NOLB PC Committee Paper

OPPORTUNITIES FIFE PARTNERSHIP

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND COMMISSIONING

APPENDIX 1:  Summary of Core Provision Recommendations

1.0         BACKGROUND

The deadline for NOLB bids was 17 December 2021 and we received forty-three expressions of interest from providers.

The Opportunities Fife Partnership received

• 6 applications for Adult Provision
• 8 applications for Provision for Young People 16 – 24
• 8 applications for Specialist Provision; which included ringfenced allocation for family specific support.

A scoring panel, nominated by the Opportunities Fife Partnership, individually scored each of the bids and met on 14 January 2022, to deliberate and prepare recommendations for commissioning.

The panel was facilitated by Adam Dunkerley (Opportunities Fife Partnership Manager), who compiled the scoring, but did not score the bids2.0

2.0       PREFERRED BIDDERS

The OFP Executive approved the following recommendations from the scoring team, but have remitted the OFP Manager to begin discussions with the preferred bidders regarding the size and scale of the delivery contracts, at this time.  As NOLB allocation is confirmed by Scottish Government, these projects will be scaled up accordingly.

2.1       Adult Provision:

• That Fife ETC are are granted £300,000 to support 240 adults in 2022-23.
• Fife Council’s Supported Employment Service are granted £122,644 (of which they would bring additional match) to support 100 adults with health and disability issues in 2022-23
• Total allocation for Adults would be: £422,644 and these projects would be paid for through the NOLB Core Allocation.
• Although the proposal from Triage did not score highly enough to be considered with the other two projects. The panel recommends that this proposal be placed on a reserve list so that it could be considered in future, should additional budget become available. 

2.2       Young People’s Provision:

• The OFP Executive approved that Fife Council - EASYP, BRAG - Brighter Futures and The Princes Trust – Start Something are the preferred bidders for this allocation.
• Fife Council’s EASYP are awarded £403,720 (of which they will bring additional match) to support 200 young people aged 16-18
• BRAG - Brighter Futures are awarded £1,113,814 to support 500 young people aged 19-24.
• The Princes Trust – Start Something: Employability Pathways for young people are awarded £46,782 (which they will bring additional match) to support 30 young people.
• These projects would be funded through the Young Person’s Guarantee allocation (YPG).
• In addition, two other proposals scored over 70 points. As with the Triage proposal in the Adult section, the panel suggests that these bidders are kept on the reserve list for additional activity that could be commissioned once budgets are confirmed, should additional budget be available. These are projects proposed by Triage and The Salvation Army.
• A fourth project from Link Living scored 69 and is focused on small numbers of young people in the Kirkcaldy area. It is an interesting proposal, that did not score highly enough, but again could be revisited should budgets allow going forward or could be assessed as a Test of Change.  The panel suggests that this also be kept on a reserve list.

2.3       Specialist Provision: 

2.3.1    Specialist Provision – Family Specific:

• Fife Gingerbread to be commissioned to deliver Making it Work for Lone Parents – building on the families provision they already provide as part of NOLB and the regional Intensive Family Support Service. They will concentrate on families in the Mid-Fife area (Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Levenmouth).  Fife Gingerbread are awarded £260,850 (which they will bring additional match) to support 113 families, in Mid-Fife
• BRAG to be commissioned to continue delivering the Families Square Start programme as an additional service for families in the other areas, North East, South West and Dunfermline. BRAG are awarded £129,690 to support 41 families in SW, NE and Dunfermline. Both bids were written with recognition of each other’s activity and a willingness to work collaboratively, which was well received.
• These activities would be paid for through the Parental Employability Support Fund (PESF).

2.3.2   Specialist Provision – Mental Health:

• FEAT to be commissioned to continue delivering the Out to Work Project, specifically supporting those whose mental health is a barrier to progression and accessing employment. FEAT to be awarded £74,778 (with additional match) to provide support for 60
• This provision would be paid for from the NOLB Core allocation.

2.3.3  Specialist Provision – Disadvantaged Young People:

• The Venture Trust to be commissioned to deliver Inspiring Young Futures for 20 young people and are awarded £67,807 which they will provide 100% match.
• This provision would be paid from the YPG allocation.

2.3.4  Specialist Provision – Migrants / Refugees:

• Fife International Forum (formerly Fife Migrants’ Forum) to be awarded £69,875 to support 50 This application was well received as the OFP Executive felt this was a specialist area that had been missed out on previously. 
• This provision would be paid from the NOLB Core allocation

3.0       FINANCIAL SUMMARY

3.1         No One Left Behind Core (NOLB)

3.2       Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG) why is youth term used and throughout report and appendix young person used.

3.3       Parental Employability Support Fund (PESF)

4.0       RESERVE LIST

The OFP Executive approved the scoring panel recommendation that the following providers be kept on a reserve list.  This will allow us to revisit these proposals should the budget be available, once allocations for 2022 have been confirmed by Scottish Government.

5.0       KEY

The following provides a glossary of terms used in this appendix:

• FIF – Fife International Forum (formerly Fife Migrants’ Forum)
• FEAT – Fife Employment Access Trust
• FIFE ETC – Fife Employability Training Consortium
• FC SES – Fife Council Supported Employment Service
• BRAG – BRAG Enterprises Ltd.

 

 

 

 

Adam Dunkerley

Opportunities Fife Partnership Manager

02 February 2022