377. CPA17: A4e Ltd - Tender

8/3/2019 377. CPA17: A4e Ltd - Tender

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RESTRICTED – COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE

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EMPLOYMENT RELATED SUPPORT SERVICESFRAMEWORK AGREEMENT

MINI COMPETITIONS FOR THE PROVISION OFTHE WORK PROGRAMME

Invitation to Tender Form

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Tender Round title: The Work Programme

Organisation Name: A4e Ltd

Lot: Lot 8

Yorkshire and The HumberContract Package Area (CPA): CPA17

South Yorkshire

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PART 1: ORGANISATION DETAILS

[1.1] Your response to Part 1 is for information purposes only. If any of this informationhas changed since the Framework Agreement application stage, please state this withinthe table below including a short explanation as to why. If you cannot provide any of theinformation below please explain this within the table.

DWP will not be responsible for contacting anyone other than the persons named in thispart of your form. If any of this information changes during the bidding period you mustinform DWP of the changes by email to:[email protected]

Name of the Legal Entity in whose name thistender is submitted and with whom DWP willcontract:

A4e Ltd

Trading Name (if different from above): As above

Company Registration Number: 02631340

Company Registered address: Bessemer Road, Sheffield, S9 3XN

Head Office Address, if different: Queens House, 105 Queen Street,Sheffield, S1 1GN

VAT Registration Number: 598 6496 55

Website Address (if any): www.mya4e.co.uk

Name, address and company registration numberof parent company, where applicable:

Not applicable

Name and Job Title of main contact: [REDACTED] Development Director

Address: Queens House, 105 Queen Street,Sheffield, S1 1GN

Telephone no: [REDACTED]

Mobile telephone no: [REDACTED]

Fax no: [REDACTED]

E-mail address: [REDACTED]

Alternative contact Name and Job Title: [REDACTED] Senior Bus Development Manager

Address (if different from above): As above

Telephone no: [REDACTED]

Mobile telephone no: [REDACTED]

Contact e-mail: [REDACTED]

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.mya4e.co.uk/




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PART 2: TENDERER DECLARATION

[2.1] You must complete this Declaration by Tenderer. Failure to include this declarationmay result in your bid being disqualified.

To: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

For the benefit of the Department for Work and Pensions, we hereby warrant andundertake as follows:

1. We have examined, read, understand and accept in full the proposed Contractdocuments and all other documents and Annexes provided with this declaration andthe clarifications issued during the Invitation to Tender period.

2. We have completed and submitted all information required in the Invitation to TenderForm in the format and order required.

3. We confirm the information set out in our response is complete and accurate to thebest of our knowledge and belief.

4. We hereby acknowledge and agree that we have read, understand and accept theWork Programme Call-Off Terms and Conditions, the Work Programme Specificationand the draft Order Form.

Scanned Signature: [REDACTED]

Date: 11 February 2011

Name: [REDACTED]

Job Title: Development Director

Duly authorised to sign Tenders on behalf of:

Name of Organisation: A4e Ltd

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PART 3: THE WORK PROGRAMME CALL-OFF CONTRACT TERMS ANDCONDITIONS - ALTERNATIVE AND/OR ADDITIONAL CLAUSES

[3.1]

3.1 The terms and conditions of The Work Programme will be the Standard Call-Off

Terms and Conditions (set out in Schedule 4 of your Framework Agreement), asmodified by The Work Programme service requirements (“The Work Programme Additional Requirements”).

3.2 The Work Programme Additional Requirements are set out in the „Call -Off Termsand Conditions for The Work Programme‟ which is supp lied with your Invitation toTender. A document highlighting the modifications made to the Standard Call-OffTerms and Conditions to reflect The Work Programme Additional Requirements isalso supplied with your Invitation to Tender; for ease of identification, the changesmade since the draft version issued on 8 December 2010 are shown in boxeswithin the document.

3.3 Any proposed amendments to The Work Programme Additional Requirement mustbe detailed by completing the section below, giving full details of the clause(s) youwish to amend and your proposed amendments. DWP will consider proposedamendments strictly on their merits. Please note that you may only proposeamendments to The Work Programme Additional Requirements; proposedamendments to the Standard Call-Off Contract Terms and Conditions will not beconsidered.

Comments on The Work Programme Additional Requirements: -

MINI COMPETITION – ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS (For Framework SupplierComments only)No. of the clause(s) youwish to amend

Proposed amendment with proposed wording

Other than those provisions identified above, A4e Limited, confirms that it has reviewedthe Call-Off Terms and Conditions for The Work Programme and agrees in principle toeach of their provisions.

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Name:[REDACTED]

Scanned Signature:[REDACTED]

Position: Commercial Director

Telephone No:[REDACTED]

Date: 11 February 2011

DWP reserves the right to amend any provisions of The Work Programme AdditionalRequirements at any time during the mini-competition procurement exercise.

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PART 4: SERVICE REQUIREMENT

NOTE: MINIMUM SCORE APPLIES TO ALL QUESTIONS THAT ATTRACT A SCORE WITHINTHIS SECTION. BIDS SCORING 2 OR LESS ON ANY QUESTION WITHIN THIS SECTIONWILL BE REMOVED FROM THE COMPETITION. PLEASE NOTE SCORES ATTAINED INTHIS SECTION MAY ALSO BE USED IN A TIE-BREAK SITUATION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

[4.1] Customer Journey - Process

Please submit a process map showing the proposed end to end customer journey(s) andattach the process map as Annex 1.

This should include a detailed supporting description of the customer journey(s) specificto this CPA. Your response must describe how you will ensure the customer journey istailored to meet the specific needs and barriers of individual customers, and include thecustomer requirements defined in the Specification.

Please note your response to this question will not be scored but will act as areference point for the scoring of questions 4.1a and 4.1b

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to five sides of A4.

Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the process map which youmust insert as Annex 1.

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4.1A4e’s Work Programme customer journey: key principles A4e‟s customer journey is designed around four core principles, built from our 20 years of experience as a leading provider of large scale, outcome funded employability services: We will get every customer back into the work habit as soon as possible and support

them to succeed, in partnership with their employer – A4e‟s Job First principle.

Customers need to feel their support is designed for them. We will personalise andcommit with the customer in a psychological contract – ‘if you will, I will’ .

Through intensive assessment we will better understand each customer‟s needsensuring their journey is relevant to their barriers and preferences, first time.

We will work closely with local partners to source complementary funding to wraparound customers – A4e‟s Total Person approach.

A4e Five Building Blocks of SustainabilityCustomers, irrespective of benefit type, have a consistent set of requirements tosuccessfully move away from a life on benefits. Every customer needs:1. Access – to be engaged respectfully, with rapid access to support and opportunities

2. Outlook – to develop a strong work ethic and feel they can change their life3. Skills – to build the skills that allow them to compete in the local jobs market4. Resilience – to overcome barriers, including ill-health, family and relationship

difficulties or housing, through specialist support5. Capacity – to take advantage of opportunities (mentally, financially, physically) and

take personal responsibility for their future.

The need to address the barriers associated with each of these blocks underpins eachaspect of A4e‟s WP customer journey and has informed the development of:

An assessment model directly linked to driving outcomes that allows the customer andtheir advisor to recognise what is needed to secure sustained employment

Development Programmes that provide a core but flexible structure to ensure the mainbarriers are focused on immediately – moving the customer closer to work faster

A menu of Specialist Support Services which allows us quickly to tailor theDevelopment Programmes to each customer‟s unique needs

A continuous measure of progress which allows both advisors and customers tounderstand where they are in their journey

Specialist Advisors that are experts in one of the Development Programmes and aretrained to help people in every customer group to achieve a sustainable job.

1. Pre-referral Community Connect: promoting awareness and engagementWe will promote WP services in local communities throughout SY to voluntary customers(ESA and IB/IS Volunteers customer groups) and to increase awareness andunderstanding of the benefits of engaging with WP to mandatory groups. A4e‟s 2Community Managers will be embedded in local communities, facilitating informationsessions and hosting volunteer Work Clubs in the community and at A4e premises. Toengage customers they will work with local stakeholders across SY such as TinsleyForum, Zest Community Action and North Doncaster Development Trust (NDDT).Prospective customers, including the anticipated 878 IS/IB and 4,000 ESA Volunteers,

can make online enquiries through MyA4eCommunity, our online information portal or cancontact A4e‟s National Support Centre open 8am-8pm.

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Diagram 2

4.1 (continued)2. Engagement: achieving fast, high-quality engagement in servicesA4e knows from experience that better outcomes come from engaging customers as earlyas possible. To achieve buy-in and full participation, customers will be contacted by A4e‟smulti-lingual National Support Centre as soon as possible (ideally within 24 hours, max.15 days) after referral to discuss their goals and needs and explain the customer‟s

rights/obligations. To give the customer a sense of immediate progress they will togethercommence the action plan and customers will be encouraged to complete an informalonline assessment. This will provide a starting-point for assessment and recognises thatsome customers prefer to disclose barriers through writing. They will arrange a FocusAppointment with the best matched Advisor or with a specialist end-to-end subcontractorservice (e.g. ex-offender support from SOVA) where a clear benefit is identified.3. Focus: welcome and assessment – laying the foundations for successCustomers will receive a flexible service that engages them in their preferred way. Theycan access our services from 43 outreach locations and will be offered an informal groupwelcome session prior to their 1:1 Focus Appointment with their Advisor where they will:Engage with WP through a psychological contract: „we will if you will‟ – proven to be

effective in current A4e programmes. They will be introduced to the people who will helpthem and be informed about what they can expect, and what is expected from them.Assess circumstances, needs and barriers. The Advisor will work with the customer toidentify all barriers (real or perceived) to achieving self-sufficiency. Every customer willreceive a Better-Off Calculation to demonstrate that work pays and provides purpose totheir journey. This also produces a sustainability risk profile that allows an accurate andthorough assessment and enables us to design the right journey from the start.Plan a unique, tailored journey based on their identified individual needs. Family Focus: Where a family member is referred and we engage other family membersvoluntarily. Our Family Welcome & Service will meet collective needs from the start.4. Foundations Activities: over 1,000 different customer journeysCustomers will receive a bespoke service that combines a range of services concurrentlyto ensure the best chance of success: a) Universal Services – a core of activitiesessential for all customers; b) tailored, flexible Development Programmes; c) focusedSpecialist Support Services.a) Universal Services – automatically offered to all SY customers, based on what weknow are the key services that move customers swiftly off benefit and into work:

A tailored journey with a dedicated 1:1 Advisor who markets their skills and capabilitiesto both national and local employers from our 20,000-strong network

A Skills Audit to facilitate job matching to the local labour market and skills needs

Information about the transition from benefits to work including in-work benefits

Tailored support to achieve their fortnightly job search and WCA requirementTailored support to build financial capability and a high-quality CV

An induction to local services and facilities and access to web-based services

Access to targeted relevant support including self-employment and/or work-focusedhealth support and barriers associated with childcare/other caring responsibilities

Timebanking : A4e is working with Spice to develop the first national timebank topromote community work in line with our People Helping People ethos. A credits schemeincentivises customers to gain experience through volunteering. Incentives include mobilecredit, travel passes, gym membership and media downloadsDevelopment Programmes: There are 3 Development Programmes that comprise coreactivities to address barriers related to the 5 Building Blocks. Customers will undertake

the most appropriate programme and will move between programmes according to needsand progress, resulting in increased, faster outcomes. Each programme will havededicated staff with appropriate skills, ensuring specialist support for each group.

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4.1 (continued)

The Access & Outlook Programme focuseson increasing access to jobs, career planning,confidence, mock job interviews, and at least afull day per week of structured job search.

The Skills Programme focuses on tacklingassessments, vocational & soft skills developme

The Capacity & Resilience Programme includes joint case reviews with existing supportnetworks and increasing contact andparticipation on a weekly basis to build capacity.

Supply chain: All journey providers will adhere to A4e‟s 4 core principles and ensureminimum services standards are delivered to all customers. Our supply chainmanagement approach will harness best practice and allows us to share our partners‟experience of what they know achieves high performance, e.g.:JHP – Private provider, working with 18-24 JSA, have achieved 40% into sustained jobsthrough employability provision, adopting Learning Style Assessments that use Visual,Auditory or Kinaesthetic teaching practices tailored to individual requirementsNDDT – Third Sector community provider, support over 2000 Doncaster residents peryear with a range of successful employability and enterprise projects. Innovativecommunity engagement through neighbourhood visits, local events held at supermarketsand bingo halls, SY Wheels to Work scheme and mobile delivery office.Rotherham College of Arts – Public vocational provider, providing roll-on, roll-offprogrammes of Vocational Training, with an Inclusive Learning team for customers with

learning development needsb) Specialist Support Services: A4e and 55 local partners will deliver a wide range ofSpecialist Support Services to create a unique customer journey. Advisors‟ selection of each service will be aided by a local service map that includes success rates andcustomer feedback. The menu ensures that we tackle issues within each of the fiveBuilding Blocks. A sample of services that will be included on the menu is included below.Please note this list is not exhaustive: Specialist Support Services: Access – improving access to jobs in SY Job Flex workshops to help customers in predominantly temporary labour markets,important due to the recent increased demand for temporary/fixed-term contract work inSY, up by 7.1% on last year

Specialist support for professionals with Prospects Services & Calibre TrainingA4e Transporting Lives scheme to help rural customers to gain driving licenses by 2012Innovative distance-based Job Search and In-Work Support from RenovoEmployers priority and advance access to vacancies through our national and localemployer network recruitment including our partner Adecco andSpecialist Support Services: Outlook – to improve motivation and confidence Workshops Goal Setting, Motivation for Work and Creating ConfidenceMotivational and team building skills through sporting activities with the FootballLeague Trust, promoting a „health for work‟ attitude Confidence building from BDA Ltd, Employment & Training Links Ltd and Healthy CrossCommunity Project

3-day accredited motivational training with Sheffield Alcohol Support ServiceSpecialist Support Services: Skills – to overcome immediate skills barriers

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4.1a (continued)Work experience and volunteer placements to give customers valuable workexperience early in their journey though our network of over 5,000 local employers Adecco‟s 1,000 Interskill online training modules & skills matching assessment A4e‟s 14 vocational training modules e.g. Introduction to Building & Construction A4e‟s “Go Forward” programmes: 2-4 week sector-specific pathways combining

training and work experience (e.g. Contact Centre, Customer Service and Care)Skills Clubs at every branch to support customers with basic skills needs as well as ninelocal skill partners providing ESOL, basic skills, NVQs and work placements.Local investment: A4e will utilise our new Sheffield „Vox‟ vocational training centre,set up in partnership with Sheffield Wednesday Football Ground in Hillsborough toprovide hands-on training in sectors with skills gaps or good entry-level opportunities.Specialist Support Services: Resilience – to increase customers’ resilience A4e‟s Life Management modules – e.g. Emotional Wellbeing, Lifestyle ProfilingCognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions from Doncaster West Development Trust1:1 coaching for 50+ customers from Age UK, & key worker drug and alcohol supportfrom Kickstart Community Programmes Ltd

C.A.R.E and Berdale Centres providing tailored support to build resilience in BAMEcommunitiesTogether Woman Project providing holistic support to women offenders in SY,including health support, safe accommodation, debt advice, & domestic violence support.Local innovation: A4e‟s new Family Armour programme will support workless familiesbuild resilience through family mentoring focused on breaking benefit dependency.Specialist Support Services: Capacity – to increase customers’ capacity for work Specialist health support including a specialist health assessment from AdvancedPersonnel Management (APM) that identifies capacity to work with realistic job goals andan achievable action plan. APM will also provide condition management to enablecustomers to manage their health in work. Turning Point‟s „Rightsteps‟ will supportcustomers with substance misuse and mental health conditions and customers will besupported to effectively access statutory services (e.g. via GPs).Specialist mentoring, information advice and guidance : e.g. Lone parents -Gingerbread, Phoenix Enterprises, SCOOP Aid, BME communities - C.A.R.E and BerdaleCentres, Socially excluded - RDaSH Social Enterprises, BDA Ltd, Big Life Company,Mature Age (50+) - PRIME & Age UKLeveraging A4e‟s wider services: all WP customers will have access to A4e‟scomplementary services including Community Legal Advice using dedicated phonebooths in each branch and Money Guidance regularly available at each branch and viapartner networks.

