Subcontracting Policy

Community Learning and Skills Subcontracting Supply-Chain Fees and Charges Policy

Community Learning and Skills under the brands Kent Adult Education and Kent Training and Apprenticeships, is committed to broadening the scope of provision to meet market demand and enhance and enrich the experiences of our learners. In order to enable this vision, Community Learning and Skills has taken the strategic decision to subcontract part of its provision to high quality partner providers.

Community Learning and Skills retains full accountability for contract delivery where provision and service subcontracting takes place. Before contracts are awarded, Community Learning and Skills will undertake due diligence procedures that will include:

• Financial assurance
• Ensuring strategic fit to social and commercial purpose
• Capability and capacity for delivery
• Quality assurance
• Compliance with legislation
• Appropriate policies

All subcontractors are invited to engage with Community Learning and Skills’ Observation of Learning, Teaching and Assessment and other quality assurance processes including standardisation, internal/external verification/moderation, self-assessment and quality improvement plans.

The quality of the provision will be monitored and managed through our existing quality improvement processes and included within Community Learning and Skills’ self-assessment report and quality improvement plan.

A management fee is retained by Community Learning and Skills from all subcontracted provision. The management fee retained includes the following costs:

• Management, monitoring and support, including regular monitoring meetings
• Quality improvement monitoring and management, including Internal Quality Assurance (IQA), Observation of Learning and Teaching Assessments (OLTAs), access to policies, support, and access to tutor continual professional development (CPD)
• Senior Management contractual support including, management of procurement, financial due diligence, funding rule adherence, audit preparation and general support and advice to the training provider
• Management information and data management support and processes
• Other incidental costs arising from the sub-contract including marketing, enrolment processes, external audit, and financial analysis for billing

Payments are made monthly in arrears following validation of activity through data agency funding returns.

The policy is reviewed annually and in line with the publication of the Education Skills Funding Agency funding rules.