Adult and Family Learning - Policies and Strategies

Sub-contracting Policy

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is in receipt of funding from the Greater London Authority to deliver its adult and family learning service. It does this by sub-contracting to a range of organisations to deliver adult and family learning on its behalf. These include a range of voluntary sector, community organisations, the local college and other training providers. It is a requirement of the funder that fees and charges associated with sub-contracting are monitored, including publishing a policy about supply-chain fees and charges on their website.

Supply-chain Fees and Charges Policy for Subcontracting 2024-25

Kensington and Chelsea’s Adult Learning Service (ALS) aims to “deliver accessible, high-quality adult and community learning that enables learners to improve their wellbeing, widen their horizons and achieve their personal, social or economic aspirations”. 

The service works with local organisations and approved partners, including those supported by the Council and the Greater London Authority. These partnerships help people from across the community take part, especially learners from disadvantaged areas. We support them to build skills and confidence, so they can move on to further learning or employment.

Scope

This policy applies to all supply chain activity supported by funds supplied by the GLA, and any successor organisation.

Context

It is a mandatory requirement from the GLA, effective from August 2019, that Providers publish a supply-chain fees and charges policy on their website before entering into any subcontracting arrangements. The policy is reviewed and updated annually. The content of this policy was developed in line with the Association of Colleges and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers Common Accord, and GLA Funding Rules.

Overarching Principle

The Adult Learning Service will use supply chains to optimise the impact and effectiveness of service delivery to learners. The Service ensures that: 

• Supply chain management activities comply with the principles of best practice in the skills sector. In particular, they are guided by the principles given in the LSIS publication “Supply Chain Management – a good practice guide for the post-16 skills sector”. 

• We use fair and transparent procurement processes that meet legal requirements. We carry out thorough checks on potential delivery partners to make sure they meet our standards and follow agreed principles. This helps us choose partners that provide high‑quality, low‑risk services.

• Due diligence checks include ensuring that subcontractors are not included on the GOV.UK list of proscribed terrorist/extremist organisations.
• Funding retained by the Service to cover management costs relates to the costs of services provided. The level of funding retained will be clearly documented and the rates of funding provided will be commercially viable for both the prime and subcontracted partner. Any funding retained will be proportionate to the services being provided.

Rationale for Subcontracting

The Service engages with subcontractors to better meet learner needs. This is seen as advantageous for a number of reasons, which include:

• Providing flexibility to temporarily expand provision to meet new short term needs. 
• Providing access to, or engagement with, new ranges of learners. 
• Ensuring that the delivery intention is met, minimising any threat from recognised risks to direct provision. 
• Supporting the development of capacity and quality of local providers.
• Enabling delivery of niche provision where the cost of developing direct delivery would be prohibitive. 
• Additionally, the ALS retains funds to deliver a programme of Family Learning of which has direct oversight and management of.

Quality Assurance

Subcontracted activity is a fundamental part of Service delivery. The quality of the provision is monitored and managed through existing Service quality assurance processes and procedures, amended to fully encompass all subcontracted activity.

This policy positions subcontracted partners at the core of the Service’s activity designed to bring about continuous improvement to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment for the Service, its subcontracted delivery partners and our learners. At the centre of this work is sharing good practice with our partners. We do this through supported self‑assessment, which helps identify areas for improvement. This results in a shared quality improvement plan and ongoing professional development for teaching staff.

The Service supports and facilitates the development of subcontracted partners’ staff to improve the quality of provision delivered.

The Supply Chain Fees and Charges

Most of the funding is passed directly to delivery partners. At least 80% of the funding supports frontline delivery, with up to 20% used by the service to manage and support subcontracted delivery. In practice, the management cost is usually around 17%. The management fee retained represents the cost incurred by the Service to effectively identify, select, manage, monitor, support quality improvement, and report on all subcontracted provision. It covers the cost to the Service of:

• Providing monitoring, assessment and additional support necessary to ensure the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and success rates of subcontracted provision, continually improve and remain high. 
• Promoting the sharing of good practice across the local partnership of subcontracted providers to improve delivery to learners with up to four meetings annually. 
• Providing monthly performance monitoring data to providers, including the actions needed to ensure complete accurate data returns to the funding body, as required. 
• Undertaking regular performance review actions and holding meetings with delivery partners to monitor the performance against course spreadsheets submitted at the beginning of the fund year. Formal monitoring meetings are undertaken approximately 3 times each year. Formal observations are undertaken at least once per year, some of these will be unannounced meetings. Meetings result in detailed reports to the provider about maintaining and improving standards and levels of on-going support available from the officers of the service. 
• Providing frequent informal contact with subcontractors by telephone, email and informal visits. 