Enterprise: Customers will receive high quality enterprise support and join A4e‟sBusiness Network. A4e has established a microfinance Social Investment Fund of£120,000 per year to support customers to establish their new businesses – a key featureof A4e‟s WP solution in response to the business creation and agenda in this economicclimate. Social Enterprises will be supported and we are currently exploring setting up a£30m investment fund with JP Morgan to support this. Local innovation: A4e has entered into partnership with RDaSH Social Enterprise tohelp customers with mental health needs participate in work-based activities at StCatherine‟s Walled Garden, now trading as a Garden Centre, one of RDaSH‟s socialenterprises.5. Review and Recharge: ensuring continuous progress for all customers

We will constantly review the customer‟s progression on their journey to sustainedemployment. This will include ongoing communication (1-2-1s, phone, email, text) andformal monthly reviews. Journey activities will be refreshed where sufficient progress isnot being made away from benefits towards work. This may include arranging a new

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4.1a (continued)Development Programme or additional Specialist Support where needed. Team Leadersor Advisor peer groups will conduct case reviews quarterly. They will arrange specialistassessment if they detect an undiagnosed barrier or refer to a Recharge Activity : workexperience, community work ir intensive job search.6. Support for Life: achieving long-term sustainability

A4e has developed a comprehensive sustainability support service for customers tobecome fully independent in long-term employment.Increased access to support: available 8am-8pm to reflect the need to offer servicesaround customers‟ working hours and ensure that we capture and address issues beforethey affect sustainability. This includes support with any issues that are affecting thecustomer including workplace, travel and finances. We will coach customers to negotiatewith employers to secure alternative duties, hours and pay and will signpost to servicesincluding housing, financial advice and childcare. A4e‟s new Work Plus Programme willprovide support services specifically to assist part-time workers to increase their hours.In-work health support: We will support customers to manage fluctuating healthconditions through access to specialist advisors, supported by the Occupational Health

Coaches, and Lifeskills‟ 24/7 helpline for advice from healthcare professionals. In-workcondition management services will also be available from APM to address health issuesUnderstanding the threats to sustainability: Based on experience of delivering in-worksupport in the UK and internationally A4e has devised a sustainability risk profile tounderstand how likely a customer is to drop out of work and return to benefits. Starting atthe Focus Appointment, we will design bespoke sustainability support for the customerbased on 30 risk factors including personal circumstances, work history and job goals.Celebrating & incentivising: A4e will send customers a congratulations package thatincludes self-help tips and career planning materials both when they leave benefits intowork and sustain their employment. A4e is working with Big Issue to create a bespokeengagement incentive scheme offering incentives and rewards for customers achievingkey milestones both pre-employment and in work . The scheme is supported byorganisations such as NPower, Kwik Fit, Haven Caravans, Nationwide and Nisa Today

who will offer discounts to our customers. We want to help our customers be smartconsumers, build assets and give them access to rewards.Supporting employers to retain and progress customers: We will work withemployers to jointly support the customer through issues they may face in work. We willoffer a range of services including addressing skills gaps, raising „difficult‟ issues withstaff, training (e.g. managing mental health) and adjustments for customers with healthneeds. A key part of A4e‟s role is to manage employer expectations – especially forcustomers with health issues, who have never worked or have been unemployed for a

long period – to make sure the transition to work and off benefits is smooth. A career, not just a job – Many customers will want promotion, more responsibility, payrises and more skills. We will support customers to build a career development plan andlinking with a career mentor. Our pre-employment training (see above) is tailored to meetlocal labour market needs and we will continue to support customers with this training tomigrate into valuable and relevant work-based qualifications as well as access to theNational Apprenticeship Framework through A4e Skills.7. Re-commence – maintaining momentum for customers who have left work A4e‟sRe-commence Programme is designed to build confidence and motivation to try again byenabling customers to take the positives from their experiences in work. It includes animmediate 1:1 appointment to discuss the reasons for not sustaining work and update

their CV, followed by daily supported job search including accessing our employernetwork to secure further sustainable work.

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[4.1a] Customer Journey - Rationale

Please describe in detail:

your rationale for your proposed Customer Journey(s) detailed above in 4.1within this CPA; and

the benefits to the individual customer groups of this approach.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to four sides of A4.

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4.1a 1. The rationale for our customer journey approach in South Yorkshire (SY) A4e‟s Work Programme customer journey has been designed to meet the broad range of customer needs in every locality in SY. At the centre of A4e‟s customer journey is theTotal Person concept – holistic services, customer-centred support, early action anddelivery that is joined-up with local services. This will enable A4e and its 55 localsubcontractors to deliver a step change in performance through:

Supporting more customers into work through totally individualised journeys, anengaging employer offer; a successful enterprise model; and the expertise andinnovation of our diverse local partners.

Moving customers into work sooner through a „Job First‟ approach, providingappropriate, targeted support at the earliest opportunity.

More and longer sustained jobs by supporting customers into appropriate jobs andproviding robust sustainability support from the start of the customer journey.

To ensure our SY Work Programme model responds accurately to the needs of localcustomers, A4e has used knowledge and best practice from:

20+ years diverse contract delivery in SY, supporting the hardest to help – New Deal,Elevate, ESF, JCPSC, NDDP Progress to Work, Train 2 Gain, and our core FNDprogramme; A4e are currently achieving 45%% 13 week sustained job outcomes

Local stakeholder consultation including with 4 LAs, 2 LEPs and a range of communityorganisations (e.g. Doncaster West Development Trust, Barnsley Development Agency)

Customer feedback and focus groups with existing and previous A4e customers anddisengaged benefit claimants, combined with detailed MI interrogation.

Worklessness pilots in Rotherham & Doncaster in Oct 2010 designed to identifycustomers with health & social care barriers to employment.

Ward-level customer and labour market trends from our Experian partnership.Tailored support for every customer, in every location1. Community Connect: engagement at the pre-referral stage will address the three key

barriers to customer engagement identified by focus groups with our Pathways and loneparent customers and long-term IB claimants – not knowing where to get support, aperception that no-one can help or that support is aimed at others. This will increaseparticipation, especially for customers on IS and health-related benefits including theanticipated 2,764 IB/ESA volunteers in SY.2. Engagement: we will encourage greater participation by offering all customers choicesabout their initial contact (see 4.1 for details). Existing customers and our focus groupstold us that IB customers want informal, group welcomes, young people prefer access toself-help facilities and older customers want immediate 1:1 support. The option to engagecustomers with their families will have significant impact on the 363,000 workless familiesthroughout SY, and 1.7% that have never worked. Rotherham & Barnsley have been

highlighted as problem areas for children growing up in households where neither parentwork. Our bespoke incentives scheme (see 4.1 for details) will incentivise customers toparticipate in WP services.3. Focus: A4e‟s dialogue-driven assessment (see 4.1), designed by A4e‟s OccupationalPsychologists will enable an accurate insight into the full range of customers needs andbarriers, allowing us to tailor a highly individualised journey that is right first time. A pilot ofthis model in eight A4e delivery sites has resulted in increased disclosure (e.g. 60x morecustomers disclosing significant health or social care needs) enabling A4e to addressthese needs and at an earlier stage. APM‟s specialist health assessment will identify thebarriers of customers with unmanaged health conditions. This will meet their need tounderstand and be reassured of their capacity for work, suitable occupations, and an

action plan to achieve their goals.4. Foundations: customers will access concurrently a combination of flexible servicestailored to meet needs in a way that promotes the Job First principle:

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4.1a (continued)a) Universal Services: underpinning each customer‟s tailored journey, there are someservices (see 4.1) that will benefit all customers and will be available at the appropriatepoints in their journey. We have based our Universal Services on the most commonneeds identified in our MI and customer feedback e.g.70% told us that advice on financialin-work benefits (a Universal Service) alleviated their concerns and made them more

likely to take the step into a job. b) Development Programmes: our FND experience tells us that a flexible, tailored,„black box‟ service should be supported by some structure. Our three DevelopmentProgrammes (see 4.1) are designed to support each customer to overcome their barriersin the most suitable way. They will ensure that all customers, including those with themost severe or complex barriers, access an appropriate range and type of services at theright time. This will allow customers who are immediately ready to work to accessintensive job search support and early engagement with our employers; those with skillsneeds access to locally relevant skill development opportunities; and customers withcomplex needs a range of activities to build their capacity and resilience. OurDevelopment Programmes are based on A4e Australia‟s success delivering Job Services

Australia to comparable customer groups. Our services for the hardest to help customersusing this structured approach have achieved 4/5 star ratings, indicating performance20%+ above the national average.c) Specialist Support Services: Our menu of services (see 4.1) will give customersaccess to appropriate, expert and timely local support, both pre and post-placement, on aflexible basis to meet each of their needs and barriers including:

Parenting: 20,340 lone parents claiming out-of-work benefits in SY face barriers e.g.accessing affordable child care and balancing work and caring responsibilities

Housing: customers will need support to ensure stable housing, as 65% of tenants inSY currently claim Housing Benefit and will be affected by Government cuts

Financial: such as support to address personal debt in SY –

average gross weeklyearnings in Y&H are currently £349.30, ranked 9 th out of the 12 Government Regions. Evidence: surveys of A4e customers receiving similar support found that 94% felt thisremoved barriers that would have prevented them from starting employment.The rationale for the key features of A4e‟s customer journey model in SY include:

Specialist customer journeys: some customers will access specialist customer journeys delivered by an expert partner that is best placed to address a specific primarybarrier and assist the customer into sustained employment, e.g. SOVA will providespecialist journeys, including mentoring support, for all ex-offenders registered with JCP

A robust health programme: A4e has developed a robust, integrated model to supportthe anticipated 34,001 JSA and ESA/IB customers with health-related barriers. Our

partnership with APM, providing specialist health assessments and conditionmanagement, will allow A4e to accurately identify each customer‟s work capacity, suitable job options and provide appropriate support. Specialist journeys through Turning Pointand Disability Works will provide intensive, expert support – their existing performance(see 5.1) evidences that we will drive WP performance by supporting „harder to help‟groups including drug users registered with JCP and customers with health conditionsrespectively. Evidence: A4e‟s Fit for Work pilot demonstrates the effectiveness of supporting people with health conditions – it has a 100% success rate in retainingcustomers in work at risk of absenteeism or leaving due to ill health.

A4e Enterprise: A4e‟s enterprise track record means that our WP customers will begiven the best opportunity of successfully setting up a sustainable business. This is a

particularly attractive and viable option for customers with health conditions and providesa realistic work alternative in an SY labour market that features:o Lack of job supply due to the recession: Between 2008 and 2010 the economy

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4.1a (continued)contracted by 2.9% or 73,000 jobs (Oxford Economics), with a further 0.4% contractionprojected (an overall contraction of 17.2% in manufacturing alone by 2020).o Underemployment: with 32.9% of positions now part-time in Y&H, higher than theUK average of 31.2% (NOMIS) many customers have difficulty finding stable worko Lack of business investment: The majority of job losses in Y&H over the period

2008-10 were in business services and distribution,o Reliance on public sector employment: Publicly funded employment nowaccounts for 29.1% of all employment compared to 27.5% nationally. This makes Y&Hmore vulnerable to public sector cuts than other regions (The Work Foundation)

This will be supported by leading business start up experts such as BarnsleyDevelopment Agency, NDDT, and also with RDaSH Social Enterprises.Evidence: A4e has supported over 20,000 self-employed customers throughprogrammes including Business Link. We have used this expertise to support over 400FND customers to date to start their own businesses with very high sustainability – 92%were still successfully trading at the critical 26 weeks sustainability stage.Skills: A4e is committed to up-skilling our WP customers as we recognise that they are

seeking work in a highly competitive economy, particularly in Barnsley, where there are30 claimants for every JCP registered job vacancy. Our partnership with Experiantogether with our local delivery experience and working with the 2 local LEPs will allow usto continually predict labour market demand and prepare customers with appropriate skillstraining and job preparation, supported by our employer links. This will respond to SYskills gaps - 17% of Y&H employers report skills gaps in their workforce according toNational Employer Skills Survey, particularly in Sheffield (21%) and Doncaster (18%).5. Reviews and Recharge Activities: our model includes a range of Reviews andRecharge activities to ensure that customers maintain a sense of real momentum andprogression throughout their journey. These will be complemented by the ability to movebetween Development Programmes when their needs and circumstances change. Ourflexible WP journey can be refined and altered quickly and easily in response to ourexperience that shows that some barriers (e.g. substance misuse, domestic violence) areonly disclosed, identified or observed further into the journey.6. Support for Life: A4e recognises the importance of providing intensive sustainabilitysupport with a new offer that supports and incentivises employers to achieve a stepchange in performance. To reflect this, we will address sustainability from the start of thecustomers‟ jour ney and support customers further through our employer offer (detailed in7.2). Our survey of 600 employed A4e customers found that 68% had remained in workfor one year or longer as a result of tailored in-work support. To build on this, we haverefined our model to include Sustainability and Progression measures including access to

specialist health support (including a 24/7 health helpline) specialist support for LPs fromGingerbread and access to all Specialist Support Services detailed in 4.1. Theserecognise the extended sustainability period and the importance of progression andcareer planning that 57% of customers told us they wanted help with. Our extended hoursservice responds to customer feedback that identify 64% of in-work customers wouldaccess services at these times.2. Benefits to the eight individual customer groups in SY A4e‟s customer journey offers cross-cutting benefits to all customers that will beaccessible in all localities across SY, all 4 city centres and extensive community outreach.Direct delivery and our supply chain of 5 journey providers, 4 specialist journey providersand 46 Specialist Support Services providers will ensure that core benefits include:

A menu of Specialist Support Services delivered by experts, ensuring that eachcustomer‟s journey is tailored to their needs and not their benefit/customer group

The Development Programmes framework structure ensuring that customers receiveappropriate type of support at every stage of their journey with no delay

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4.1a (continued)

Seamless support that connects A4e services with other local provision

The expertise and innovation of 55 local partners and the breadth of A4e services

Continuous progress throughout their journey both pre and post placement

Improved job prospects through strategic local initiatives to improve skills, addressemployer demand, create local jobs and improve self-employment rates.

Each customer group will also receive specific benefits relevant to their needs:JSA 18-24: lack of soft and vocational skills, lack of work experience

improved soft skills to meet the needs of local SY employers

skills relevant to SY labour market demand e.g. Business Services, Health & Retailing

Partnerships with leading Sector Specialists such as The Source (Business Admin andRetail) and Care2Care Training Services Ltd (Care)

opportunities through our commitment to the Apprenticeship Framework

increased engagement through multi-channel delivery including online servicesJSA 25+: including long-term unemployed and benefit cyclists, obsolete skills

improved job search skills through targeted support and interview preparation

increased motivation/confidence through Motivation for Work/Creating Confidence improved skills relevant to SY labour market such as the renewable energy sector

increased opportunities in-work through tailored in-work support initiativesJSA Early Access: multiple and complex barriers

long-term expert support through specialist customer journeys such as Turning Point‟sservice for mental health and substance abuse support service for ex-offenders

improved capacity and resilience through tailored local services

access to Advisors with specialist skills in supporting those with complex needsA4e’s health model: benefiting all customer groups with health-related needsThese customers will benefit from improved understanding of their work capabilities by APM‟s expert health assessment and guidance on support needs (which they deliver to

80,000+ customers each year through Job Services Australia). Where required andappropriate, they will benefit from an intensive a specialist journey from DisabilityWorks/Turning Point. APM‟s embedded condition management will both preparecustomers for work and improve their ability to sustain work, together with Lifeskills‟ 24/7helpline staffed by healthcare professionals. A4e‟s Community Managers will ensurethese customers benefit from early and local engagement.IB to JSA: low motivation and engagement, fear of change

increased motivation and confidence through early targeted engagement

psychological contract and confidence/motivation building workshops

reduced impact of long-term workforce exclusion through A4e‟s skills development

ESA Volunteers: severe health condition/disability, employer discrimination reduced time out of the workforce through targeted work preparation activities relevant

to their capacity including vocational and soft-skills training

improved opportunities from initiatives to make local workplaces disability friendlyESA Flow: possible new unmanaged health condition, lack of motivation

improved opportunities from initiatives to make local workplaces disability friendly

increased access to vacancies through A4e‟s employer engagement strategy IB to ESA: length of unemployment, low motivation and confidence

improved opportunities from initiatives to make local workplaces disability friendly

reduced impact of long-term workforce exclusion through A4e‟s skills development IB/IS: economic and social exclusion, health needs, caring responsibilities

increased ability to find work through support with childcare/care arrangementsimproved capacity through identifying capacity and suitable types of work.

