The City of Wolverhampton Council has a statutory duty to provide alternative provision for children and young people in accordance with the Education Act 1996. These can include children and young people who are:
• permanently excluded
• subject to fixed term exclusions
• at risk of disengaging from education; and/or
• require alternative educational provision to meet their education entitlement for example those outlined in their EHCP.
The Council is conducting a tender exercise for the provision of Alternative Provision Framework for Children and Young People (Lots 1-6) namely:
Lot 1 - Primary Registered Settings (Only)
Lot 2 - Primary phase inclusion and engagement
Lot 3 - Secondary Registered Settings (Only)
Lot 4 - Secondary phase inclusion and engagement
The procurement is for services which are considered Light Touch Regime (LTR) services under the Public Frameworks Regulations 2015, as specified in Schedule 3 of the Regulations ("Regulations").
Accordingly, the Council is only bound by those parts of the Regulations detailed in Chapter 3 'Particular Procurement Regimes Section 7, Social and Other Specific Services' 74 to 76 of
the Public Frameworks Regulations 2015. The Council is not voluntarily following any other part of the Regulations. The procedure which the Council is following is set out within this ITT.
The agreement is based upon the basic principles of a framework agreement, and although there are some similar aspects, it does not fully operate in the same way as outlined in regulation 33 of the Public Frameworks Regulations (2015). The Local Authority will create a "pseudo framework agreement" (based on CCS guidance) and have set out clearly how we intend to operate the framework agreement from the outset through the OJEU notice, Tender Document and Call-off Schedule, which also details the
timeline for when it will be reopened. This meets the duty of transparency and equal treatment, which are the main guidelines to follow when setting up an LTR framework.
The framework commenced on 1st September 2025 with an initial term of 5 years, with the option to extend up to a further 2 years on up at the sole discretion of the council.
The framework will be based on minimum acceptable performance (map) being met by the tenderer as identified via key performance indicators.
This Framework will be accessible by both City of Wolverhampton Council (thereafter CWC) and schools and academies in Wolverhampton.
Tender documents can be accessed at https://www.wolverhamptontenders.com.
Deadline for Tender submission is 12pm Friday 31st July 2026.