• We provide access to a shared data system for providers who do not have their own. Around 70% of providers use this system to record learner information. We cover the system subscription, offer training for staff who enter data, and check the information to make sure it is accurate and complete.

• Providing data management and submission services to subcontracted delivery partners to ensure compliance with GLA funding rules and requirements, including a member of staff who is suitably experienced and trained to undertake such work. 
• Providing a comprehensive range of Continuous Professional Development [CPD] activities for all tutors, and other staff, who are engaged in the delivery of Adult and Family Learning on behalf of the Service. The service commits to providing approximately 3 CPD sessions per year. Subcontracted organisations are reimbursed for attendance by their tutors so that they can provide cover enabling sessional tutors to attend CPD sessions and share good practice at the meetings. 

• We help our delivery partners build their skills by providing training and development for their staff. This includes training staff to carry out teaching and learning observations to recognised quality standards. We also fund trained staff to complete a set number of observations each year on behalf of the service.

• Supporting the writing and standardisation of self-assessment reports by subcontractors each year. 
• Planning and facilitating at least three opportunities for subcontractors to discuss strategic and policy updates through the Adult Leaning Forum each year. 

• We run borough‑wide marketing and publicity to help recruit learners. This includes a brochure setting out our partners and the courses they offer, webpages on the Council’s website, posters, and social media posts. These activities raise awareness of the service and its delivery partners throughout the academic year. It also includes options to support recruitment drives by delivery partners by sharing their information through the Council formal channels. 

Payment terms of the Service are detailed in the contract agreement but will not exceed 30 days following the receipt of an approved (as defined in the contract) invoice from the subcontracted delivery partner. Payment points are scheduled at three points during the academic year.

Publication of information relating to subcontracting

In compliance with the GLA and other funding rules that apply the Service publishes its subcontracting fees and charging policy and end-of-year subcontracting fees and charges on its website as required by the GLA. The service makes a Declaration of Subcontractors return to the GLA as required, and seeks approval of subcontract partners prior to contracts being issued. 

The Service ensures actual and potential subcontractors have sight of this policy and other relevant documentation during the procurement and contracting process with a link to the policy included within the contract itself. 

This policy is published on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea website and is reviewed annually.

Policy last reviewed in July 2024.

Adult Learning Service Supply Chain Fees 2023-24

Organisation	UKRLP	Active on Companies House or Charities Commission	2023-24 Allocation	Total payment 2023-24	Retained fee for 2022/23	Total Award
Advantage of Age	10088648	Y: 11004006	£46,400	£13,333	£2,133.28	£15,466.28
ConnecMe2	10082408	Y: 09696615	£11,600	£7,980	£1,276.80	£9,256.80
Hammersmith Community Gardens Association	10083221	Y: 05499362	£29,000	£25,000	£4,000	£29,000
Learning & Skills Solutions Ltd	10022301	Y: 05897006	£165,000	£156,230.70	£29,758.24	£156,230.70
Learning Curve Group	10008935	Y: 08616453	£100,000	£100,000	£20,145.81	£120,145.81
Learning Unlimited	10034297	Y: 07669795	£18,560	£7,125	£1,140	£8,265
Morley College London	10004432	Y: 02829836	£260,832	£220,000	£35,850.72	£255,850.72
Nova New Opportunities	10054022	Y: Register of Charities:1158238	£156,336	£91,888.90	£16,706.17	£108,595.07
Open Age	10062261	Y: Register of Charities:1160125	£162,000	£123,861	£19,817.76	£143,678.76
PSEV	10054443	Y: 08603088	£72,682	£71,554.02	£31,386.13	£71,554.02
Strive Training	10045306	Y: 08933327	£209,950	£180,431	£34,368	£214,799
The Clement James Centre	10020589	Y: 02677427	£114,898	£84,083.38	£15,690.69	£99,774.07
Westway Trust	10029145	Y:06475436	£166,400	£147,895.49	£26,853.60	£174,749.09
Writerz and Scribez	10083200	Y: 08922312	£50,000	£11,115	£1,778.40	£12,893.40