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[4.1b] Service Requirement

DWP expect all customers to receive a minimum level of service. Please clearly define:

Your minimum service delivery levels for all customers within this CPA;

Your rationale that supports your approach:

How it addresses the needs by customer groups.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to two sides of A4.

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4.1b1) A4e’s Minimum Service Levels for the Work Programme in South Yorkshire (SY)A4e and our supply chain are committed to improving the lives of our customers, theirfamilies and communities. In addition to our commitment to DWP‟s Customer Charter, our Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) will ensure a step change in performance, a high-qualityservice and the best chance of success for each customer.

1. A fully accessible service: that is accessible to all on public transport within 45 minstravelling time, DDA compliant and in a safe and respectful environment.

2. Individual assessment and plan: every customer will receive a tailored assessmentand action plan that will be reviewed at least monthly.

3. Health support: we will assess health as a barrier to working. Those identified asneeding additional assessment/support will be referred to a specialised healthassessment and support to develop a health-focused back to work plan.

4. A fully personalised service: including (minimum) monthly 1:1 contact with a namedadvisor and a tailored journey that address their broader needs.

5. Customer empowerment & Work Ethic: customers will be given a choice about howthey first engage with their service provider (see 4.1 Engagement) and a choice of

work-focused activity early in the journey to promote „Job First‟, the development of essential work habits and exposure to the benefits of working.

6. Improved relevant skills: all customers will receive a Skills Audit and have access tosoft and locally-tailored vocational skills development opportunities.

7. Recharge activities: all customers will access Recharge activities (see 4.1 – Reviewand Recharge) if they are not making progress in their journey.

8. Incentive to engage: all customers will have access to A4e‟s Incentive Scheme thatrecognises and rewards achieving journey milestones.

9. Total Person: we will work with all other agencies that support customers to ensurethat we meet all of their wider needs – A4e‟s Total Person service.

10. Family service: we will support our customers within the context of their family. 11. Feedback: customers can provide feedback at any point and will be requested at

specific points in the journey. We will respond where requested within 7 days. 12. In-work progression and sustainability: tailored support Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm and life

access to A4e‟s on-line job search facilities (see 4.1 Support for Life). We will contactin-work customers according to their Risk Profile (see 4.1), at least:

Low Risk Medium Risk High RiskWeek 1 First day and week First day and week Every dayWeek 2 – Month 6 Fortnightly Weekly Bi-weeklyMonth 6-12 / 12-sustain Monthly/monthly Fortnightly/monthly Weekly/fortnightly

2) Rationale for our approach in South Yorkshire (SY)

A4e‟s MSLs are informed by organisational knowledge and consultation to identify theaspects of our service that are crucial to an effective and positive experience.Delivery experience: We have interrogated MI and organisational knowledge from 20years experience delivering employment services in 11 countries. This includes 20 yearsin SY working with 40,743 customers, including people with disabilities, lone parents, ex-offenders, long-term unemployed, drug & alcohol misusers, and recently redundantworkers, supporting 11,026 into work. We work with key local experts, including theCathedral Archer Project in Sheffield, Doncaster Alcohol Services and New Beginnings(rehabilitation centre), to ensure streamlined access to all beneficial services and maintainvisibility of employment support available through A4e. We have piloted key elements ofour proposed delivery including assessment, in-work and health-related support in a live

operational environment to test its efficacy and customer satisfaction.Customer consultation: A4e has invested over £50,000 in giving local customers avoice in the design of MSLs as part of our ongoing commitment to co-production ofservices. We commissioned independent research consultancy CI Research to survey

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4.1b (continued)1,000 A4e customers (including 600 in work) and 400 unemployed people to identify theservices they value. A4e co-facilitated focus groups with long-term IB claimants,graduates, skilled workers and professionals in Yorkshire. We conducted quarterly focusgroups and collated feedback from our Y&H customers. This informed our MSLs, e.g:

A4e MI has identified that 6.4% of FND customers want support with legal issues, and

13.4% want help with finances. Pilots integrating these services with A4e‟s FND found that 94% of customers felt that this had removed a barrier to work (MSL9).

The Buzzz findings indicated a range of preferences. IB claimants preferred initialinformal, group engagement; professionals preferred immediate 1:1 support (MSL5).

CI Research found that 22% of customers consider lack of experience to be theirprimary barrier and 22% think their lack of necessary qualifications is. 33% want supportwith job skills, 17% with soft skills, 27% want work experience, (MSL4, 6).

64% of A4e‟s in-work customers want extended-hours in-work support includingcareer planning, financial advice, and access to training/finding a new job (MSL12).3) Addressing the needs of each customer group A4e‟s MSLs will ensure a personalised journey that addresses the individual‟s need rather than the customer group they fall into. See 5.3 for how we will ensure the availability ofMSLs to each customer group and throughout the supply chain.

JSA 18-24: This customer group responds well to quick engagement and earlyintervention. Increased motivation (MSL8) is a key benefit to this group – with 28% beingmore motivated to access support where the provider has good links to employers.MSL6 responds to the needs of SY employers - only 1% stated that they believed schoolleavers and graduates are „extremely well prepared for work‟ (Qa Research), clearlyevidencing that young people are perceived as unprepared for the world of work.

JSA 25+: Benefit „cyclists‟ and long-term unemployed customers will particularly benefitfrom Recharge Activities that promote continuous momentum towards employment.

They will also benefit from a comprehensive in-work support (MSL7,12). JSA Early Access: A fully personalised journey (MSL4) is important for this group to

address the perception that support is aimed at „others‟, particularly amongst those withthe most complex barriers. A collaborative service (MSL9) is crucial for this group mostlikely to be accessing support to address their multiple needs.

JSA ex-IB: Support to identify suitable job goals (MSL2) and a skills audit/targetedtraining (MSL6) and a choice of engagement method (MSL5) are important benefits forthese customers who may not have participated in job-focused activity recently.

ESA volunteers: Support to identify their capacity to work (e.g. suitable hours) (MSL3)will benefit this customer group who want support and reassurance about their ability towork. Online support (MSL5) allows customers to take ownership of the pace – “it has

become like lifeline when I can‟t go out” [an IB claimant]. ESA flow: Access to health support (MSL3) will benefit this customer group who may

have a new/deteriorated health condition.

ESA ex-IB: Our focus groups found that this customer group most value accessibleprovision (MSL1), a choice and flexibility in their services and often prefer informal,group sessions as a first contact (MSL 4/5). 31% of customers surveyed by CIResearch, particularly IB claimants, wanted access to online employment support.

IB/IS: Accessibility, support with health conditions/disabilities and personalised supportwill benefit this group (MSL1,3,4).

A4e will promote our MSL pledge in each branch and through MyA4e online, marketingmaterials and 2 Community Managers. We will survey every customer at least once toform a Customer Satisfaction Rating and refine our service.

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PART 5: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

[5.1] Delivery Strategy

Please describe in detail your delivery structure for all elements of the Work Programmeprovision across this CPA and explain why you consider your delivery strategy to be thebest approach for customers in this CPA. You should clearly state how you intend to workwith your sub-contractors and how you will ensure the needs of all your customers,including the hardest to help, are fully addressed from within your supply chain includingvoluntary sector organisations where appropriate.Please also complete:

Annex 2 to show the structure to be put in place within the supply chain todeliver the Work Programme provision in terms of overall percentage ofdelivery, specialism and geographical coverage; and

Annex 3 (Sub-contractor Declaration) for your proposed sub-contractors asappropriate.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to three sides of A4.

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5.1 A4e’s delivery strategy for all elements of provision across South Yorkshire A4e‟s delivery strategy for South Yorkshire (SY) combines A4e‟s experience andinnovation, with a 55 strong supply chain of the best providers, including 28 from thevoluntary and 4 from the public sector. This will give every customer in access to qualityservices, in line with A4e‟s Total Person philosophy. A4e will support 61.5% of SYcustomers, our subcontractors 38.5%. Our strategy will meet the needs of all SY

customers, including the hardest to help, through:1. The best providers, in the right locations, through a combination of A4e direct

delivery and 5 journey providers delivering in defined geographical areas2. Specialist journey support for customers with specific or complex needs through 4

specialist journey providers3. Holistic, joined-up services through 46 partners providing specialist support services

on a flexible, as-needed basis.Our strategy is based on the needs of local customers and communities; identifiedthrough four years local delivery experience and £50,000 investment in engagingcustomers in WP service design. Key factors influencing our strategy are:

Customer barriers : Inequalities across the 4 LAs – the number of benefit claimants in

Sheffield has doubled between 2008 and 2010. Health needs: 75% of IB claimants inSheffield have been claiming for more than two years and there are more than 16,000lone parents, high % in Doncaster (2.1%) and Barnsley (2.0%)

Labour market conditions : Barnsley is forecasted as one of the worst LA areas toproduce private sector jobs; isolated nature of economy in Doncaster, which is home tomore than 70% of Sheffield City Region‟s 3+ year JSA claimants

Geographic challenges: Concentrated areas of worklessness across Sheffield, 48% ofall out-of-work benefit claimants concentrated in the 8 wards that make up the East andNorth East Community Assembly areas. Spatial divides in Barnsley include rural areasof Penistone West and East that have much lower unemployment rates than urban Park

1. The best providers in the right locations across SYCustomers in SY will benefit from access to high quality end to end services provided byA4e and our nine local journey providers. Journey providers will deliver in a definedgeographical area and have been selected based on their ability to best supportcustomers from each of the seven groups, as follows:

Selection criteria Benefit to customersLocal delivery history Services that are responsive to the needs of local

people and their communityStrong performance workingwith similar customers

A provider that is able to support them to sustainwork in the shortest possible amount of time

Existing infrastructure suitable

to the needs of WP customers

Services close to home, in high quality facilities

and from suitably experienced staffHigh quality relationships withlocal stakeholders

A seamless journey that connects WP with othersupport to reduce confusion and bureaucracy

High quality relationships withlocal employers

Access to suitable, sustainable employmentopportunities in the local area

Journey providers will work with all customers within the defined area (see map below),unless the customer is better supported through a specialist journey provider (see section2 below). A list of office addresses and volumes is available at Annex 2.Providing Barnsley customers with high quality, effective services A4e currently deliver a diverse range of services in Barnsley, including FND, for which weare the top performing A4e cpa for job entry and 26 week sustained outcomes. We have a

network of 150+ active employers and have local links with 60 voluntary communityorganisations, including Neighbourhood Learning Network, Barnsley Regeneration Trustand Barnsley Black Ethnic Minority Initiative (BBEM). We will look to build on investment

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5.1 (continued)in continuing the family pilot in Athersley and New Lodge, currently being delivered byJCP and ending in March 2011, providing A4e advisors in the community working closelywith partners such as Berneslai Homes & SY PoliceBarnsley Metropolitan Borough Council: A leading worklessness council with Grade 1Ofsted and access to multiple community venues., they have been delivering

worklessness programmes for over 20 years, including Workstep, Jobzone and FutureJobs Fund. Over 5,000 customers supported per annum through current delivery. We areworking closely with Barnsley MBC as a formal partner for a recent ERDF submissionunder Priority 3 Objective 4 “Implementation of Community ICT Strategies‟ This aims todevelop a portal of digital information for Barnsley residents that will provide information &advice, including employability assistance & debt advice.Providing Sheffield customers with high quality, effective services A4e: As our flagship area, providing employment services since 1987, A4e are firmlyestablished in this area, from the early days of supporting ex-steel workers with trainingneeds and employment support. Since then our presence has grown substantially in thiskey delivery area, supporting the long-term unemployed through New Deal delivery,

Programme Centre, and continuing with FND, JCPSC and NDDP. We deliver ESFcontracts, including Job Solutions and Self Employment (target 45%, achieved 62%). Sheffield Works Consortium is a 3rd Sector SPV for WP supported by Sheffield CityCouncil. With 26 premises across Sheffield including various One Stop Shops, Children‟sCentres & Healthy Living Centres, have vital experience of working with in deprivedneighbourhoods. Achieved all contractual targets on Future Jobs Fund / CommunityOutreach. JHP Training: Strong FND and ESF performance, currently with excellentskills offer. Through delivery of LSC / DWP programmes they have links with 25,000+employersProviding Doncaster customers with high quality, effective services A4e as a current FND / NDDP / JCPSC provider with established offices in city centre,3,000+ employer contacts, strong community networks. Support harder to help customersthrough Progress 2 Work. We also deliver the Finance Friends programme, funded bySuccess Doncaster, providing tailored support for business start-up - one customer wenton to win the Prince‟s Trust Young Achiever of the Year for Y&H. North DoncasterDevelopment Trust: As a key partner of Doncaster Council, NDDT have 8 premises inDoncaster, supporting 2,500 customers per annum. Through their Jobmates contract theysupport 1,000+ customers per year, achieving 40% of customers back into work, with50% sustaining employment for more than 6 months.Providing Rotherham customers with high quality, effective services A4e already have links into the South Yorkshire Work and Skills Board and are currently

working with 26 private, public and 3rd sector organisations within our FND Phase 1delivery. Rotherham NDDP works with a variety of organisations including YorkshireTrust, Lifeline, Brighter Futures, The Terrace, NHS Health Information CentreJHP Currently deliver FND in SY, achieving 40% sustained jobs with 18-24 groups, 75% job outcomes with early entry offenders. Rotherham College of Arts and Technology: Have access to 29 delivery sites acrossRotherham, located in community premises. Also have specialist facilities providingvocational tasters and support sector specific training, including in Construction,Engineering, and Childcare. Their dedicated Services to Business team 435 Apprenticesinto work in 2009/10. Adult Choices Programme, working with JCP and Connexions toprovide re-engagement activities, achieved 81% job outcomes in 09/10.

2. Specialist support when and where it is neededSupport for customers with a disability or health condition in South Yorkshire A4e has selected 4 specialist journey providers to ensure customers with more complexneeds have access to the expert guidance necessary to sustain work.

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5.1 (continued)Widespread health needs across SY; 1,720 ESA claimants in Sheffield, 3rd highest in Y&Hwith all 4 sub-regions having higher than average IB claimants for mental illness,particularly in Barnsley (43.5% against UK average of 27.6%).Disability Works will support customers with learning disabilities, sensory impairments,physical disabilities and serious mental illness in locations A4e directly delivers. The

consortium of nine leading disability experts includes: Mencap, MIND, SCOPE etc whoare established in SY delivering Workstep, Work Preparation, and IAPT Counselling.Support for ex-offenders in South Yorkshire There are 18,814 ex-offenders currently on caseloads of local probations services in SY.SOVA: will support ex-offenders across all 4 Las, providing pre and post release supportand have strong relationships with employers (e.g. YMCA).Support for customers with severe or complex barriers in South Yorkshire A4e expects some of the 3,922 JSA Early Access customers p.a will need specialist help.This may include the 850 customers in SY that currently flow onto Progress2Work, orthose with „chaotic‟ home lives (e.g. domestic violence). Turning Point will providesupport in every location that A4e delivers. As a provider of FND interventions in

Doncaster, A4e has a strong existing relationship with Turning PointSupport for young people to become self employed in South Yorkshire A4e has entered into partnership with The Princes Trust to support young people intoself-employment through their Enterprise Fellowship programme 3. Holistic, joined-up services on a flexible basisA4e staff will access a range of services to support customers to overcome barriers.Journey providers will also access their own supply chains of specialist support e.g.customers referred to Disability Works will have access to specialist health support fromMind and Action for Blind People. Below highlights just some of our 46 specialist supportservices, outlined fully in Annex 2.Health needs: IB claimants make up the largest group of economically inactive people claiming working age benefits in SY.Advanced Personnel Management (APM) will provide health assessments and conditionmanagement in all A4e direct delivery locations. Turning Point will provide „Rightsteps‟service for those with poor mental health and substance misuse.BME customers at high risk of unemployment: SY has one of the highest employment gaps for ethnic minority customers in the UK at 18.3%.Berdale Centres Ltd will provide ESOL support for new immigrants and BAME groupsacross Sheffield and Rotherham. We will co-locate services with Dearne Valley College toprovide easier accessibility to full range of services16,110 lone parents are claiming benefits across SY: The highest percentages are

in Doncaster (2.1%) and Barnsley (2.0%) (Nomis) Gingerbread will provide work placements and access to their parent helpline. SCOOPAid Ltd will provide specialist Family Support and Barrier Removal across SY.Pockets of deprivation: 32% of people in Rotherham live in top 20% deprived areas, & Arbourthorne is in top 10% most deprived wards nationally A4e will partner with community organisations providing place-based solutions. e.g. theBig Life Company will deliver work experience and „life‟ support through their 5 socialenterprises and 3 charities to the most excluded customers in Sheffield. Healthy CrossCommunity Project will provide mentoring support for customers in Rotherham.Poor skills: Sheffield is a divided city with residents in Hallam four more times likely to have degrees than those in Brightside.

