcode
1.3
Contact Name
1.4
Job Title
1.5
Telephone Number
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
Mobile Number
Email Address
Company Website
Please confirm the legal status of your organisation:
Private Limited Company
Registered Charity
Public Limited Company
Public Sector
Other i.e. Social Enterprise / SPV / Consortium (Please specify):
1.10 Please indicate how you would like to work with Shaw Trust:
Tier 2 – End to End: Subcontractor delivering all parts of the service in a specific
geographic area or for specific disability cohorts, i.e., sensory impairments; mental
health, learning difficulties, Autism etc.
Tier 3 – Specialist Partner: Delivering national or regional specialist elements of
the service, i.e. mental health, learning difficulties, sensory impairments, health
interventions, CBT, self-employment support etc
Tier 4 - Spot Purchase Partner: Specific Interventions i.e. counselling, mobility
training, assistive technology support, CBT, provision of work placements, work
tasters, social enterprise placements and training etc.
1.11 Please provide a brief overview of your organisation ie history and company overview
1.12 Key areas of Specialist Intervention / Support.
Please identify and provide brief details on the Specialist intervention(s) / Support you are
able to deliver, including geographical reach and capacity.
Part 2 – Current Delivery
2.1 Please demonstrate your experience of delivering support/services to meet the specific
needs and barriers of this customer group.
2.2 Detail experience of delivering holistic, wrap-around care and rehabilitation support for this
customer group. Include details of where you have delivered this support residentially where
appropriate.
2.3 Detail experience of delivering support in areas with distinctively different social-economic
and disability characteristics within them.
2.4 Describe any problems you have experienced when delivering similar provision to this
customer group. How did you overcome these problems and what lessons were learnt.
Part 3 – Relevant Experience
3.1 Current provision
Are you a current provider to DWP?
Please provide brief details:
Are you a current provider to local Health Services /
Social Services?
Please provide brief details:
Are you a current SFA provider?
Please provide brief details:
Yes
Direct
No
Subcontract
Yes
Direct
No
Subcontract
Yes
No
Are you a current Local Authority provider?
Please provide brief details:
Other?
Please provide brief details:
Direct
Subcontract
Yes
Direct
No
Subcontract
Yes
Direct
No
Subcontract
3.2 Have you previously worked in partnership with Shaw Trust?
If yes, please advise contract name and geographical delivery area.
Part 4 - Finance Details
4.1 Do you have audited and published accounts for the last three financial years? If so, please
provide a summary in the boxes below.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
April 11 - 12]
[April 12 - 13]
[April 13 – March 14]
Gross Turnover (£)
Net Profit/Surplus (£)
Part 5 – Stakeholder, Employer and Community Links
5.1 Please complete the table below, detailing any links with local community groups and key
organisations that will provide additional support for SES customers (add additional rows as
required)
Organisation Name
Services Provided
Location
5.2 Please complete the table below, detailing any links with Stakeholders. For example: JCP;
Primary Care Trusts; Local Authorities (ie Adult Social Services, Community Mental Health
Teams etc); Health Care Commissioners etc and highlight the benefits of these relationships to
SES (add additional rows as required)
Stakeholder
Benefits
Engagement / Contact (i.e.
regular meetings, annual
meeting, board member etc.)
5.3 Please detail how you have worked successfully with strategic Stakeholders to achieve
outcomes for customers with disabilities / health conditions and how this interaction has added
value to your delivery.
5.4 Please detail how you identify and engage with Employers and address labour market
requirements. Provide examples which have been relevant to supporting customers with
disabilities / health conditions ie how interaction with employers has added value to your delivery
and achieved job outcomes.
5.5 Over the past 12 months, how many employers have you worked with and how many people
with disabilities / health conditions have you progressed into work? Please provide details by
geography ie Region or County etc.
5.6 Please complete the table below, detailing any links with Employers, Employment & Skills
Groups and LEPS – Local Enterprise Partnerships etc and highlight the benefits of these
relationships to SES ie, traineeships, apprenticeship routes, work placements/experience (add
additional rows as required)
Stakeholder
Benefits
Engagement / Contact (i.e.
regular meetings, annual
meeting, board member etc.)
