East Durham College - Approved Supplier Procedure

1. Any organisations wishing to work in partnership with EDC must be signposted to Jackie Lanagan –Assistant Principal Curriculum and Partnerships.

2. In line with Public Contracts legislation 2015, the college will undertake a procurement exercise where contracts are over the threshold amount inclusive of VAT.  Where this is not the case, potential sub-contractors will be issued with an application pack to complete to be considered for the approved supplier list.

3. Applications will be considered within a given submission window each academic year.

The following aspects are covered within the Application to Join the Approved Supplier List:

• The College requires the full name, UKPRN, and postcode of the legal entity, delivering the subcontract, the names of all Directors of the Company, and a declaration regarding conflicts of interest.  East Durham College will require a Statement of Additionality to confirm that without this funding the courses could not run.

• Potential Sub-Contractors are to supply East Durham College with background information on the organisation, including organisation chart, programmes offered with evidence of accreditation for the relevant qualifications, and most recent external verifiers report and assurance that learners will be recruited and delivered to the local area. 
• East Durham College will require evidence of sound financial health in the form of the last three years audited accounts and a financial credit check that shows organisations have an above-average rating.
• East Durham College will require a copy of the Certificate of Employers’ Liability Insurance and any other Insurance Policies where training will be taking place on their premises under this subcontract.
• East Durham College will require a copy of numerous procedures and policies including safeguarding (inc. Prevent), Equality and Diversity, Data Protection (inc. GDPR) Safeguarding, and Sustainability.
• East Durham College will require a copy of the Health and Safety Policy and evidence of adequate Health and Safety procedures in place within the training organisations and the employer's premises if they are to be used under the subcontract.  This will be confirmed during the monitoring visits. 
• East Durham College will require a declaration of all reportable injuries, diseases, and dangerous occurrences covered by RIDDOR over the last 3 years.
• East Durham College requires knowledge of all other contracts held with the ESFA or devolved authorities of the same.
• East Durham College also requests details of any terminated contracts and the reasons for termination.
• East Durham College requires evidence of compliance with legislation on employment including the use of volunteers.
• East Durham College requires evidence of compliance with legislation on immigration and compliance with the Modern Slavery Act.
• East Durham requires evidence of compliance with data protection legislation and data collection processes and keeping of records.

4. All completed applications are to be sent to Jackie Lanagan for consideration. Scores for each section of the application will be completed and will be aggregated to determine whether an application is to progress to approval.  All applications are rated in terms of risk and any application rated ‘Red’ will not be put forward for further scrutiny.  The College Leadership Group will make the final decision as to whether an organisation is added to the Approved Supplier List. The Board of Governors and Accounting Officer will ensure that the final list of Sub-Contractors will enable the College to meet its strategic aims. They will also ensure that Subcontractors are of high quality and low risk.

5. We will comply with current and relevant procurement regulations; this means we will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“the 2015 Regulations”). We will select our subcontractor(s) fairly, transparently, and without discrimination and ensure that potential subcontractors have sufficient capacity, quality, and business standing to deliver the provision that is being subcontracted.

6. All potential sub-contractors will receive feedback on their application.

7. Approval is granted for a period of up to one year.  This may be longer in relation to Apprenticeships; however, all contracts will be renewed each academic year.

8. Inclusion to the Approved Supplier List does not guarantee sub-contract work. In some cases where there are a number of approved suppliers, it may be necessary to complete a tendering process with Approved Suppliers.

9. Following successful tendering/ contract negotiations, business contracts will be drawn up. Until these documents are signed by both parties, no training can commence.

10. An online file will be set up for each sub-contractor, which will contain all supporting documents used in the application process as well as specific details regarding the delivery of the contract e.g. quality monitoring reports, contract monitoring reports, etc.

11. Sub-contractors will not automatically be invited to reapply for the Approved Supplier List for the forthcoming academic year.

12. The Approved Supplier List will commence in August for each academic year, although new applications may be submitted for consideration at the request of the College.

13. Sub-contractors may be awarded contracts at other points within the academic year.

Termination of a Contract or Failure of a Sub-contractor

14. As stated in the contract, East Durham College may terminate a contract at any point and for any reason, including if areas of concern identified by our quality processes are not rectified to our satisfaction or funding is removed by a funder.  A contract will also be deemed as terminated if a sub-contractor ceases to trade for whatever reason.  The sub-contractor contact, as named in the contract, would be informed verbally by the Vice Principal Curriculum and Performance, followed by an e-mail the same day.  If a sub-contractor is aware that they are unable to complete a contract for any reason, they must also inform the Vice Principal as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made for the continuation of provision.

If either of these situations arises the following process will take place led by the Contract Manager as stated in the Contract Management Plan:

14i     The college would immediately take responsibility for the delivery of programmes by its staff.  As the college sub-contracts in similar subject areas in which it already has a level of expertise, and in geographical areas close to our main campuses, this would enable us to commence teaching at short notice.  The venue for the teaching and the staff used would depend upon the reason for the contract termination and the time of year.   Under the guidance of the contract manager, the Curriculum Director responsible for the subject area would take responsibility for arranging cover, rooming, and resources and would aim to have an interim arrangement in place in no longer than five working days. 

14ii    The Vice Principal Curriculum and Performance would inform the relevant funder within two working days of the decision being made and a letter of termination copied to the sub-contractor.  In the same timescale, a letter would also be sent to each learner on the programme and, in the case of apprenticeships, to employers, stating interim arrangements and giving key contact details for queries.  The college already holds this information as learners are enrolled in our MIS system.

14iii   Where learners are registered with the awarding organisation through a sub-contractor, the Curriculum Director would make contact with the relevant organisation to start the process of transfer where appropriate.

14iv   All payments to the sub-contractor would cease immediately.

14v    Once arrangements for learners were in place to continue provision, a meeting would be held with the sub-contractor, within 15 working days of the original decision, to consider the future relationship.

14vi   Within 10 working days following this meeting, the sub-contractor will have the right to appeal the decision and should do so in writing to the Principal.