Doncaster West Development Trust provide Basic Skills support on an outreach basisacross the borough, including in Consibrough. Employment & Training Links will provideApprenticeship and NVQs from their three sites in Sheffield

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[5.2] Management Structure

Please provide:

a description of the proposed management structure and how the requiredmanagement skills and expertise, including working with local stakeholders, have

been identified and will be delivered. You should also include a description ofassociated responsibilities and reporting lines ;

a description of how you will work with the management teams of any supply chainorganisations and key delivery partners; and

explain why your management structure is appropriate for the Work Programmewithin this CPA;

Please include an organisation chart (attach as Annex 4) showing the proposed managementstructure for the Work Programme for this CPA.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response

MUST be limited to three sides of A4.

Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the organisation chart(s)which you must insert as Annex 4.

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5.2 A4e is introducing a new organisational structure to effectively respond to changes inits key business areas. The structure is designed to create a single team approach whilstempowering local teams to shape local services around customer needs. It is highlylocalised and diverse to create a rich customer journey in collaboration with stakeholders.The structure has two distinct elements:i. Local Service Delivery: Local teams comprising A4e and local partners.

ii. Operational Support: Independent performance management and commissioning,including intelligence, practitioner support and innovation; and contract management,single account management for DWP and major employers.

The rationale for our model is as follows: It directly supports the delivery of A4e‟s T otal Person model , where local teams

deliver a full range of social inclusion services with local stakeholders, producingbetter outcomes and delivered in the most effective way for individual customers.

Separation of service delivery and commissioning will ensure that there is acreative tension between local delivery teams and those holding the teams to account.There will be clear focus on identifying what works, best practice and improvementplans, utilising external and internal knowledge to inform service development and

including the experience of our partners and local stakeholders to full effect. Consistently high performance will be driven by the management and development

of both partners‟ and A4e‟s direct delivery on an equal basis. All delivery units will beaccountable for their delivery of outcomes and performance on an equal basis.

The structure has been designed to be highly cost effective and efficient through acombination of empowering local managers to make decisions rapidly and the sharingof support functions with other complementary A4e services.

1) A4e’s Proposed Management Structure: Structure chart enclosed in Annex 4 A4e‟s management structure is fully scalable and is described based on A4e operating aminimum of 8 CPAs. Please note, the pricing proposal only costs for the managementresources required for this CPA. All management functions will be put in place regardlessof the number of CPAs A4e may be awarded, although the precise number of people willrelate directly to the scale of business that will need to be managed.Key Roles & Responsibilities: Within SY, the management and leadership team belowwill ensure that we have the capacity and capability to deliver the WP. NB. Full roledescriptions are in the Staff Role Descriptions in Annex 5. A number of roles are sharedacross CPAs therefore only a proportion has been costed in the Pricing Submission. Executive Director: Reports to the A4e CEO and Group Board, overall accountability

for delivery of the DWP Work Programme. Line manages the 6 positions below. Customer Services Director: Manages A4e‟s National Support Centres, the WP‟s

central administrative support functions in Sheffield and London.

Business Finance Director: Responsible for commercial management and financialperformance, supported by Financial Controller and Finance Business Partners. Senior HR Business Partner: Oversees all WP people strategy and related issues

including resourcing, recruitment, training and professional development. Regional Delivery Director: Reports to Executive Director, responsible for A4e

operations in the Y&H region, including direct and subcontracted service delivery. Linemanages Area Managers, Partnership Manager and Head of Regional Sales. Thisperson will be required to have excellent regional and local knowledge and links withkey stakeholders in Y&H to enable them to promote WP and ensure effective join upwith other relevant initiatives and services.

Business Solutions & Commissioning (BSC) Director: Ensures all services are

delivered effectively, generates intelligence, identifies best practice and overseesbusiness improvement, including performance and quality monitoring. Independent ofthe delivery function, the BSC Director will ensure that both directly and subcontractedservices meet local needs and support the delivery teams in managing continuous

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5.2 (continued)change and improvement. Manages Partnerships and Performance Directors.

Director of National Accounts: Manages external interface with funders andemployers. Manages DWP Account Director and Employer Account Director.

Employer Account Director: Responsible for all employer-focused services and theengagement of employers at regional, national and local levels. Manages employer

facing staff including Regional Employer Support staff and Central Vacancy Managers. Local Management Roles: The following roles will be dedicated to delivery in SY Area Manager: Responsible for A4e‟s operational delivery in a defined geographical

area, SY. Line manages resources shared by local teams and drives the developmentof complementary services that will be of benefit to WP customers and support the„Total Person‟ principle. This person will create rich and effective partnerships andhave in depth local understanding so as to be able to ensure that WP is delivered in away that is most effective in the local area. Major subcontractor partners will berequired to nominate an equivalent manager for their areas of delivery with excellentlocal knowledge and understanding.

Partnership Manager: Manages delivery and performance of subcontractor partners

and will be focused on building relationships founded on continual development andimprovement. Is the key A4e interface with supply chain partners.

Head of Regional Sales: Responsible for creating new complementary services,focused on tacking poverty, in line with A4e‟s Total Person approach.

Local Business Manager: Leads local business units centred around „natural‟ placesas defined by local councils or JCP district to ensure a natural fit with other initiatives:

o Rotherham o Sheffield o Barnsley o DoncasterBusiness Managers will have detailed local knowledge in order to ensure local WPdelivery is fully tailored to meet the needs of local customers and employers and beempowered to create the shape of business most effective for local customers.

Community Manager: Responsible for ensuring A4e‟s WP serves local communitieseffectively, eg ensuring we deliver from areas with the greatest need, creating newalliances with other local organisations and with key local stakeholders like localauthorities and GP consortia on behalf of the whole delivery team.

Occupational Health Coaches (OHC): An example of best practice transferred from A4e‟s Australian operations, OHCs will support frontline staff working with customersfacing significant barriers, including serious health barriers.

Identification of required skills & expertise: All managers will be required to haveproven management experience, the ability to make the quality of judgement needed todeliver output-based contracts/services and technical expertise appropriate to their role(full details in role profiles). A4e has identified and understands these skills and expertise

requirements based on our experience of delivering large scale welfare services. As thelargest UK welfare to work provider, A4e has invested in new skills to meet the demandsof WP. Recent appointments who will transfer include:[REDACTED], National Partnership Director: [REDACTED]spent the last 20 yearsworking with large multi nationals including Nike, MTV, C4 EA and Ford and socialenterprises to create new partnerships and innovation in the UK and India.[REDACTED], Executive Director Welfare : Most recent role Managing Director of adivision of Rok Plc. Previously held roles at Centrica, British American Tobacco and theReliance Group. Background of international leadership and business improvement.[REDACTED], Business Finance Director, [REDACTED] joined A4e from Capita where[REDACTED] was the lead commercial manager on strategic PPP/PFI bids (ranging from

£5m to £450m), operating complex pricing models and negotiating key commercial terms.Management Skills & Expertise from the Supply Chain: In addition to themanagement capacity offered directly by A4e, each of our main partners will contributeadditional management skills, expertise and capacity. This includes but is not limited to:

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5.2 (continued) Sheffield Works: Ian Drayton, Director, currently manages FJF and Sheffield Young

Persons Consortium JHP: Vanessa Jackman, Operations Director for the North Barnsley MBC: Peter Schofield, Directorate for Children, Young People & Families,

Community Learning Information Services

2) Working with management teams of supply chain partners A4e‟s Partnership Manager will be responsible for developing a strong relationship with allsupply chain partners, interfacing with partner management teams and drivingperformance on an ongoing basis. Our objective is for partners and local stakeholders tobe an integral part of the A4e Work Programme operation in SY whilst retaining theiridentity and using their specialism and expertise to full effect.Performance Management of the Supply Chain: Every partner will receive regularperformance reports, demand data and a monthly meeting with their PartnershipManager. In-depth performance and delivery reviews will be conducted every quarter toreview standards, targets and identify best practice. A SY Strategic Partner Board , withrepresentatives from all major end to end partners will meet every quarter to review joint

performance and devise solutions to common delivery and performance challenges.Continuous Development Measures: A4e strives for supply chain relationships to bebased around continual development and improvement. A4e will create a highly informedexpert practitioner network across our delivery team to share “what works” and enableperformance. The A4e Partnership Director will have responsibility for ensuring that ourpartners are supported to succeed. They will have responsibility for building capability (e.gstaff training through A4e‟s Practitioner Development Programme, access to the A4eInnovation Fund, performance improvement advice, Data Management and Securitycompliance, the support of our charity FSI for smaller partners) and sharing best practiceincluding holding regular events to disseminate information on what works. 3) Why this structure is appropriate for Work Programme delivery in SY It combines A4e‟s experience with the expertise of our partners, putting investment in

a new type of skills and capacity required to deliver more complex and groundbreakingservices like WP. It builds on skills and structures that have proved effective in otherlarge scale, outcome-focused contracts, including FND and A4e‟s Job ServiceAustralia service - currently achieving 38% sustained job outcomes across allcustomer groups. We have added new capability around partner and stakeholderengagement and better knowledge management to reflect the new challenges of WP.

A4e‟s management structure takes account of the specific geographical challenges of SY, specifically allocating Local Business Managers to the 4 local authorities with anemphasis on cross-working and interaction across all areas

It will also incorporate A4e‟s established management expertise in SY from delivery of NDPC, FND, ESF & NDDP. Our strategy is to transition our existing managers to thenew structure in order to retain local experience, knowledge, stakeholder networksDay 1. This will include Tony Mace, currently Regional Director, and our existing SYRegional Manager, who have 15 years of welfare to work management experience.

Evidence: A4e effectively transitioned 10 local managers from ND to FND in Dec 2009. We have taken account of regional and local variations - no one WP CPA will look the

same as another. We have local geography, local stakeholder structures, localperformance drivers and have considered the best structure for our delivery strategy.

It delivers cost efficiencies and more money to the front line by using shared supportservices (HR, IT, Audit). This enables local operations teams to focus on performance

and draws on national specialists where needed.

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[5.3] Management of Delivery

Please clearly describe:

How you and your supply chain will manage and monitor the quality of deliveryof the Work Programme to ensure that the whole provision within this CPA is of

a consistently high standard and meets your minimum service levels;

Your approach to performance improvement activities for your supply chain asa whole, outlining how you and your supply chain will act on the findings of anymonitoring activity including the resolution of issues from within your own supplychain, partners or other bodies.


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5.3 1) Quality Strategy - Managing and monitoring the quality of WP delivery A4e‟s approach to management of delivery is based on ensuring a high performing, highquality service environment which delivers significant sustained outcome performancethrough direct and subcontracted delivery.A4e has adopted the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellencemodel to ensure the high quality delivery of all of our services, including the WP. As an

overarching quality management framework, the EFQM coordinates the industrystandards we have adopted, including Investors in People, the Matrix IAG standard, aswell as A4e‟s own quality management tool the „Balanced Scorecard‟. A4e‟s use of theEFQM is overseen by Group Assurance Director, Sarah Aston. It provides us with acomprehensive diagnostic tool for self-assessment, where we can grade our serviceagainst detailed criteria under nine headings. The overall score acts as a Europeanbenchmark and helps us identify areas for improvement. For WP, improvement activitieswill be owned by the Business Solutions & Commissioning Director.The application of EFQM will ensure that every WP customer, regardless of theorganisation delivering their support, receives a high quality service that meets orexceeds our WP Minimum Service Levels. The key EFQM principles that underpin our

approach are described below, along with a description of how they will support A4e‟smanagement and monitoring of the quality of our WP service:i) Achieving balanced results – WP Performance Management Framework: We arecommitted to planning and achieving a balanced set of results that meet the needs of ourcustomers and the minimum service levels of the WP. A4e‟s WP PerformanceManagement Framework will be operated via a balanced scorecard approach used byall operational managers. This will ensure main KPIs linked to minimum service standardsare being met e.g. referral times, minimum contact levels. It will assist us to manage ourWP service by giving consideration to the following critical areas:

1. Customer Perspective - Are we meeting our customers‟ needs and expectations? 2. Financial Perspective - Are we achieving outcomes required?3. Internal Perspective - Which processes must we improve to maintain excellence?4. Development Perspective - How well are we developing our service for the future,

continually improving our offer?ii) Ensuring we meet Customer needs on an ongoing basis: A4e has engagedcustomers in the design of its WP service, through focus groups, individual interviews andonline feedback mechanisms. During delivery, we will continue to monitor and managethe quality of our service from customers‟ perspectives through A4e‟s Service ExcellenceProgramme (fully detailed in 5.6) which includes comprehensive customer Complaints,Compliments and Feedback mechanisms and co-production groups. iii) Leading with Vision, Inspiration and Integrity: The quality of our WP service will be

driven by our leaders and managers. A4e‟s mission, vision and culture of ImprovingPeople‟s Lives created by the senior leadership permeates throughout A4e and our supply chain. There is constant two way communication between staff and seniormanagers through weekly management bulletins and online staff feedback forums. Forpartners, quarterly partner forums are used to share information and an annual awardsevent for the entire supply chain. A4e staff that deliver outstanding services arerecognised through a „Superstars‟ reward scheme and „whole company‟ events enablethe sharing of our Mission and Vision.iv) Ensuring Quality through Process: A4e is managed through structured andstrategically aligned processes using fact-based decision making to create balanced andsustained results. We are developing a series of Standard Operating Procedures for

our WP model specifically to ensure that every single customer receives a high qualityservice and that all delivery meets minimum service levels. These will consist of „RedRules & Green Guidelines‟. All Red Rules will be mandatory and must be followed by alldelivery staff, including subcontractors. Green Guidelines will be optional and will support

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5.3 (continued)quality within delivery through the ability to be flexible and responsive.A4e is also currently embedding a new Business Process Management Framework inpreparation for the WP and to support future growth in general. This framework consistsof a series of standard business processes that will be rolled out across our entire deliveryand that reflect contractual, legislative and industry standard requirements. As with the

SOPs above, the Red Rules & Green Guidance principle is reflected within the BusinessProcess Management Framework, giving local teams and our partners the freedom toinnovate and localise services whilst ensuring that minimum service levels andrequirements are met. The Framework enables the oversight to assure the Board andDWP of our delivery against contractual, legislative and industry standard compliance.v) Quality through People: A4e‟s organisational structure is geared to ensuring thedelivery of a service that is consistently high in quality for every customer, across largegeographical areas. The separation of delivery and commissioning functions will ensurethat frontline staff are focused solely on current customers needs and there is creativetension between performance and delivery teams. Investment in expertise in the BusinessSolutions & Commissioning (BSC) function will drive quality through ongoing monitoring

and iteration of our WP service to improve our delivery. A number of staff-focusedprocesses directly support quality monitoring and quality assurance. These are: Performance management and professional development (led by HR): Including a

practitioner development programme, staff appraisal systems, management againstKPIs, core training. All staff will have access to Continuous Professional Development

Internal Communications and Dialogue: Including the communication of revisedprocesses and innovative best practice sharing mechanisms (e.g. online forums)

Monitoring by delivery managers: Part of managers‟ roles (in WP, Area Managersand Local Business Managers) is to monitor and check that key systems are beingfollowed on an ongoing basis. A sample is then checked by BSC staff.

