The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) are promoting the Apprenticeship Training Dynamic Market Place DPS as the recommended vehicle for procuring apprenticeship training and related services in the public sector, which include central government departments, non-departmental public bodies, NHS bodies, local authorities, health, police, fire and rescue, education, charities and devolved administrations. CCS key priorities are to build and increase capacity for high-quality apprenticeship training and make it quick and easy for any public sector employer to source and transact with Apprenticeship Training Providers and or End-point Assessment Organisations whilst complying with the Public Procurement Regulations and ESFA Apprenticeship Funding Rules.
Contract Value and Term: £800m over a 4-year term to 29/04/2023. Public sector employers can start to award contracts through the DPS from the 30/04/2019.
Application/Bidding Process: There is a three-stage application/bidding process that requires apprenticeship training providers to establish their eligibility, demonstrate their competence, and detail their apprenticeship training offer(s). The stages are:
- Selection Questionnaire (SQ) (stage 1)
- Dynamic Purchasing System Questionnaire (DPSQ) (stage 2)
- Apprenticeship Prospectus (stage 4).
Once approved on the DPS, public sector employers will be able to award apprenticeship contracts to training providers through two approaches:
- Rapid Award Procedure – directly to their chosen training provider
- Standard Award Procedure – service filters are used to select specific service requirements which provides list of training providers who are then invited to a competition.
Selection Questionnaire: The SQ is designed to establish whether training providers are eligible to be awarded a place on the DPS. The SQ includes a set of mandatory and discretionary exclusion questions, contact details, financial details, confirmation of main provider status on RoATP and evidence of Cyber Essentials Certification.
Dynamic Purchasing System Questionnaire: Once training providers have registered on the DPS and passed the SQ stage they will be invited to complete the DPSQ which includes a requirement to respond to 9 narrative questions, as shown in the table below:
| No. | Question Focus | Word Limit |
| 86 | Summary of your Apprenticeship offer and your USPs | 500 |
| 87 | Experience in Training | 300 |
| 88 | Experience in Apprenticeship Training | 300 |
| 89 | Additional Services: Recruitment and Administration Support | 300 |
| 89 | Additional Service: Flexibility to Bespoke | 300 |
| 89 | Additional Services: Adding Value | 300 |
| 90 | Industry Recognition | 300 |
| 90 | Assurance Certification | 300 |
| 90 | Security Management System and Controls | 300 |
| Subtotal for DPSQ Generic Prospectus Questions | 2,900 | |
Apprenticeship Prospectus: The CCS will assess training providers responses and once satisfied they have met the criteria for entry to the DPSQ they will move to ‘qualified provider’ status. Training providers will then be invited to submit an apprenticeship prospectus for each apprenticeship they are proposing to offer. Each apprenticeship prospectus requires a response to a series of yes/no questions, details of available delivery models and locations, a pricing matrix and response to 2 narrative questions about the apprenticeship programme and readiness to deliver.
Carley Consult Support Options: The DPS is the compliant route to market for all public sector bodies and related services, this has resulted in a stringent approach to awarding a place on the DPS to Apprenticeship Training providers. To help training providers produce high quality responses in the stages outlined by the CCS, we are offering a fixed price service.
If you are a Apprenticeship Training Provider and would like to become a preferred supplier to The Public Sector, contact Carley Consult on 01302 361630