Published date: 12 January 2024

Last edited date: 29 January 2024

Closed early engagement


Closing date: 8 February 2024

Contract summary

Industry

  • Imprisonment services - 75231210

  • Prison services - 75231230

Location of contract

Any region

Procurement reference

tender_407830/1301401

Published date

12 January 2024

Closing date

8 February 2024

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

By 1st April 2025, His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) requires a provision with a third-party delivery partner to support access to higher education for those who have 6 years or less remaining until their release. This will involve:

- Promoting higher education within prisons
- Signposting learners towards the types of higher education courses available
- Supporting applications to the courses and student finance
- Ensuring learners can access the required course material, either in digital format or on paper printouts where no access to IT is available
- Enabling tutor contact remotely via telephone and digital channels. In person delivery may also be required.
- Facilitate non-digital assessments where necessary

Higher Education provision is currently offered to learners serving their sentence within prisons, in secure hospitals, and on release in the community under licence. Engaging in Higher Education has been found to improve a prisoner's chance of securing employment upon release and reduce reoffending. Higher Education study has been shown to improve prisoner's mental wellbeing, helping prisoners to look positively towards the future and reintegration into society.

If you are interested in providing this service across England and Wales, please complete the below questionnaire.
https://forms.office.com/e/R9WJdbf6m6

A virtual market engagement will be held on 8th February. An invite will be sent to the email address which was used to respond to the above request for information.

In addition, MoJ may invite one or more provider which confirms their interest to participate in one-to-one market engagement sessions. Depending on the level of confirmed interest, it may not be possible to hold such sessions with every provider. In that eventuality, such sessions would be held with a representative sample of providers. MoJ will consider all feedback during market engagement and any subsequent amendments to its procurement strategy will be entirely at its discretion.

This is not a call for competition. It does not commit MoJ to commencing a procurement process and is intended for market engagement purposes only.

More information

Previous notice about this procurement

HMPPS Higher Education

  • Early engagement
  • Published 12 January 2024

About the buyer

Address

30 Hanover St
Manchester
M4 4AH
England

Email

CCMD-PrisonEducationService-Programme@justice.gov.uk