vi) Building effective Partnerships: We are committed to seeking, developing andmaintaining trusted relationships with partners to ensure mutual success. A4e‟sapproaches to supply chain design, selection and performance management arebenchmarked against the Merlin Standard. Our Partnerships Director will have overallresponsibility for management and monitoring of partner delivery working in conjunctionwith regionally-based Partnership Managers who monitor the quality of subcontractordelivery on an ongoing basis and will help partners to develop and improve by sharinginformation openly and supporting organisations to build new capacity and skill.Evidence of our supply chain meeting recognised quality standards is detailed below:A4e Matrix Standard, Investors in People, Merlin assessedBarnsley MBC Matrix Standard, ISO 2000

JHP SQMS, Matrix Standard, ISO 9001:2008, Investors in PeopleSheffield Works Investors in PeopleNDDT Investors in People, Customer First

2) Performance Management Strategy - Monitoring and Improvement ActivitiesOur WP service and organisational design will drive the continuous improvement ofperformance. The rationale for this is twofold: firstly to support the achievement of WPperformance targets as they increase inline with economic recovery; and secondly forcommercial reasons, to drive the operation towards achieving DWP performanceincentive payments. Our Performance Management Strategy consists of the following:i) Ongoing support: We will drive delivery to the highest performance standards throughsupportive management of both direct and subcontracted delivery. All A4e partners will be

advised by their Partnership Manager on an ongoing basis. They will identify performanceissues as early as possible rapidly responding with remedial action. A4e Area Managerswill work with Local Business Managers, tracking performance and enacting earlyremedial action as required. The A4e Regional Delivery Director will hold formal monthly

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5.3 (continued)performance reviews with A4e Area Managers and partner managers.ii) Performance Monitoring & Insight: A4e‟s Performance Director will lead a team of analysts responsible for central monitoring of contractual performance. They will provideevery internal and external delivery unit with regular performance reports irrespective ofperformance. Performance data will be shared openly across the whole supply chain, to

encourage a proactive and competitive response to improvement. Demand data will alsobe provided to every deliverer to inform future performance.iii) Performance Management and Monitoring via technology: A4e‟s new enhancedweb-enabled MI platform will allow real-time monitoring and reporting of WP performanceacross the supply chain. All end-to-end WP deliverers will be able to access a full range ofreporting facilities and analysis tools on line so that performance trends can be monitoredconstantly. This tool will allow data to be analysed with optimum flexibility, by office,adviser or customer type. The impact of one-off specialist services on performance willalso be trackable and will drive further investment in the most effective services.iv) Continuous improvement and service iteration: A4e‟s BSC Director will beresponsible for devising and rolling-out measures to improve WP performance. They will

work with A4e and subcontractor delivery staff to put in place new approaches tocontinuously improve performance or measures to directly address underperformance. Akey part of this will be the constant analysis of „what works‟ and what services are mosteffective on moving people into sustained work. They will work directly with customers,listening to views on what works and designing new solutions as local delivery evolves.The team has change specialists to support the implementation of improvement plans.v) Acting on findings of performance monitoring: A4e‟s BSC Team will be responsiblefor working with operational managers (either A4e or partner) to act on issues identifiedthrough internal and external monitoring. This enables Delivery Teams to focus solely onserving our customers on the front line. This will include:Performance Transition Plans (PTPs): Devised and enacted when performancedeviates from agreed levels. Plans will be developed by the Local Business Manager inconjunction with the Change Team and signed off by A4e‟s Performance Director, theA4e Regional Delivery Director and if with an external deliverer, the senior managerresponsible. PTPs will consist of a full analysis of the reasons for underperformance,followed by an agreed set of milestones and short term targets e.g. additional resources,supplementary staff training or partner coaching. Where underperformance continues, thiswill result in advisory or disciplinary action for A4e staff or for subcontractors steps to exitthem from the supply chain in line with DWP‟s Code of Conduct. Evidence of Effectiveness: Seetec, FND subcontractor for SYD, were performing poorlyin Dec 2010. A4e provided training and shared best practice, and they are now the

second highest performing partner for A4e on FND across all five CPAs.Sharing of best practice & jointly creating solutions: A4e‟s BSC Team will host bestpractice sessions to develop new ideas to improve WP. These will focus on areasidentified to be weak across the whole of delivery. Partner staff will be invited to attendwith A4e delivery teams. In addition, A4e‟s Strategic Partner Group, chaired by A4e‟sPartnership Director will be used to gain insight into performance issues purely from apartner‟s perspective, whilst giving the supply chain greater ownership of solutions. Evidence of Effectiveness : A SY NDDP customer forum was carried out in Oct10.Customers felt they wanted more training support. A trainer now works across all officessupporting personal development, CV‟s, interview technique, motivation and confidence. vii) Resolution of Unresolved Issues: A4e has a formal Dispute Resolution Procedure

to address any issues that are unresolved. This applies to our supply chain partners andany other external organisations. This 3 stage escalation process includes appointment ofa project neutral and ultimately external mediation if an issue it still unresolved.

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[5.4] Delivery Locations

Provide details of the key delivery locations and explain how you and yoursupply chain will achieve full geographical coverage of provision for the deliveryof the Work Programme within this CPA; and

Detail what you have taken into account in terms of the needs of the customergroups in determining this approach.


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5.4South Yorkshire delivery strategy: meeting the needs of local customers A4e‟s proposal is based on accessible, welcoming service centres. These will beavailable for clients to use outside core business hours. A4e sites will be community hubsfor local services, Work Clubs and our civic society partners. They will have the capacityto allow co-location of other services under ERSS and other support.

A4e and its supply chain will offer all customers in South Yorkshire (SY) access to highquality, locally relevant services through:

full geographical coverage through 55 fixed premises and 43 outreach locations

innovative multi-channel access including online, phone and in-home support

high quality premises with consistent branding and facilities

co-location with complementary services to promote holistic, joined-up delivery in linewith A4e‟s „Total Person‟ model

delivery from infrastructure embedded in the local economy – business districts, highstreets, in close proximity to sources of job opportunities – directly in support of our„Job First principle.

A4e‟s strategy will evolve in response to changing needs. To ensure smoothimplementation A4e and its partners will use existing infrastructure, where possible.

Key delivery locations providing full geographical coverage across SY 1. Barnsley:A4e, Barnsley MBC

2. Doncaster:A4e, NDDT

3. Rotherham:

A4e, JHP, RotherhamCollege of Arts

4. Sheffield: A4e, Sheffield Works, JHP

As outlined in the map above, A4e and its 5 end-to-end sub-contractors will provide fullgeographical coverage across South Yorkshire (SY) through a combination of:1. 55 fixed premises in areas with the highest claimant concentrations and easily

accessible by public transport

2. 43 outreach locations to reach the most deprived communities and key customergroups, such as people with disabilities, youth, BAME and lone parents.

Our key delivery locations are outlined in the map below. Please refer to Annex 2 for fulldetails of each provider‟s delivery locations, addresses and volumes. 1. Fixed Premises: providing full geographical coverage of South YorkshireA4e and our sub-contractors will operate from 55 high quality, fixed premises in SY, openflexibly to meet the needs of local customers (e.g. outside of business hours).Providing full coverage in Barnsley A4e will deliver to 70% of Barnsley customers from fixed premises, located a 10 minutewalk to Barnsley Interchange (Bus & Rail) on Eldon Street. This will service the key wardsof Cudworth, Darfield, Darton, Dearne, Dodworth, Hoyland Nether, Penistone, Royston,

Wombwell and Worsborough.Our subcontractor, Barnsley MBC will deliver to 30% of customers in Barnsley. Theyhave 10 established Learning Centres in the most deprived areas of the borough,

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5.4 (continued)including Grimethorpe, Cudworth, Athersley and Worsbrough. These centres have beendelivering Worklessness Programmes for the most deprived communities offeringindividuals education, training and employment opportunities, including the long termunemployed and IB claimants. Childcare facilities are also available at most of theCentres, and all Centres easily accessible from local transport interchanges

Providing full coverage in SheffieldA4e will deliver to 70% of SY customers from 2 fixed premises in Sheffield, located in the

city centre for easy access by bus, train or tram. Both of these centres are 0.5 miles fromSheffield rail station and bus interchange, close to major bus routes on Queen Street,High Street and Pinstone Street.SWC, a third sector Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) consisting of SOAR, ZEST, BridgeEmployment, Broomhall Forum, Burngreave Opportunities, CfFE, Compass, DarnallForum, Manor and Castle Development Trust, Northern Refugee Centre, Scoop Aid,Voluntary Action Sheffield will deliver to 10% of Sheffield customers, with access to 19community premises in Sheffield, utilising established links with local organisations in keywards across Sheffield e.g. Broomhall Forum, Heeley City Farm, and SOAR premises

covering Southey and Firth ParkJHP will deliver to 20% of customers in Sheffield, from their fixed premises in the citycentre. This is located in central Sheffield, within 1 mile from train station and good bus &tram routes, with access to 4 large training rooms, and IT suite with 25 computersProviding full coverage in DoncasterA4e will deliver to 70% of customers in Doncaster from our fixed premises in the centre.These premises are located 0.3 miles from Doncaster rail station, and next to Princes Stbus stop, providing access to major bus routes.NDDT will deliver to 30% of SY customers, utilising 7 premises across Doncaster. Thisincludes targeted delivery in key wards such as Thorne, Mexborough, Intake andRossington. Each delivery office is no more than 10 mins walk from local bus and trainroutes.Providing full coverage in RotherhamA4e will deliver to 70% of Rotherham customers from fixed premises in Rotherham citycentre. These premises are located 0.4 miles from Rotherham Central rail station, 0.4miles from Rotherham Interchange, providing access to all major bus routesJHP will deliver to 20% of customers in Rotherham from established premises within theUnity Centre, a recognised and well-used community centre in the heart of Rotherham.This is located in central Rotherham, within 1 mile from train station and good bus routes.Rotherham College of Arts will deliver to 10% of customers in Rotherham, from 4 fixedpremises within the area. This includes the town centre campus, which provides access to

216 rooms, and 1 office has on-site accredited childcare facilities. All premises arelocated within 2 mins walk from local bus routes2. Outreach: reaching the most deprived communities and customersIn addition to the network of delivery sites detailed above, A4e and its supply chain willutilise our established network of community delivery locations on a flexible basis, inareas of high levels of worklessness and poor travel connections. All staff will be mobile ,equipped to offer innovative, high quality training solutions closer to our customers,particularly in hot spots of rising unemployment and poor travel. This includes venues in:Barnsley: e.g. Goldthorpe Library, Wath Upon Dearne Library, Wombwell Library,Mexborough Library, Hoyland Community Centre, Enterprise Business Centre – Goldthorpe, Dearne Valley Venture

Sheffield: e.g. Nomad, Sheffield Occupational Health Advisory Service (SOHAS), PainManagement Solutions, Highfield Library, Kickstart Community Programmes Ltd, SacredHeart SchoolDoncaster: e.g. Willow, Hexthorpe, Mallard, Kingfisher Primary Schools, Kirk Sandall,

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5.4 (continued) ArmthorpeRotherham: e.g. Dinnington, Thurcroft Welfare Community Hall, Kiveton Park Youth andCommunity Centre, Edward Dunn Memorial Hall.How our approach addresses customer needs in South Yorkshire A4e‟s delivery strategy is driven by what local customers value most. A4e and itssubcontractors have helped 100,000+ customers in SY since 1987, building an in-depth

understanding of local needs. A4e has also invested in analysis including: customer feedback from local delivery and quarterly customer Focus Groups

partnership with Experian to analyse customer need and labour market demand

independent market research and focus groups by CI Research and The Buzzz

stakeholder consultation including meetings with 4 local authorities, 2 Local EnterprisePartnerships, JCPs, and key community organisations (e.g. ZEST, SOAR, NDDT,Barnsley Development Agency).

A4e has used this to identify local customer needs to inform our delivery strategy:All customer groups

Located close to JCP, town centres and complementary services (e.g. child care)

Access by public transport, including customers in rural areas or mobility barriers Access in the most deprived communities (e.g. Manor Top, Burngreave, ) to address

poor service engagement (e.g. appointment attendance)

Free internet access to allow for job search activity

Access to support outside of standard business hoursCustomers with health needs (ESA, JSA (Ex-IB), and JSA with a health need)

Step-free access to avoid the unnecessary use of stairs

Quiet break out areas to allow for private management of health conditions

Sensory aids such as hearing loops and Braille for those with sensory impairment

Private interview rooms to comfortably discuss health needs

JSA 18-24 Relaxed office environments and drop-in facilities

Access to online support to allow for more flexibilityJSA early access

Access to private interview rooms so they can comfortably discuss their needs

Relaxed office environments that are less intimidating for those who may have hadnegative experiences of authority (e.g. ex-offenders, homeless, refugees)

Black and minority ethnicity customers

Appropriate language signage to ensure language barriers are overcome

Non denominational prayer rooms for those with religious commitmentsMeeting customer needs in South Yorkshire Our SY delivery locations strategy

responds to the needs of all customers through:1. Full geographical coverage A4e and its sub-contractors have selected offices and outreach locations to maximisecustomer engagement across SY. Our delivery is located in:

Areas with the highest concentrations of claimants, e.g. we have an office in everymajor city centre in SY.

Areas with high levels of deprivation e.g. use of local community locations in Manor,Firth Park and Mexborough to ensure rapid access for newly unemployed customers

Areas such as Dinnington, Maltby and Thorne have limited public transport or are >1hour journey to the city centre

Areas with significant numbers of hard to reach customers including those withmobility issues, youth and BAME communities. e.g. high proportion of BMEcommunities in Broomhall and Burngreave

2. Co-location with complementary services

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5.4 (continued)A4e is committed to creating service hubs across SY that allow customers to access arange of complementary services in one location. A4e will achieve this by:

Making additional space permanently available to complementary services, e.g.Disability Works and Turning Point will co-locate with A4e across the region

Making additional space available to service providers on a flexible basis, e.g.

Employment & Training Links will deliver pre-employment training from A4e trainingfacilities in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. We will work in truepartnership with Barnsley MBC to ensure both A4e and Barnsley MBC WP services areembedded across all available infrastructure

Using space in existing service hubs, e.g. the Sure Start Centre at Firth Park, co-locating with family support services and healthy lifestyle classes

Offers from LA prospectuses – all 4 Las have offered accommodation support from theirexisting centres and community based facilities

Co-location with local JCP offices on a flexible basis, e.g. staff in SY attend JCP officeson a weekly basis, including hosting an A4e referral desk and „Back to Work‟ sessions.

A4e’s approach to co-location: We are committed to developing a Total Person Centrein partnership with Sheffield City Council. Customers will be able to access core A4esupport alongside specialist support services all under one roof. We will invite our 3rd sector consortium partner, Sheffield Works (endorsed and supported by Sheff Council) toco-locate from these premises. A4e has plans for similar arrangements across SY andour goal is to evolve this strategy throughout the WP contract.3. High quality facilities in every delivery location in South Yorkshire A4e and sub-contractor facilities will provide all customers with a professional butwelcoming environment. Offices in SY will:

Be accessible by public transport

Be DDA-compliant and have wheelchair access, usually via step-free access

Have signage in locally appropriate languages, e.g. Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi,Urdu, Sindi and Polish. We already produce marketing material in Urdu and Sindi forour BME customers on NDDP in SY.

Offer private facilities for prayer and to manage health conditions

Provide PCs with internet access and training facilities

Have at least one private interview room to support open disclosure

Have a „break-out‟ area providing free tea and coffee and somewhere to relax Added value: all A4e offices in SY will have confidential rooms with telephones allowprivate access to our Community Legal Advice service, a hotline providing independentlegal advice on a range of issues including debt, housing and benefits.Offices will be tailored to the needs of the community, e.g. our Sheffield office offers

separate office space that can be used by Muslim women for private meetings.4. Innovative, multi-channel accessA4e and our sub-contractors offer all customers in SY the opportunity to engage withservices through a range of innovative access points. This includes:

Personalised guidance and support online through MyA4e. This website is a finalist inthe Chartered Institute of Marketing‟s „most innovative website‟ award.

National Support Centre available from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

Mobile service delivery, e.g. Renovo will provide distance-based training services forcustomers in SY, providing interactive services that can be accessed from customersown computer at home.

