Welcome
Community Learning and Mental Health
Agenda
• Outline of event
- Policy context – background and objectives
- Procurement process - Service requirements - Funding and payments - Next Steps
Background
• In the 2014 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a
commitment of £20 million over two years, for courses to help adults in England with mild to moderate mental illness, such as depression,
anxiety and sleep disorders.
• Note that £5 million is available for the financial year 2015 to 2016. This procurement relates to year 1 funding.
• The £20m, across the two years, will help up to 80,000 learners as part
of their recovery from common mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and sleep disorders.
• Around a quarter of British adults, experience a mental health problem
in any one year. Anxiety and depression are the most common
disorders.
• Mental health problems affect people from all backgrounds. People who are disadvantaged socially, educationally and/or economically are particularly vulnerable.
• Research1 has identified a range of positive impacts on wellbeing
resulting from participation in mainstream community learning courses.
1Undertaken by the London School of Economics and Institute of Education
• To test the development, delivery and impact of community learning
courses in local settings across England to support recovery from
mental health problems.
• To support people aged 19 and over to recover from mild to moderate mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety and sleep
disorders.
• To share findings and identify the potential for sustainability and wider dissemination.
BIS-appointed
evaluators
• Pilot evaluation will be undertaken by BIS-appointed external evaluators.
• They will compare the effectiveness of different approaches to workforce training, outreach, referral and mental health course delivery.
• Applicants must work with BIS-appointed external evaluators to collect data and evidence about the impact of using educational approaches to help people manage mild to moderate mental health problems.
What applicants are
expected to do
• Read the ‘Attention Read Me First document' FIRST. • Ensure you submit a compliant bid.
• Review the online questions and downloadable questions.
• We recommend you do not leave publication to the last minute. You can partially publish as you go along.
• If you have a query, you must use the message board to
communicate with us. If it is a technical issue, please access the online help or email the helpdesk at [email protected]
Terms and conditions /
sub-contracting
• All bidders are reminded of the need to accept the Agency’s Terms
and Conditions.
• Organisations should note that if they choose to use sub-contracting it will only be allowed to one level for all or part of the delivery of the
What applicants must
not do
• Canvas help, assistance or opinion on the Invitation to Tender (ITT) or the procurement process in general from any Agency employee, other Government Department, Agency or NDPB other than through
the e-Tendering portal message board.
• At the end of the timeline publish a partially completed ITT as this will not be evaluated.
• Publish after the closing date and time. Any ITT published after the deadline will not be considered.
How we will award
contracts
• We are seeking to award contracts based on Local Authority areas. • We will award no more than one contract in any Local Authority area. • The Local Authority areas have been divided into each of the six
Agency operational areas of the North East, North West, South West,
South East, Midlands and London.
• Two phased evaluation process.
How we evaluate bids
• All responses will be evaluated by appropriately experienced and skilled Agency employees
• All evaluation will be subject to moderation
• National moderation is carried out where applicants have submitted multi lot bids to ensure consistency
• Examples of what evaluators will be looking for:
- have the responses been tailored to the local area? - have all statements in the bid been substantiated with
appropriate examples/evidence relevant to that area?
- if other organisations have been named in the bid, has their
relevance been explained fully?
How organisations will be
advised of the outcome
• Results will be communicated via the e-tendering portal message board for the relevant ITT.
• All organisations will receive an Award Decision Notice advising them of the relevant information as required under the EU Remedies
Directive and subject to the mandatory standstill period.
• Successful organisations will be advised of the Agency’s intention to award a contract for the delivery of the service in a specific area.
• Once the mandatory standstill period has expired, contracts will be
www.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk
Service requirements –
main aims
• Applicants should describe at a local level, how they can support individuals with mild to moderate mental health needs, by:
- developing and delivering workforce development so that teachers, managers and volunteers involved in the pilot are trained to use educational approaches effectively
- developing and delivering non-formal courses to support adults aged 19 and over to recover from mental health problems.
Service requirements –
learner eligibility
• Eligible participants:
- must be adults aged 19 and over
- must be experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems - may be referred by an IAPT team, Recovery College, GP,
Jobcentre Plus, housing association or other relevant local service
- may self-refer if they are experiencing mild to moderate mental
health problems.
• Applicants will be expected, where necessary, to assess and provide support for those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, to meet the cost of reasonable adjustments as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Service requirements –
workforce development
• Applicants should describe arrangements for:- local workforce training/activity which should include course design - the development of relevant skills and teaching/learning
approaches, e.g. co-production and co-delivery approaches and
assessment.
• Funding will only be provided for training staff directly involved in the design, development and/or delivery of these courses.
• Funding must not supplement an applicant’s day-to-day workforce development programme for other types of provision.
Service Requirements
–
course design and development
• Each proposal must:
- be developed in partnership with health services, such as your local IAPT team, Recovery College and/or other local mental health
partners
- show how proposed courses complement other local mental health interventions, which are likely to vary from area to area
Service Requirements –
course design and development
• There is no blueprint for the content of courses. They may: - tackle a mental health condition directly
- use activities, such as art, music, craft, dance etc.
- complement interventions such as IAPT, Recovery College courses or other activities commissioned by local mental health services.
• If you are already offering non-formal mental health courses, you should explain how your proposal will extend the range of these courses, pilot new approaches, and reach additional learners.
Service Requirements –
learning offer
• The learning offer must include:
- pre-course discussion and 1:1 support
- short, part-time non-formal courses to help people develop the
tools, strategies and resilience to manage and recover from mental health problems
- informal ‘top-up’ mental health workshops, as required.
• Applicants must set out how they plan to explore different approaches to supporting people who are experiencing difficulties or who leave the course early.
Service Requirements –
progression
• Applicants must include in their proposals how they will gather
evidence about the impact/s of courses and track participants. This will include:
- the use of standard tools to measure anxiety, depression and
wellbeing
- evaluation of participants’ progress in recovering from mental ill health
- collection of participants’ self-reported evidence of recovery
- recording progression outcomes, including to learning, training, employment and family/ civic re-engagement.
Service Requirements –
contracting
• The contract will cover the period April 2015 to March 2016. • Learners must complete their learning by 31 March 2016.
• We will only fund activity and outputs achieved within the contract
www.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk
Funding and payments
• We intend to align the funding principles and arrangements for the Community Learning Mental Health Pilots with our Community
Learning funding arrangements.
• This means we will pay on profile and providers must complete a
funding claim at the end of the 2014 to 2015 and 2015 to 2016 funding years (as this pilot spans two academic years).
• Any declared unspent funds will need to be returned to the Agency. • Maximum funding (and payments) available for each local authority
area is up to £80,000 (for both development and delivery costs) including any irrecoverable VAT.
Funding and payments –
development costs
• Development – to include:
- workforce design and development for teachers, managers and volunteers involved in the pilot (development costs)
- mental health course design and development, including
co-production approaches where applicable (development costs).
• The Agency is seeking to ensure that there is a balance between
development and delivery costs so that learner volumes are sufficient to inform the evaluation.
Funding and payments –
delivery costs
• Delivery costs will need to cover:
- on-going liaison with local health and mental health services - meetings with and reports to the external evaluator
- support for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
- sharing good practice with other providers.
• Applicants must complete the funding tables in the spreadsheet, which include details of your proposed development and delivery costs, an indication of possible course and learner numbers and proposed high-level outline timetable.
www.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk
Next Steps
Key Dates
• ITT closes 6 February 2015.
• Notification of tender results Friday 13 March 2015. • Contracts issued from Thursday 26 March 2015. • Contract commences from 1 April 2015.
