Herefordshire Council has established an Open Framework of suitably qualified providers to deliver alternative education for those children and young people for whom it has a statutory responsibility, who are without a school place; or where a maintained school or academy has been unable to fully provide an appropriate individualised education package. Alternative provision may also be put in place for students who are at the point of permanent exclusion, have been permanently excluded from school or signed off from school on medical grounds. The Alternative Education Provision Framework contains 3 Lots: • Lot 1 - Education and engagement activities • Lot 2 - Mentoring (face to face and/or online) • Lot 3 - Tuition (face to face and/or online) Providers have been appointed to one or more Lots depending upon the service(s) they are able to offer. Multiple providers have been appointed under each Lot. In accordance with the PA 2023, the Council will re-open the Open Framework at least once before the third anniversary of the First Open Framework Commencement Date and at least once every five years thereafter. Further providers may be appointed to the Open Framework when it is re-opened in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and the Framework terms. The maximum total value of this framework is £20,000,000 (ex VAT) across all 3 Lots. The procurement was conducted in accordance with the open procedure under the Procurement Act 2023. It was carried out under the Light Touch Regime (LTR) permissible under PA 2023, Section 9, and therefore applied the flexibilities afforded under the above provisions. Note regarding contract execution dates: The Framework commenced on 1 July 2026. Due to the volume of individual Framework Agreements, these were formally executed between 2 July 2026 and 3 August 2026. The "Date signed" field shows 1 July 2026 due to system constraints within the publication platform and does not represent the actual execution dates.

Procurement Act 2023

Open procedure

Light touch

The Council will select whether the award without competition or award with competition process is to be used on the following basis: 1. the Council may use the award without competition process where: (a) the required services are adequately described in Specification; (b) the core call-off terms and conditions for the Services (including the Provider's Fees or a pricing mechanism to determine the Provider's Fees) are set out in Framework Agreement and are appropriate; (c) the call-off contract can be concluded without making any substantial modifications to its terms; and (d) the Council can identify a Provider for the call-off contract applying the objective mechanism in the award without competition process. 2. Where one or more of the elements listed in (a) to (d) in paragraph 1 above is absent (or where the Council prefers), then the Council should use the award with competition process. Award Without Competition process 1. Starting Well Commissioning team shall receive and make AP referrals for eligible children and young people to the provider on behalf of the council, in accordance with the call-off procedures (please refer to Appendix 2, Schedule 3). 2. Referrals will be sent to providers in the Lot for the provision required for their availability and review. The anticipated duration on placement will also be confirmed at this stage. 3. Providers must respond in writing (via email) within 2 working days of a referral being made (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm) to advise if they have availability and confirm the total cost of the placement calculated on the basis of the fees set out in Schedule 2 [Pricing Schedule] (breakdown if placement consists of several components). 4. Starting Well Commissioning team will review the responses and advise the child/young person's caseworker of the availability. The following factors will be considered when making a selection from the provider returns (responses): • Availability of provision (day/time) • Nearest location to child or young person's home address/ transport arrangements • Cohort matching • Urgency of need (start date) and provider's available capacity • The lowest price offering of a Provider based on the fees set out in Schedule 2 [Pricing Schedule]. • Parent/carer and/or Child/young person's choice 5. The caseworker will liaise with the family and child or young person to make the decision on the most suitable provider. 6. The Starting Well Commissioning team will liaise with the referring caseworker and provider to agree the provision, the start and end date. 7. Caseworker or person referring will complete the Individual Placement Agreement (IPA). 8. Starting Well Commissioning team will book the place with the selected provider, issue a purchase order and share the IPA including relevant information from the EHCP and any other relevant to the safe and effective delivery of the service will be made available to the provider. Award With Competition process In addition, the Framework will allow for a mini-tender option, and this can be flexibly applied to any situation where deemed appropriate by the Council. The mini competition may consist of (though not restricted to) multiple service packages that may be linked through service type, geographical location, needs, routes, or other factors and may for example, gives exclusive rights to successful providers for new placements, to operate pilot projects or services designed to support provision in any form. Where a mini-tender is deemed appropriate different pricing schedules and additional specifications may be defined within that mini competition to suit the service requirements. Such variations or amendments may involve defined rates or may allow for suppliers to insert an appropriate rate depending on the nature of the requirement (on the basis that the Fee must be no greater than if it had been calculated in accordance with Schedule 2 [Pricing Schedule]).