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[5.5] Volume Fluctuations and Customer Group Changes

Describe how you and your Supply Chain will maintain service delivery in the event offluctuations in numbers of customers and changes to the customer groups referredincluding potential alterations resulting from changes to the welfare regime referred to you(see Future Services Schedule). Your response should include the following:

How you will maintain minimum performance levels;

How you will manage expanding/contracting business as a result of Market Shift oreconomic factors without an adverse effect on service delivery.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to two side of A4.

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5.5 A4e has over 20 years experience of managing and delivering employment servicesin ever changing delivery environments. We have developed an in-depth understanding ofhow to manage significant volume fluctuations and customer group changes due tolegislative, economic and social factors whilst focusing on performance and servicestandards. Our approach is based on investment in forecasting whilst ensuring a highdegree of flexibility across our delivery infrastructure and supply chain so that we have the

ability to respond to change. Through our Total Person delivery strategy our services willbe both better integrated with local partners and supported by complementary fundingstreams creating better overall resilience to change in volume and demand patterns.Evidence: A4e improved its FND referral to start rate to 86% from September 2009 toJanuary 2010, despite a 76% increase in customers to 24,006.Insight - investment in forecasting and analysis to aid WP delivery planningA key part of our management strategy is our investment in the best possible insight intoall factors that affect our delivery and performance. This insight, combined with ourexisting understanding of welfare to work delivery puts A4e in a unique position torespond effectively to short and medium term change.Forecasting of demand, performance and WP delivery conditions will be the overall

responsibility of the A4e Performance Director supported by new Business Analysts, partof our Management Information Team. This team will be responsible for understandingservice effectiveness, monitoring external operating conditions, making ongoing forecasts.A4e and partner staff will then flex WP delivery infrastructure ready to respond.Local Insight : At a local level, Area Managers and Local Business Managers will have aresponsibility to report on local factors that influence volumes and customer composition,e.g mass redundancies. They will engage with JCP and local stakeholders to understandand respond to local factors. Community Managers will be embedded to understand localchanges at a community level. Through our Community Boards we will develop joint planswith stakeholders that utilise the resources of all organisations to mitigate the impact.External Forecasting: We have invested in external forecasting services to predictincreases or decreases in WP customer volumes to supplement DWP data. This includesservices from Experian, Oxford Economic Forecasting and industry specialists, CESI.Forecasting reports will be shared with subcontractors, DWP, JCP and local stakeholders.Experian Partnership: Experian will provide detailed forecasting data on localdemography, customer composition, skills/job/ local business trends. Experian willintegrate this data with intelligence generated by A4e and its partners to producemeaningful reports to inform demand planning. The data will also aid us to precisely targetskills development and recruitment services at sustainable jobs, employers and industriesand will be openly shared with partners and stakeholders to enable the best response.1) Maintaining minimum performance levels in the event of fluctuating volumes

Future demand patterns will be considered in monthly meetings held by the PerformanceDirector in every CPA and will be attended by A4e Regional Delivery Directors, AreaManagers and partner equivalents. They will include a discussion of any variations inprofiled volumes and the resulting impact on performance and revenue. Our partnershipswith suppliers and stakeholders will be structured to enable strong collaborations in theevent of change, using premises and people flexibly, and creating joint investment plansThis will enable A4e and supply chain partners to plan how to flex resources to maintainservice delivery and performance levels. They will use the following approaches:

Premises flexibility: Using temporary premises, increased use of community oroutreach locations, co-location with local authorities, such as Barnsley and Rotherhamcouncils and Jobcentre Plus where practical, and the flexing of opening hours. For

prolonged peaks or troughs, we may secure permanent smaller or larger premises inthe same area.

Staffing Levels: Frontline staff roles have optimal caseloads that can be decreased orincreased by 10% that will enable us to cater for short-term fluctuations. For medium

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5.5 (continued) term increases, A4e staff may be seconded to partners and vice versa.For long term peaks, additional staff will be sourced through an ongoing recruitmentprocess (eg. A4ecareers.com). If volumes drop, surplus staff will be redeployed to otheroffices or contracts or numbers lowered through natural wastage. A4e will not takeunconsidered responses to staffing if volumes dip e.g. immediately putting staff at risk ofredundancy. Our forecasting approach will enable us to take a longer term view.

Specialist Support Services: Additional specialist support supplied by call off partners(e.g. vocational training, barrier-breaking activities) will be sourced by the centralInterventions Manager in conjunction with local Business Managers.

Flexibility within the Supply Chain: A4e Partnership Managers working closely withWP subcontractors to ensure they are prepared for fluctuations and are able to enactthe strategies above. In the event that a subcontractor is unable to increase theircapacity in response to a rise in volumes we will either support them with capacitybuilding through the FSI or source an additional subcontractor from the approved A4esupplier list which consists of 56 pre-vetted partners in Y&H.

2) Maintaining min. performance levels during changes to the welfare regimeA4e understands that the WP customer group will change over the life of the contract.

The exact composition of customers we support will be influenced by a number of factorsincluding the introduction of Universal Credit which we expect will increase volumes andperformance,, other services procured through the ERSS Framework (e.g. MandatoryWork Activity and MoJ programmes) as well as the rate of economic recovery and thepropensity for individuals to re-enter the labour market through their own efforts. Theimpact of these factors on WP will be modelled and analysed by A4e‟s Business Analystsand responded to using the methods detailed above. Our DWP Account Director,[REDACTED] and Welfare Director, [REDACTED] will be responsible for maintainingawareness of changes in the welfare arena and feeding these through to WP Managers.Evidence: A4e is experienced at managing services and maintaining performance duringwelfare regime changes. As a provider of Pathways in 4 regions, A4e delivered throughthe switch from Incapacity Benefit to the new Employment & Support Allowance in Oct 08.We responded to the challenge of significantly lower volumes of mandatory customersthan forecast through a proactive campaign to engage volunteers and boost performance.Approach to changing composition of the customer group: A4e‟s WP proposals areadaptable to changes in the make-up and needs of the customer group. Specifically, allfrontline advisors will be trained in core support skills that will equip them to supportcustomers of any background. In optimum delivery, customers will be matched to one ofour 3 types of Advisor (Skills, Access & Outlook and Capacity & Resilience). If forecastingindicates the need for a particular type of advisor, e.g. a peak in ESA customers, likely tobe facing significant barriers, additional training will be provided. All main subcontractors

have been required to demonstrate similar flexibility in their staffing proposals.3) Market Shift Reviews or economic factors: We have modelled for possible changesin the composition of customers and increases or decreases in volumes. This may be asa result of Market Shift Reviews or economic factors, including volatility in volumes as aresult of a double dip recession. We have assessed our financial resilience and thepotential resources required to maintain service delivery and minimum performance levelsif these events occur. We will continue this forecasting during delivery to gain insight intopotential future delivery challenges. We will use WP performance tables and our ownperformance data to identify and prepare for potential increases or decreases in marketshare. This will be completed three months before each Market Shift Review to informplanning and advise subcontractors. As part of our contingency planning we have

assessed the impact of 10 and 20 % market shifts on our strategy, testing that ourstaffing, premises and supply chain are resilient enough to withstand these fluctuations.

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[5.6] Managing the Customer Experience

Please describe:

How you will evaluate and monitor the quality of the Work Programme provisionto ensure that it meets the needs of individual customers;

What procedures will be in place for handling complaints as well as feedbackfrom customers of their experiences on the programme; and

how you will act on any findings.


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5.6 A4e has drawn on 20 years experience supporting over one million customers todevelop a WP service that is totally responsive to the needs of individuals. Our ultimategoal is for every customer to have a high quality experience tailored to meet their specificrequirements. To achieve this over the lifetime of the contract, our WP service willconstantly be revised, improved and iterated to meet the changing needs of individualcustomers. This is a key principle of A4e‟s WP Performance Management Framework, as

detailed in our response to 5.3. A number of highly effective quality assurance systems,described below, are central to our approach.Evidence of commitment: A4e has signed the ERSA Customer Charter, ‘Our SharedPromise on Customer Care’ a critical part of which is “ Listen to customers and provide support based on each customer’s circumstances and needs” . 1. Quality evaluation & monitoring – A4e Service Excellence Programme A4e‟s Service Excellence Programme is an umbrella term for the evaluation andmonitoring approaches we will apply to WP, both directly and via partners. These include:360 Degree Feedback: We will seek regular, ongoing feedback from customers,employers, stakeholders and our delivery staff. Every WP customer will be asked toprovide formal feedback at key points in their journey including after their first

appointment, on job entry. They will be asked as part of their initial assessment if theywould like to feedback online or by a phone interview made by an A4e Customer ServicesAdvisor. Results will be analysed at Advisor, branch, regional and national level tocalculate a branch Customer Satisfaction Rating, publicised to stakeholders andmonitored as part of A4e‟s WP Performance Management Framework. Evidence: A4e has piloted this 360 feedback approach, including online surveying of customers, with 1,094 Pathways and Independent Living customers plus a number of employer customers. Through this we have refined survey content and developed a scalable evaluation methodology for Work Programme.Focus Groups & Co-Production Sessions: A4e‟s Business Solutions & CommissioningTeam will host ongoing focus groups and „co-production‟ sessions with small groups of customers to gain direct feedback on the quality of our WP service. This will includegroups of customers based on the 8 WP customer groups to ensure that our service isresponding effectively to the needs of each cohort. Sessions will be held away from WPpremises and local delivery staff will not be present to encourage open, honest feedback.Evidence: As part of our WP design work, we commissioned a number of research consultancies to host independent, impartial co-production sessions with WP customer groups and get suggestions on how current services could be improved. A group of IB customers said they wanted support to be available outside of business hours. In response we are offering WP customers access to telephone support from 8am-8pm. Customer Impact Analysis: The benefit and impact of every element support we invest

in on behalf of our customers will be monitored and evaluated. Our MI system will trackthe number of customers who enter & sustain work after participating in each element ofsupport. This data will be combined with feedback ratings to provide a Customer ImpactRating that will be used to identify where quality improvement action is required. This mayinclude capacity building for partners, or where improvements are not made, replacement.External Expertise: A4e is working in partnership with Substance, a research company to develop our Customer Impact Rating approach. Substance specialise in developing technology systems to evaluate and monitor the impact of socially focused services.Quality monitoring: We will operate an ongoing programme of case reviews, peerreviews and spot checks of key documents such as Action Plans by staff from theBusiness Solutions Team and nominated practice leads for customer groups. Individual

customer case reviews will occur when the customer has not progressed in the last monthor after three, six or nine months depending on the customer‟s specific needs.2. Driving service improvement- customer complaints, compliments & feedbackFeedback will be gathered from customers on an ongoing basis by local delivery staff, as

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5.6 (continued) well as independently as part of 360 feedback. This will be through thefollowing methods:Progress Reviews: Feedback from the customer will be requested and recorded at eachmonthly Review by their individual Adviser.Customer feedback forums : Every WP office in SY will hold quarterly feedback forumsfor customers. Particular topics may be selected for discussion. Local Business Managers

will be required to feedback findings and improvement activities to the BSC Team.Evidence: Customer feedback from a Sheffield forum identified the difficulty for someBME customers to attend WFIs with A4e due to prayer time. Within a week, A4eamended the weekly schedule for all customers affected.Listening Posts: There will be a „Listening Post‟ at each WP centre and online functionfor customer comments. We will respond to each comment and will also use this to solicitfeedback on „hot topics‟ and co-produce solutions with customers.Minimum Service Levels: We will ask every customer to comment on whether or notthey think we have delivered our MSLs and display the results online and in centre.Complaints Procedure: A4e and all subcontractors have complaints processes alreadyin place that will be used for WP. Customers will be made aware of these at the outset of

their programme. Customers receiving provision from A4e‟s partners will also be madeaware of how to complain directly to A4e as Prime Contractor.At first contact all customers will be advised of complaints, compliments and feedbackprocesses. They will be advised that all complaints should be directed to the LocalBusiness Manager and that there is an Independent Case Examiner (ICE) mediationprocess if they feel their complaint is not responded to appropriately. Feedback processeswill be provided in writing and displayed in offices. Complaints to A4e will be handled asfollows:1. The A4e Customer Services team will log the complaint, send a letter acknowledging

receipt of the complaint and notify the Local Business Manager (LBM) within 24 hours.2. The BM will contact the customer within 48 hours to attempt to resolve the complaint.

BMs will receive training to help resolve complaints and avoid escalation.3. Unresolved or complaints received directly by the Customer Service team will be fast-

tracked to the Area Manager to instigate a formal review.4. Regional Delivery Director will review the case if customer is unhappy with outcome.5. Either party can evoke the ICE mediation and appeals process.6. A4e will fully support formal ICE investigation if a resolution is not reached.A4e and its subcontractors aim to resolve 90 percent of complaints within 7days.3. Acting on findings – continuous improvement of our serviceLocal Business Managers will have responsibility for responding to local trends andspecific customer feedback. Daily flash meetings in every centre will be focused solely on

improving a single aspect of the customer experience. All local Listening Post commentswill be responded to in writing and displayed in centre. A4e‟s Business Solutions &Commissioning Team will have overall responsibility for ensuring that our WP service isrevised and adapted in response to findings. It includes a dedicated Change andImplementation Team to efficiently roll out service improvements across A4e and thesupply chain, leaving local managers to focus on service delivery. Findings from all qualitymonitoring, evaluation and feedback activity will be monitored by a Customer JourneyManager who will have the specific responsibility for the continuous improvement of ourservices. The team will analyse trends, identify emerging needs and highlightopportunities to enhance our service and more effectively meet the needs of individualcustomers. Where they identify specific issues such as process failures or staff skills

deficits they will work with the Change Team and/or functional specialist such as the HRTeam to devise and enact remedial action.

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PART 6: RESOURCES

[6.1] Staff Resources – Staffing Numbers, Job Titles and Roles

Please provide:

Details of the number of staff, shown as full time equivalents, you and your supplychain propose to employ to manage and deliver the Work Programme for this CPA.You should include a description of why you consider this staffing level is appropriatefor this CPA at contract start date, together with details as to how you will manage thestaffing levels as customer volumes rise and fall over the lifetime of the contract. Thisshould include a description in detail of the number of staff to be drawn from currentresources, those to be recruited by both your organisation and any supply chainorganisations involved.

Please provide details of how you have identified the skills required by staff in yourorganisation, and that of any sub-contractors, to deliver the service you have proposed

at Section 4. You should describe how you propose to acquire staff with these skills orprovide the appropriate training to ensure that these skills are available to commencedelivery of the service on the date you have proposed. A resource plan should beprovided (attach as Annex 5) showing how staffing, by full time equivalent and jobtitle/role, will be allocated across this CPA and a description of the job roles of staffshown in Annex 5.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to five sides of A4.

Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the resource plan which youmust insert as Annex 5.

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[REDACTED]

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[6.2] Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006(TUPE)

Please refer to the Provision Specification and Supporting Information before completingthe following TUPE questions.

[6.2a] TUPE – Managing the Transfer

Please detail your plans and those of any Sub-contractors for managing TUPE transferswhich will/may result from this Work Programme contract. Your response should include:

measures you propose to take under Regulation 13 of the TUPE regulations,(including any proposals to seek agreement to change terms and conditions ofemployment or any redundancies for organisational, technical or economic reasonsover the life of the Contract), to enable you to meet their statutory requirements;

how you propose to communicate with transferring staff prior and immediately after thetransfer date;

an outline of your plan of activity to transfer in staff; how you propose to work with existing employers to ensure a smooth transfer of staff;

and

details of how you plan to ensure that any Sub-contractors will fulfil the requirementsof TUPE Regulations and any relevant Codes and Statements of Practice.


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6.2a A4e has a strong track record in managing large, complex, multi-organisation TUPEtransfers. To date we have overseen the transfer of over 1,200 staff into and 640 out ofA4e or our partners. We have worked with a diverse range of organisations including localauthorities and FE Colleges as well as fellow welfare to work providers from all sectors.We comply with the letter & spirit of DWP‟s Code of Conduct to ensure fair distribution ofTUPE staff between A4e and subcontractors. On a number of occasions we have

successfully managed staff transfers directly to A4e and throughout our supply chain.Evidence: In Oct 09 A4e was awarded 6 JCPS contracts, successfully TUPE transferring78 people from 8 incumbents, 38 into A4e and 40 into our subcontractor partners. A CPA-wide collaborative ensured all new staff were in place for „go live‟ from Day 1.A4e will appoint an overall TUPE Lead, a retained TUPE specialist who will work with A4e‟s HR Director [REDACTED] and WP HR Lead, [REDACTED] along with HR Leadsfrom all of our main subcontractor partners in SY. In its role as Prime Contractor, A4e hastaken proactive measures to prepare its supply chain for potential TUPE transfers (see 5)below), although our partners are ultimately required to make their own judgement as towhether TUPE applies. To that end, A4e will co-ordinate TUPE transfers as far as isfeasible, requesting input from partners‟ HR teams where required.

1) Meeting legislative requirements: A4e (and subcontractors) will strictly adhere toReg 13 by meeting our duty to inform and consult the appropriate employeerepresentatives (e.g. trade unions), and enabling incumbents to meet their Reg 10responsibilities. A4e will also take over any collective agreements in place, in line with Reg.5 and 6. In addition to statutory requirements, A4e applies best practice to all aspects ofTUPE, including 3 „golden rules‟: maintain a customer focus; do the „right‟ thing for theemployee; focus on the individual regardless of the transfer size. A4e will also adhere tothe 6 Principles of Good Employment Practice (6PoGEP), recently published by theCabinet Office, to ensure that its TUPE process is part of an overall best practice andpositive approach to being an employer. A4e anticipates, along with partners, seekingvariance to staff working hours to provide an out of hours service. A4e will consult on anyrequired redundancies on a case-by-case basis and subject to final TUPE Lists, internalresources at that point in time and Employee Liability Information (ELI).2) Communication Plan for transferring staff:First contact (early April „11): A4e‟s TUPE Lead will contact incumbent providers onnotification of preferred bidder status; make them aware of a single point of contact (A4eor sub); encourage incumbents to appoint a single contact to ensure consistency andmake contact with appropriate trade union representatives as appropriate.Open, honest dialogue with employees and representatives (early April „11): A4e/subs‟ TUPE Lead will arrange an initial meeting with employee representatives (e.g.trade unions and elected representatives) at the earliest opportunity to agree an action

plan, principles and processes for transfer. This will involve open and honest dialogueregarding measures, advising of any planned social, economic, technical changes andproviding relevant supporting documentation e.g. policies and procedures. Local HR staff(A4e or subcontractor) will be available to discuss any concerns on a 1:1 basis.Welcome Event & Info Packs (mid- April „11): A4e/subs‟ TUPE team will liaise withemployee representatives to arrange an information event at a neutral location. We willsend a welcome letter and info pack to potential transferors prior to the event; present onorganisational structure, ethos, WP details and manage a Q&A session. This session willbe designed to motivate, alleviate concerns and highlight future opportunities based onthe 6PoGEP. This will also include staff that may not ultimately transfer.Meeting Employees (lat e April „11): A4e/subs‟ HR staff will write to each employee to

arrange an appointment; agree individual consultation sheets with employee reps;undertake individual 1:1s and map current roles against vacancies. We will be open andlook after every employees‟ interests, including those who may not ultimately transfer.Evidence of retention of TUPE transfer staff: 12 months after re-contracting OLASS,

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6.2a (continued) A4e retained 100% of 50 transferred staff and 75% of Pathways to Workstaff after 3 years.3) Staff Transfer Plans: A4e will create a detailed plan for the entire transfer process, inline with the required implementation timescales, which will include:List of TUPE measures & proposed changes to T&Cs (April „11): providing aStatement of Measures to incumbent providers so they can consult with their staff. Such

measures will include a change of pay day, holiday year, HR policy to align with A4e‟sorganisational structure and confirm changes in place of work. We will discuss theopportunity to transfer to A4e/sub T&Cs and do not anticipate full harmonisation of T&Cs,although we may discuss this on a case by case basis where appropriate.Due Diligence (Apr- May „11): Our TUPE Leads will commence this process; assembleEmployee Liability Information and identify transferring contractual T&Cs. We will focus onresults, completing the due diligence process efficiently to minimise disruption.Pensions (Apr- May „11): Our TUPE Lead will assess existing pension requirements withincumbent providers and ensure appropriate pension arrangements are in place for staffpost transfer. See question 6.2c for further information.Information Transfer (May „11): HR staff will write to each employee confirming

acceptance and transfer date, along with those who will not transfer, informing them oftheir status and a contact for further advice. Payroll Managers will support HR staff toensure the efficient transfer of information.Evidence: All new A4e employees from JCPSC & FND1 transfers had HR profiles set upand were paid accurately and on time despite implementation timescales of 6/7 weeks.Staff Development (June „11): HR staff will organise an induction and training timetableto deliver core training for all staff. Training will equip staff with the essentials they need toexcel in A4e and WP in line with principle 2 of the 6PoGEP.Evidence of effectiveness: During implementation of FND and JSPSC in 09, A4e on-boarded 786 new staff including 138 TUPE‟d staff. All staff completed all employmentadmin and received the core training and induction modules for Day 1 go-live4) Working with existing employers: We will take a collaborative and pragmaticapproach to working with existing employers when enacting the above plans in order toensure a smooth and seamless transition of staff, which will best serve the interests ofaffected staff. We will provide all effected employers with email and telephone contactdetails for A4e‟s HR TUPE Lead, in addition to the nominated A4e or sub single point of contact so that they can raise concerns or ask questions about our approach at any point.5) Ensuring subcontractors fulfil TUPE requirements: A4e is proactive in preparingsupply chain partners, especially small and 3rd sector for potential TUPE transfers. We willrun TUPE coaching sessions in February/March with potential partners covering likelyrequirements of TUPE regulations and the relevant codes and statements of practice. In

addition, we have taken the following measures: In line with Merlin, A4e‟s WP subcontractor application documentation clearly stated

TUPE risks, responsibilities and likelihood, ensuring awareness from the outset

Communicated in all partner application documentation and during negotiations thatTUPE contractual requirements will be flowed down to end to end partners with allexpected to appoint a TUPE lead and comply with A4e policy (as outlined here).

Applicants‟ TUPE understanding and approaches were assessed during selection

At preferred provider status, A4e‟s TUPE Team will be tasked with identifying potentialTUPE staff, including any that might be transferred to A4e‟s subcontractors.

Timescales will be managed for all providers by A4e in its role as Prime Contractor toensure that all TUPE transfers are completed to train and induct all staff for Day 1.

Evidence: All subcontractors in 5 FND1 and 6 JCPS contracts fulfilled their TUPEobligations on time and none of A4e‟s 114 subcontractors raised any TUPE concerns.

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[6.2b] TUPE – Managing the Transfer

Please supply details of what lessons you and any of your Sub-contractors have learnedfrom TUPE transfers and/or major organisational change which will influence how youwould handle similar issues in the context of this Work Programme contract includingdetails of how it influences how you would manage any transfer/change which may arise

as a result of this Work Programme contract.

Please describe what aspects of TUPE you consider will be relevant to this procurement.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your responseMUST be limited to one side of A4.

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6.2b A4e and its WP supply chain have a wealth of direct experience of transferring staff(in and out) under TUPE on which we have based our WP TUPE strategy, e.g.:A4e: Overseen incoming TUPE transfer of over 1,000 staff, including staff in complexlarge-scale welfare services including NDPC, FND, JCPSC, Pathways, NDDP, and otherfrontline public services e.g. Business Links and Community Legal Advice Centres. Subcontractor: e.g. JHP TUPE‟d in 61 members of staff across 3 JCPSC contracts from

4 different providers, including the transfer of 17 transferees to JHP subcontractors.Evidence of experience – FND and end of Prime Contractor New Deal: In 2009, A4ewas awarded five FND contracts at the same time as four of our New Deal contractsended. A4e‟s HR Team managed the outgoing transfer of 101 staff and simultaneou slytransferred 60 staff into A4e‟s FND contracts. We over saw the transfer of approximately500 staff between ourselves, our subcontractors and other FND Prime Contractors.Relevance: This experience is relevant to WP due to the involvement of staff from adiverse range of organisations (small & large, public, private & third sector) with differinglevels of TUPE understanding and HR capacity/capability. It included transferring staff tomultiple providers where TUPE liability was not obvious – a challenge we expect for WP.Planning: Planning for TUPE began at FND bid stage when A4e‟s HR team and TUPE

Consultant created scenarios and action plans for each potential FND CPA and everyaffected A4e New Deal District. This ensured that we had sufficient HR resource tooversee the TUPE process in a thorough and proactive way. On announcement ofpreferred bidders, these were refined and contact made with all providers involved (otherFND preferred bidders and other incumbent ND providers). We worked through theERSA network agreeing common approaches with other ERSA members involved.Implementation: On FND contract award, A4e deployed teams of local HR BusinessPartners in every CPA to manage individual transfer processes including 1:1consultations and training sessions to ensure that ongoing communication was clear,accurate and timely. Immediately after contract award, a period of due diligence wasundertaken to refine the ELI and make robust assumptions on the impact of TUPE. A4ethen hosted multilateral discussions with all affected providers and current employers.How we identified & managed issues: A4e‟s approach was lead by Senior HRBusiness Partners, [REDACTED] & [REDACTED] with expert support from anexperienced TUPE Consultant. Any issues relating to TUPE were reported and logged byA4e‟s FND Project Managers so that responses could be co-ordinated in a consideredmanner. E.g we worked with the other Black Country Prime where there were many publicsector transferees to ensure fair observance of all associated TUPE regulations.Results: Through these approaches and engendering of positive relationships we wereable to make arrangements that supported the contracts to go live from Day 1, with 60staff successfully transferred into A4e and 101 staff out of A4e.

Evaluation: Our approach to TUPE in FND and the end of NDPC was evaluated as partof a review of our whole implementation approach and experiences in December 2009.The challenges faced and our responses were evaluated with findings being applied tosubsequent TUPE cases. Key challenges and how these will influence our TUPEapproach for WP are detailed below. We will apply lessons learned to WP, for example:

FND/New Deal Challenge WP Approach„Choice Districts‟ with 2 FND PrimeContractors therefore unclear as towhich organisation had TUPE liability.

Scenario planning pre-preferred bidderstage, allocation of a local HR lead to workwith local providers as early as possible

Some providers dealing with TUPE forthe first time benefited from guidance

TUPE workshops to be held and supportfor partners from A4e TUPE Consultant

Production of resource assumptions andplan with limited visibility of the likelytransferee numbers and implications

A formal resource plan considering currentstaff, TUPE transfers, subcontractors andother Primes against future requirements.

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PART 7: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT]

[7.1] Local Stakeholders

Please describe in detail how, in relation to this CPA you and your supply chain willengage with key local stakeholders including smaller and voluntary sector organisations

to ensure effective on-going relationships with them throughout the life of the contract.


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7.1Our vision for stakeholder engagement in the Work Programme (WP) A4e‟s „Total Person‟ WP vision engages both supply chain & stakeholders in a customer -centred strategy with a joint ambition to work together to deliver better, cost-efficientoutcomes. By aligning priorities, co-locating delivery, co-case-managing acute needcustomers and pooling budgets, we will drive the creation of job opportunities for

customers in South Yorkshire (SY. – reducing overall costs and joining up spending.Driving stakeholder engagement through the WP supply chainA4e has invested in a SY Partnership Team tasked with engaging A4e and its supplychain‟s strategic networks to ensure collective, ongoing stakeholder influence on our WPdelivery model design. Evidence: We have engaged with over 250 local stakeholders,including the 4 SY LAs, and the Directors of Barnsley Development Agency andGroundwork Sheffield. Two „Let‟s Get Together‟ events were held in Doncaster andSheffield, attended by 120 local stakeholders, 70% from third sector. Our local teamsregularly attend local events, e.g. Skilled in Sheffield, the bi-monthly ESF ProgressTogether meetings. A4e jointly helped facilitate the start up of the DoncasterWorklessness Forum with Doncaster MBC and NDDT, and local staff members regularly

attend regional Work and Skills Boards, e.g. David Bentley (Barnsley Manager) is anactive member of the Barnsley Operational ESB. Managing continuous stakeholder engagement over the lifetime of WPSY Business Managers will continuously monitor current and identify future customerneeds/priorities and labour market changes to ensure we continue to provide appropriatesupport. This needs-analysis will feed into two Community Development Plans which A4ehas already initiated specific to each LA. A4e‟s new outreach -based CommunityManager (CM) post will be responsible for executing this plan, maintaining relationshipswith stakeholders, ensuring a highly-targeted approach to our community-relationsactivity. A4e will create a monthly WY Community Delivery Board (CDB) with daily e-updates of new service alerts and developments. A4e‟s CDBs and CMs, will ensure keymember stakeholders (including Jobcentre Plus (JCP), PCTs, and two LEPs) can helpshape local delivery, align priorities and harness job creation opportunities arising fromnew and existing regeneration.WP Strategy Development: A4e‟s experience of invest to save service and contractmodels sits behind the WP design. Stakeholder engagement is a core part of the savingsmodel, the financial structure and success in driving sustained outcomes. Key elements tomake the programme a success operationally and financially include alliances to: ensurethe flow of customers into the programme; integrate skills and economic developmentactivity with businesses alongside welfare to work; engage with those agenciesresponsible for budgets supporting clients with complex barriers (notably health, care,

crime/justice and financial issues); and broader community engagement through ourservices. The local approach in {insert} is set out below and involves a plural set ofstakeholders, large and small, public and private, voluntary and communityEngaging with key local stakeholders: A4e’s WP strategy has been built on localcustomer needs, investing in high-quality intelligence and insight to: a) inform thedevelopment of local commissioning and delivery plans which benefit all stakeholders,and b) identify the key stakeholders (detailed below) who share our WP ambition toachieve Total Person streamlined services and an interest in supporting localcommunities through employment:1. Jobcentre Plus (JCP): Sheffield has the highest volumes of JSA claimants across all 4LA areas, with highest percentages in Burngreave, Sharrow and Firth Park, followed by

Central Town Field and Balby wards in Doncaster. JCP District Managers will be invited tomonthly management meetings with A4e and our supply chain partners, as an integralpart of our extended delivery team, creating seamless customer service, and facilitatingimproved demand-planning, early access to customers, and joined-up employer

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7.1 (continued) engagement. We currently deliver outreach work from 14 OpportunityDoncaster centres in partnership with JCP to provide support to customers.2. Local Government: In areas of high deprivation, such as Maltby in Rotherham andBurngreave in Sheffield, the availability of jobs is a key barrier. With the introduction ofLEPs and Regional Growth Funds, we will offer a new joined up proposition across WPand regeneration, aligning our delivery with key services currently delivered by the

Council. Each LA in SY (Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham) has a unique set ofambitions & priorities which A4e‟s WP delivery will align itself to supporting, by: working with LAs, such as Barnsley and Rotherham City Council, and the 2 LEPs to

unlock complementary funding of skills and business growth, e.g. local RegenerationGrowth Funding proposals, and local employment regeneration strategies, includingERDF funded initiatives such as Rotherham‟s Community Business Coaches project.Sheffield City Council have also pledged to engage A4e as an active participant inESBs, LSPs and inward investment planning.

identifying gaps in council services that A4e could support e.g. Rotherham Council haveexpressed a desire for employment support to be delivered within their Housing officesacross the area. A4e staff will be seconded within key Council delivery offices to

ensure join-up of services across interrelated support networks. co-locating WP services with other key public services utilising shared community

spaces, such as the Pakistani Muslim Community Centre in Fir Vale. A4e hasoutreach presence at the Thorne local library, M25 Housing group and HMP Doncaster

A4e‟s Enterprise Team will support Local Government to create social enterprises todeliver gaps in public services arising from the cuts programme (e.g. waste collection &street cleaning) by establishing local franchises backed by social finance partners Alliaand A4e‟s enterprise fund. As part of the government‟s Big Society agenda, A4e hasbeen selected as an expert mentor to potential public sector organisations seeking tobecome mutuals and take ownership of the services they provide. A key part of our service will be promoting job growth with local business (newopportunities) as well as enterprise and self employment.3. Health: Changes to the Work Capability Assessment and lack of scale-assessment ofIB claimants reduces the evidence indicating the clinical needs of the IB/ESA customergroup in SY. In response, A4e has reviewed DWP data on IB/ESA claimant conditions,NHS spend per PCT by condition, and identified services where demand is likely toexceed NHS supply. We know that there are a high number of IB/ESA claimants inDearne Thurnscoe, Barnsley (17.2%), and Herringthorpe, Rotherham (16.1%) and all 4LA areas have health inequalities: men living in disadvantaged areas live 7-8 years lessthan in least disadvantaged areas. Current health sector reform and decentralisationresults in significant uncertainty about local accountability and budgets, so in the interim,