Part 6 - Delivery Areas (relevant to SES)
6.1 In which locations do you propose to deliver these services? Identify and include any
outreach locations you intend to deliver from.
(add additional rows as required)
Location Address (Fixed or Outreach)
Explain why location is suitable for
SES provision and provide
accessibility arrangements / transport
links etc.
Please only list those that are Equality
Act compliant
Please provide details: Facilities / training rooms /
1:1 rooms / welfare facilities / specialist equipment /
crèche facilities etc
6.2 If you intend to deliver across the Lot, or large geographies, please explain how you will
achieve full coverage.
6.3 Do you currently co-locate with other organisation(s) which are relevant to support your
delivery of SES? If yes, please provide brief details.
Part 7 - Staffing (relevant to SES)
7.1 Please provide current/proposed staffing levels by location and job role, which would be
available to support SES delivery (dependent upon referrals). Provide relevant skills /
qualifications as appropriate and maximum case load sizes.
7.2 What management skills and expertise will your organisation bring to support the delivery of
this contract?
Part 8 - Organisation Quality, Policy and Procedures
8.1 Please indicate which of the following Quality Standards your organisation currently holds.
Quality Standard
Investors in People
Positive About Disability
Momenta Accredited
Matrix
Customer First
ISO27001
ISO9001
Training Quality Standard
EQFM Excellence
Other (Please specify)
Yes
No
Working
Towards
Expiry
Date
Expected
Award Date
8.2 Please state the grades achieved at your most recent external assessment/inspection and
the awarding body ie Ofsted / Estyn / Merlin
Type of Inspection
Date
Overall Grade
Areas of Inspection (please
list)
8.3 Please indicate the internal Policies which your organisation currently holds (Proof of
documents are not required at this stage)
Policy
Held
Not Held
Date Last Updated
Fraud Prevention
Business Code of Ethics
Health & Safety
Environmental Sustainability
Equal Opportunities & Diversity
Disciplinary & Grievance
Data Security
Dealing with Vulnerable Adults
Child Safeguarding
Whistle Blowing
Safety and Work Placements
Business Continuity
Quality Assurance/Continuous Improvement
Recruitment and Personnel
8.4 Please describe with examples, how you will manage and monitor the quality of delivery of
SES to customers. Please detail how standards in quality can be increased whilst taking
account of individual’s needs and barriers.
8.5 Please provide your process for driving innovation and continuous improvement which
includes feedback from service users and key stakeholders together with managing complaints.
Give examples where you have applied this process.
8.6 Please detail your experience and processes for keeping accurate and auditable customer
records and how you will ensure this meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
Part 9 - Volume Fluctuations in Business and Referrals
9.1 Please explain your approach to managing changes to service volume fluctuations (up or
down), including how you could supply services at short notice. If possible, please provide an
example of where this has happened previously.
9.2 Please describe how you will manage referrals, track customer progression and provide
review/assessments to the Shaw Trust Contract team.
Part 10 - Contract Performance
10.1 Please give details of your 5 best performing contracts, and your 1 worst performing
contract
Name of
Contract
Contracting
body, e.g.
DWP / MoJ /
SFA, etc.
Contract
Duration
Brief Description of
Services Delivered
Target
Performance
(e.g. 45% into
jobs) or %
outcomes
Achieved
Performance
10.2 What measures have you taken to tackle contractual underperformance?
10.3 Have you had any contracts terminated or volunteered to hand back in the last 3 years? If
yes, please explain why
Part 11 - Other
11.1 What distinct unique services, or provision, does your business bring to the SES contract
and differentiates you from your competitors?
11.2 How will you identify and engage with organisations who can add value/support SES
customers through alternative funding? ie, funding to support health requirements / training /
qualifications etc. Please provide examples.
11.3 Please include any additional information that you would like to submit to Shaw Trust
(max 500 words)
Part 12 - Declaration
I declare that to the best of my knowledge the information given in this application is reliable,
accurate and true (Please note, electronic signatures are acceptable)
Name:
Signature:
Position:
Authorised to sign on behalf of:
Date:
Please ensure that this document is returned to: Partnerships@shaw-trust.org.uk