NAC/5159 North Ayrshire Employability Service Delivery Framework

Description

This procurement seeks to appoint a framework of business partners to support the delivery of the Councils employability service. The services required will be as follows: - Lot 1: Employability end-to-end service -Lot 2: Parental employment support service - Lot 3: Youth transition/engagement/support service - Lot 4: Transitional/volunteering service - Lot 5: Individual Placement Support (IPS) One supplier will be awarded per lot. Lot 1: Employability end-to-end service This is a key worker service across the 5 stages of the employability and skills pipeline. Stage 1: Referral, engagement, and assessment Stage 2: Needs assessment, barrier removal, and action planning Stage 3: Vocational activity Stage 4: Employer engagement and job matching Stage 5: In work support and aftercare - The end to end service should support disadvantaged groups progress towards employment. - The service will be delivered across stages 1 to stages 5 of the employability and skills pipeline. - A Key worker approach (key worker defined as: consistent worker who takes participants through all stages including providing at least 26 weeks aftercare, and develops individualised package of support) has to be adopted at all stages of service delivery. - Focus on vocational programmes aligned with local business need - Employer engagement and sustained job outcomes a primary focus Lot 2: Parental employment support service This lot is focused on addressing child poverty by supporting parents progress into employment and progress within employment. Service required should provide: - Key worker support - Service tailored to individual need - Flexible and responsive services - Clear focus on progression across 5 stage pipeline - Targeted at parents who have children in poverty - Progress parents into vocational programmes and placements - Works in partnership and across partnerships Lot 3: Youth transition/engagement/support service This lot is focussed on supporting young people making transitions from school and youngsters who are not in employment, education on training. We are looking for a mix of services to include: - Community outreach approach to engage youngsters who don’t engage with services - Key worker support to engage with youngsters and provide 1-2-1 support as required - Programmes to address confidence, resilience, isolation, basic skills for employment - Strong partnership working with education, skills development Scotland, Ayrshire college and wider employability services - Using data from datahub to target services Lot 4: Transitional/volunteering service Providing work experience and volunteering placements for participants who are long term unemployed is an important step to make a sustainable progression into employment. Placements may be in: - Third sector - Public sector - Private sector - Community organisations Providers will also be expected to provide wrap around employability support prior to a during placements Lot 5: Individual Placement Support (IPS) Closing the disability employment gap remains a high priority in North Ayrshire and an IPS model delivered with full fidelity will complement the successful Supported Employment initiative, Equal Programme, already delivered by North Ayrshire Council. The contractor would be expected to work closely with Ayrshire & Arran NHS and develop their IPS capacity and capability by working in partnership working with clinical teams. This will target individuals with severe and enduring mental health issues but have capacity to extend this model to support those in recovery from drug addiction, those with experience of domestic violence, commercial sexual exploitation or homelessness. The contractor will develop and strengthen referral and networking connections with Health, Justice, Social Work, and Housing as well as with specialist services supporting the target groups adopting the IPS model: