Published date: 20 July 2020

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.


Closing: 31 July 2020

Contract summary

Industry

  • Research and development services and related consultancy services - 73000000

Location of contract

London

Value of contract

£25,000 to £50,000

Procurement reference

BIP509853887

Published date

20 July 2020

Closing date

31 July 2020

Contract start date

5 August 2020

Contract end date

31 January 2021

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Restricted procedure

A two-stage procedure, where the first stage is used to select suppliers, who are then invited to bid in the second stage.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No

Description

This project supports the LGA Business Plan priority for councils 'to have the powers and resources they need to bring partners together to deliver inclusive and high quality education and help children and young people to fulfil their potential.'
All children's social care and education leaders found themselves in an entirely new situation when the lockdown and school closures were announced in March. In the first instance we would like this research to look at how councils, working with schools, parents and children, managed the transition to these new arrangements. Specifically the project should:
• Capture how councils and schools have responded to the challenges posed by Covid-19 in relation to education and safeguarding children
• Gather feedback from councils, social workers and school leaders on what has and has not worked during the initial period following the partial closure
• Gain an understanding of how education leaders have adapted to the arrangements, including arrangements for opening schools to more pupils, and how children's social care adapted its practices, including in relation to multi-agency child safeguarding
• Identify how children, families and carers have responded to new ways of working in children's social care (including foster carers and children's homes)
• Explore the role of schools acting as the 'eyes and ears' of the child safeguarding system and how they have worked with councils in this regard
• Consider any barriers to embedding new ways of working in the long-term
The final output will be a report that:
• gives examples of the leadership role of councils in supporting schools to respond to the Covid-19 crisis and also look forward, asking councils and schools how they are planning and working to ensure pupils still receive a good education.
• If possible, identify new and emerging practice that has improved, or is expected to improve, outcomes for children;
• Identifies the ways in which learning from this period can be taken forward to improve education and children's social care systems and practice in the longer-term.
Researchers will be expected to work closely with 9 councils, identified in consultation with LGA policy leads, as well as local education system leaders (Director of Children's Services and relevant assistant directors and headteachers). This could be through roundtables or interviews or other approaches that contractors may want to suggest. We would like the project to be completed in two phases - an initial phase, concluding with an interim report at the end of September 2020, to capture initial learning and make immediate recommendations to support recovery, followed up towards the end of 2020 to consider longer-term impacts.

More information

Links

Additional text

The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.

About the buyer

Contact name

Ian Keating

Address

18 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3HZ
UK

Telephone

07464652786

Email

jordanne.mckenzie-blythe@local.gov.uk