WMCA Technical Education, Skills and Employment Support Flexible Procurement System

Our ambition is to develop a more integrated Employment and Skills and Employment Support ecosystem for the region through which we can stimulate economic growth, deliver better outcomes for residents and businesses and create healthier, thriving communities. For Adult Skills and Employment Support, we will have a single coherent funding structure where the Adult Education Budget, Free Courses for Jobs and Bootcamps funding streams will form the basis initially. We hope and will endeavour to expand this to encompass an integrated Employment and Skills and Employment Support funding stream. Having a better integrated Employment and Skills and Employment Support ecosystem will also make it easier to align this investment with other services, such as business support and health etc., further improving outcomes in local areas.

Our key aims for Skills and Employment Support are:

Enhancing Flexibility and Responsiveness:

Allow for continuous market engagement, enabling the inclusion of new providers as market needs and employment landscapes evolve.

Ensuring High-Quality Provision:

Implement robust assessment and evaluation criteria to ensure that only high-performing providers that have the capacity and capability to deliver quality outcomes are included.

Promoting Competition and Innovation:

Create an open and competitive environment that encourages membership from a diverse range of providers, fostering innovation and best practices. Maintain a dynamic pool of providers that can offer innovative solutions and respond quickly to new challenges and opportunities in the employment and skills sector.

Enhancing Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness:

Simplify and speed up the procurement process, reducing administrative burden and allowing for faster implementation of services. Ensure that the system delivers cost-effective solutions without compromising on the quality of provision, maximising the return on investment for public funds.

Fostering Partnerships and Collaboration:

Encourage collaboration between providers, employers and other stakeholders to create a cohesive and integrated approach to skills development and employment support. Promote the sharing of best practices and successful strategies among providers to enhance overall service quality and outcomes.

Meeting Place-Based Local and Regional Strategies:

Ensure that the FPS aligns with the specific employment and skills strategies and priorities of the West Midlands, addressing local labour market needs and supporting local place-based and regional economic growth. Enable targeted interventions to support disadvantaged groups, tackle unemployment and address skills shortages in key sectors.