Published date: 15 January 2019
Last edited date: 15 January 2019
Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.
Contract summary
Industry
Social work and related services - 85300000
Location of contract
Any region
Value of contract
£9,000,000
Procurement reference
1564
Published date
15 January 2019
Closing date
7 February 2019
Contract start date
15 April 2019
Contract end date
31 October 2019
Contract type
Service contract
Procedure type
Open procedure (below threshold)
Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.
This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.
Contract is suitable for SMEs?
Yes
Contract is suitable for VCSEs?
Yes
Description
Please note that this is a grant.
Early in 2018, the government announced a programme of work to explore how best to ensure more children from disadvantaged families benefit from enrichment activities and healthy meals during the school holidays.
The programme of work included a £2m grant fund awarded to organisations delivering free healthy food and activities to disadvantaged children in the 2018 summer holidays, and the local coordination of free holiday provision grant fund for the 2019 summer holidays, which is the subject of this invitation to bid.
The information we gain from our 2018 and 2019 programmes will provide us with valuable information about what works in supporting this emerging sector.
School holidays can be particular pressure points for some families because of increased costs (such as food and childcare) and reduced incomes (such as loss of a free school meal, reduced working hours etc.). There is a growing body of evidence of a holiday experience gap - with children from disadvantaged families less likely to access organised out-of-school activities; more likely to experience 'unhealthy holidays' in terms of nutrition and physical health; and more likely to experience social isolation.
Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people and that they work best when they provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities, for more than just breakfast or lunch, and when they involve children (and parents) in food preparation.
There is huge variation in existing provision in terms of the frequency and duration of provision, and the food and activities on offer. Stakeholders in this area value this diversity in provision but told us that the sector could benefit from support to improve the quality of provision, especially in terms of:
• partnership working with other stakeholders in order to improve targeting and referrals, and to help providers link up with food providers;
• greater coordination across local areas to help raise awareness of what provision is available and to identify any gaps or 'cold spots'; and
• minimum standards or guidance.
We are now inviting organisations to bid for grant funding to take on the role of testing the coordination of free holiday provision (including healthy food and enriching activities) for disadvantaged children during the 2019 summer holidays in up to 9 upper-tier local authorities. Up to £9m is available in 2019-20 in this grant fund.
The aims of this grant programme are to develop a more efficient and joined-up approach to free holiday provision for disadvantaged children; and to ensure there is enough good quality free holiday provision to meet the demand from children eligible for free school meals (FSM) in the local authority during the 2019 summer holidays.
More information
Attachments
-
- 1564 Holiday Activities and Food 2019.ITB.docx
- Tender notice
- Invitation to bid
-
- 1564 Holiday Activities and Food 2019 application form.docx
- Tender notice
- Application form
-
- 1564 Holiday Activities and Food 2019.Local Authorities.xlsx
- Tender notice
- List of Local Authorities
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- 1564 Holiday Activities and Food programme 2019 - QA.pdf
- Tender notice
- Question and Answer document
About the buyer
Address
2 St Paul's Place,
Sheffield,
S1 2FJ
England
Share this notice
Closing: 7 February 2019