Published date: 12 June 2019

Last edited date: 12 June 2019

Closed future opportunity - This means that a potential contract has passed its approach to market date. A buyer can choose to consider any supplier interest or convert this notice into an opportunity ready for live procurement.


Approach to market date: 14 June 2019

Contract summary

Industry

  • Sanitary towels or tampons - 33771100

Location of contract

North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West, Isle of Man, Channel Islands

Value of contract

£10,000,000 to £20,000,000

Procurement reference

tender_207181/767640

Published date

12 June 2019

Approach to market date

14 June 2019

Contract start date

2 September 2019

Contract end date

31 March 2022

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

In March 2019, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the DfE will lead a scheme to provide access to free sanitary products in all schools and colleges in England. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spring-statement-2019-what-you-need-to-know

On 16th April, Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi confirmed access to free period products will also be fully-funded in Primary Schools. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-sanitary-products-in-all-primary-schools

The DfE's 2018 omnibus survey found that 83% of secondary school leaders reported making free products available to pupils, with 41% doing so because of a reason related to pupils' inability to afford period products. Of the secondary school leaders who reported making free products available, 78% said provision was funded from school budgets, 26% used charitable donations and 17% said teachers funded products themselves. No-one should be held back from reaching their potential, which is why we have announced a scheme to provide access to free period products in schools and colleges in England, and that this will be fully funded by the government.

The DfE will shortly be publishing a tendering opportunity to find a single national supplier who can:
- Source an appropriate range of period products
- Design and implement user interfaces and support services
- Plan and execute a national delivery service

We require a 'demand-led' service which must be available to approximately 22,000 institutions across England, with an accessible and easy to use means of interaction and product ordering.

PLEASE NOTE: We have estimated the value of this opportunity to be in the region of £10-20m based on an anticipated level of take-up across the 1.7m eligible learners. The funding for this opportunity is contingent on user need, alongside the delivery and distribution methods used by any successful bidder .

SUPPLIER PRE-TENDER BRIEFING: The DfE will be running an Open procurement in June 2019, which will follow the OJEU procedure. Prior to this, we will be running a Skype event at 11:30Am on Tuesday 28th May to provide an overview of our finalised requirements and highlight the upcoming procurement process. To register for this event, please contact PP.Procurement@education.gov.uk .

More information

Attachments

Additional text

An earlier event was held on Tuesday 23rd April 2019. The presentation and Q&A summary from this event can be found attached on the Contracts Finder notice.

This tender opportunity will be published via the DfE's e-procurement system, Bravo. To register, please see the following link:
https://education.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.shtml

About the buyer

Address

Agora Building, Cumberland Place
Nottingham
NG1 6HG
England

Email

PP.PROCUREMENT@education.gov.uk