A4e has sought to align future local health provision with our WP offer by: meeting PCTsand GPs to discuss multi-agency approaches to addressing health needs; and agreed co-location of services alongside other key public services in areas of high deprivationincluding drug and alcohol treatment centres. A4e has also agreed to exploreopportunities to build health interventions into customer action plans, to reduce longer-term demand for chronic health services, including SLA-collaboration with GPs oncondition management and sharing plans.Evidence: A4e conducted a Worklessness Pilot in Rotherham and Doncaster in Oct 2010with FND customers, to introduce best practice from our Community Outreach FamilySupport Service (COFSS) in Birmingham. The model aims to provide a more holisticassessment through addressing health and social care issues. This includes working with

GPs and the local PCT in Rotherham for referral to Health trainers.Supply Chain: SY Mind (part of DWUK, our WP subcontractor) are part of a consortiumdelivering a job retention service across Y&H, which is commissioned by the Y&HStrategic Health Authority and DWP. The Job Retention Pilot for people with mental

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7.1(continued) health problems achieved outstanding results, with average retention rateof 82%4. Housing Organisations: The South Yorkshire Housing Association reports that 65%of tenants currently claim Housing Benefit and will be affected by the cuts announced inNovember 2010. The percentage of families living in overcrowded homes has risen fasterin Y&H than in rest of UK. A4e and our supply chain will link in with Housing Action Y&H

initiatives, such as South Yorkshire‟s Sustainable Housing Markets Strategy, BarnsleyCouncil Strategic Housing Service, and work with local organisations such as DoncasterRe-Furnish, to ensure customer‟s housing needs are a priority in their action plan.5. Criminal Justice Agencies: A4e has met with South Yorkshire Probation Trust toestablish referral routes into WP. Releasing prisons in SY are Doncaster, Lindholme andHatfield. A4e teams will conduct an outreach session once per month in eachestablishment to promote the WP to proactively engage offenders onto WP as earlyentrants ahead of future DWP/MoJ co-commissioned support to impact on offendingbehaviour. Our subcontractor SOVA work in conjunction with local prisons and probationservices and have strategic links with Sheffield Hallam University, producing peerresearch studies e.g. Women Into Work. We will utilise these links to streamline services

between criminal justice and WP services. Smaller and voluntary sector organisations: A4e sees it as a critical success factor forWP that 3rd sector organisations embedded in local communities can make a substantialcontribution tackling worklessness in areas such as Southey Green and Firth Park, whereintergenerational unemployment has had a sizeable impact on community aspirations. AsPrime, it is our responsibility to create an environment where the 3rd sector can thrive. We will work with influential community organisations, and A4e suppliers, in SY such asRDaSH Social Enterprise and Kickstart Community Programmes to engage withcommunities at grass-roots level, encouraging whole family engagement from the groundup. We will invite current and new smaller organisations to interface with A4e and supplychain in WY to advertise new services. With support from our 3rd sector subcontractorslike North Doncaster Development Trust and Sheffield Works we will promotemembership of our CDB to voluntary organisations, such as Heeley Development Trust,Key Fund, and the SY Community Foundation, to ensure that all key local stakeholdersare sharing aligned priorities.Evidence: A4e recently delivered a presentation at the Gener8 (Social Enterprise Y&H)event. Through engagement with Gener8, we have pledged A4e‟s support and planned joint working under the WP to support and work with existing social enterprises in theregion, and focus on achieving the shared objectives of supporting local communities andindividuals with the aim to integrate enterprises into service provision and provideemployment opportunities supporting local communities

Capacity Building: A4e is committed Merlin Standard excellence. Our sister charity, theFoundation for Social Improvement (FSI), runs a programme of 40 sessions a year forsmall not-for-profit organisations including:1. A round table event to illicit responses from FSI members regarding their concerns

regarding entering the supply chain of Prime Contractors.

2. A workshop informed by the outcome of the round table called „Be Bid Ready! – The

Prime Contractor Relationship‟ detailing the Merlin Standard and what subcontractors

can expect as well as what is expected of them.

In partnership with the FSI, we will support local voluntary organisations to a) identifycomplementary funding streams and negotiating partnering arrangements, b) source local

funding for social enterprises, and c) create a fiscal sponsorship programme for charitiesusing local A4e offices as hubs.

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[7.2] Employers

Please describe in detail how you and your supply chain will actively engage withemployers to develop proposals that accurately reflect local needs and describe how youwill work collaboratively with employers on an ongoing basis to secure job outcomes forcustomers attending the Work Programme in this CPA.


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7.2 A4e has invested significantly in its professionalised employer offer based aroundlocal labour market needs. Our offer includes a National Employer Solutions Team and astrong supply chain network that will enable us to achieve a step change in performance.Our flexible and scalable model means we can respond swiftly to the needs of nationaland local employers and the SY labour market.1. Engaging local employers: Our SY team has 24 years experience of the local labour

market and active relationships with 5,000 local employers. We have firm plans in place togenerate 7,500 jobs in SY over the next 12 months.Evidence of ability to match customers to jobs: A recent survey of local employerssaid that: 96% of our customers met/exceeded their performance expectations; 94% theirskills requirements; and 97% their motivation expectations.Our service builds on this strong platform by extending both our pre- and post-employment support, providing more flexible employment solutions and improving ourability to deliver sustainable jobs. To create sustainable opportunities for the future wehave re-designed the current services to further enable trained Advisors who are at theheart of seeking out local opportunities and matching them to the aspirations of ourcustomers using our new e-recruitment and CRM tools with job matching capacity.

Experian: helping us to develop proposals that reflect local needs Our partnersExperian will provide us with detailed local skills forecasting for SY which we will cascadethrough our supply chain. This will enable us to: 1) target engagement at sectors that areexpanding or have skills needs such as care, retail and hospitality 2) design & deliver Pre-Employment Training to accurately reflect these local needs. We will invest in providing a Virtual Recruitment Hub, working with other recruitmentservice providers in the community (including JCP) to provide an integrated service tolocal employers that maximises the access our customers have to every job in the area.We will invest in job fairs and breakfast club events that promote opportunities for ourcustomers and reduces the costs of recruitment to employers.Evidence of successful approach: A4e‟s SY offices regularly conduct employer job fairsfor A4e customers. One of our more recent events was held in Sheffield. 12 companiesincluding HBOS and Opportunities Sheffield attended the event. As a result, we had 54arranged job interviews, and 15 job starts.2. Developing proposals that meet local needs: There are currently 37,142 advertisedJSA vacancies in SY compared with 6,121 unemployed people and 29,085 VATregistered businesses. The strength of our employer engagement strategy lies in ensuringwe continue to maximise existing employment opportunities, uncover hidden vacancies,drive job creation, and supporting inward investment and regeneration. Economic resilience: Experian research identifies Barnsley & Rotherham as areas

least resilient to economic shocks in SY, & 1,000 public sector job losses estimated at

Sheff City Council in next 5 years. Our employer relationships and access to jobvacancies will be crucial to weather this period. As an active participant at local Workand Skills Boards in SY, A4e directly engages with local providers, employers, andrecruitment agencies with opportunities for sharing vacancies & pre-employment (PET)training needs, e.g. A4e has entered into initial agreements with Blue Arrow to supportand deliver a Service Academy in SY providing PET for customer service skills. Blue Arrow will provide guaranteed interviews for all A4e‟s WP customers who successfullycomplete initial assessment and training.

Regeneration: our partnership with regeneration experts Mouchel will enable us todevelop the capacity to create new jobs and to work with LEPs and local developers toensure that all local schemes deliver the maximum impact to local people. The

partnership will invest in employing experts locally to bid for new sources of funding andattract inward investment from employers in partnership with local authorities. Thepartnership will invest in employing experts locally to bid for new sources of funding andattract inward investment from employers in partnership with local authorities. We also

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7.2 (continued) have identified over 25 regeneration projects in SY, e.g. Sky Call Centrein Sheffield (500 jobs), Nationwide Solar in Barnsley (300 jobs)

Job creation: 80% of SY employers we work with are SMEs. We focus on creating jobsthrough investment into apprenticeships, and will use these relationships to broker jobsby identifying and supporting job creation opportunities e.g. through Y&H ApprenticeshipTraining Agency. A4e, with Groundwork, are committed to the development of a capital

project to provide starter accommodation for the incubation of Social Enterprises inSheffield. Our Total Workforce Management services will create better efficienciesenabling employers to invest in more jobs.

Inward investment: To maximise business expansion opportunities, employersregularly conduct recruitment days from our offices e.g. regular weekly interview slotsarranged for RBS Doncaster, for customers looking to enter or with previous customerservice and call centre work. 30 clients have secured employment so far.

Yorbuild Framework Agreement: A4e is the lead employability partner for the Yorbuildconstruction framework which is active throughout SY, with Rotherham MBC havingBoard Member Status. A4e can provide a holistic range of support for all 40 contractorson the framework ensuring they achieve their skills, training and employment outcomes

3. Engaging employers through the SY supply chain: each subcontractor hasdemonstrated their ability to engage and meet the needs of employers, e.g.: Barnsley MBC has worked with over 100 employers over the last 12 months, primarily

SMEs that operate out of the Council‟s 7 Business Centres. They have providedemployment skills related services to employers such as Asda, Tesco, BerneslaiHomes, Barnsley Hospital Trust, Fosters Bakery, and Koyo.

NDDT has worked closely with the Invest In Doncaster team through the relocation ofAmazon to Doncaster and the creation of up to 2500 jobs. Any surplus NDDT generateis directed back into the community - recently shown through the Microgrants projectwhere NDDT distributed over £17,000 to assist local community and voluntary groups.

JHP currently work with 1500 employers, and have worked with JCP to offer routewaysfor LEP employers using Sector Skills Councils Routeways

Vacancy Management Solution: A4e has a freephone number for employers, allowingthem to place a vacancy with us with just one phone call. These vacancies are cascadedto the relevant local teams as well as our local supply chain partners. All vacancies will beredirected in accordance with pre-agreed service level timelines.Evidence: In SY A4e share vacancies with JCP, including opportunities with Smartwatchand Harwood Engineering, and other A4e contracts and will share voluntary vacancies aspart of JCP‟s Get Britain Working „Working Together‟ Initiative Using technology innovations to share vacancies A4e is investing in a range oftechnology solutions to support our employer offer including a new CRM tool –

MyA4eSouthYorkshireJobs. Our new RecruitR platform includes job aggregationtechnology, allowing us to share and cascade job vacancies throughout our supply chainto ensure that all customers in SY can access the vacancies in this cpa.4. A4e’s National Employer Solutions Team is a team of experts with proven trackrecords with leading recruitment and blue chip organisations including Manpower,Adecco, Vertex, HBOS and BT. The team sourcing multi-site and multi-disciplineopportunities within different sectors through a National Account Management structure.In the past year we have placed 1,464 customers in vacancies sourced by this team with79% sustainability over 26 weeks. A4e has national partnerships including Vue Cinemas,British Gas, Compass and AVC managing the digital switchover. We are the sole Welfareto Work and Skills provider for six national employers, e.g. JD Wetherspoon. We will seek

to replicate in SY our agreement (currently being finalised) with the Manchester ArndaleCentre to provide Retail Skills training to every store and manage their Vacancy Brokeringsystem which handles 5,000+ vacancies p.a. A4e has signed a major agreement withWHSmith to become the „master broker‟ for all their opportunities estimated at 6,500 over

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7.2 (continued) the course of the coming year which we will cascade through the SYsupply chain. A4e‟s „social value certification‟ process captures social return oninvestment and presents this to the employer in support of CSR activity.Evidence of large-scale recruitment: In addition to providing large scale nationalrecruitment to organisations such as Royal Mail, Sainsburys and WHSmith, A4e provideslarge scale local recruitment solutions e.g. in 2010 E.ON, Dearne Valley (144 jobs),

Polestar, Sheffield (120 jobs), Ventura Contact Centre, Rotherham & Barnsley (63 jobs).We have an exclusive recruitment agreement with Stagecoach bus operators in Sheffield,and Sterecycle, a recycling organisation in SY, are also providing A4e with access to alltheir vacancies, with plans to take on an extra 30 people over the next 12 monthsAdecco: A4e has secured an exclusive arrangement with Adecco Group, the largestglobal provider of recruitment services. This will give our customers priority access to thevacancies with their 14 sector specific agencies. They will offer any of our customersaccess to more than 1,000 free testing and training programmes including Prince2 andAutocad, via their internal online training portal, Interskill.Evidence of effectiveness: Poundland A4e‟s relationship with Poundland has led to150+ job entries (a growth of over 35% outcomes from Sept-Nov 2010 alone). Poundland

informs A4e in advance of vacancies arising, estimated 10 Y&H store openings in 2011.5. Working collaboratively with employers: Total Workforce ManagementA4e and our supply chain will offer both local and national employers a menu of services – Total Workforce Management – that will enable us to work collaboratively to ensuresustainable jobs for our customers. Employers choose from the menu of solutions,ensuring they receive a tailored service that meets their needs, including:

Individual conversation to agree tailoredpackage of support

Health condition managementservices including 24/7 expert helpline

Pre-screening/assess Salary guidance and payroll services

Interviews and/or interview space Workforce development

Pre-employment training

HR services and masterclasses IAG services including Money Guidance Assessment centres

These services have been developed to meet the needs of national employers and SMEsto address the specific barriers that they have to employing our customers.Meeting needs of SMEs through facebook: A4e has formed an innovative partnershipwith facebook to meet the needs of SMEs. Through A4e, facebook will offer local SMEemployers £100 advertising credits to help meet their recruitment needs and costs andmeet facebook‟s business objective of reaching hidden vacancies in the SME market.Evidence of effectiveness: Ventura Contact Centre A4e have developed two trainingpackages for Ventura, for sales roles and customer service. In Jan 2011 we delivered 3sales courses to provide 40 sales & customer service advisors. Ventura intend to ramp

this up to 120 positions per month across both roles, giving exclusivity to A4e A4e‟s relationship with the SFA means that, where appropriate, we can draw downadditional funding in conjunction with the employer to develop their employees‟ skills.Flexicurity: Continuous Employee Scheme After initial success through FND, A4e hasdeveloped our Flexicurity Scheme by directly employing groups of customers that willbenefit from undertaking a series of potentially medium-term jobs. Through our strategicpartnership with the Adecco Group who will support this scheme, we will provide accessto multiple vacancies. Flexicurity Customers will have access to our staff benefits packageas well as our WP incentives scheme. This scheme will provide a stepping stone topermanent work, informed by recent increased demand for temporary/fixed-term contractwork in SY, up by 7.1% on last year.

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PART 8: CONTRACT PERFORMANCE

[8.1] Performance – Job Outcomes

Using worksheet “C. Outcome Volumes” provided in the Pricing Proposal document,please detail your expected performance in this CPA and provide comment on how this

compares to the national benchmark levels detailed at paragraph A4.18 of the WorkProgramme Specification. Your response must address individual customer groupsseparately and differentiate between job starts/outcomes and sustained job outcomes.

Please note your response to this question shall not be scored but will be used toinform the evaluation of your response to question 8.1a


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8.1 A4e’s Performance Offer for Yorkshire & Humberside (South Yorks)A4e is proposing a performance offer that will see a step change in performance ofemployment services in the Yorkshire & Humberside (South Yorks).

DISCLAIMER: For reference the tables below outline DWP JO & SJO Minimum performance levels. The DWP Minimum is derived from the National Benchmark levels

issued by DWP in Version 4.6 of the Pricing Proposal in Table C.8. We have used these latest National Benchmark figures to compare and comment on A4e’s expected JO &SJO performance. Please refer to Worksheet C for full details on A4e’s expected performance in this CPA and 8.1a for the rationale behind A4e’s performance offer.

A4e‟s Minimum Performance Offer for CPA 17 is 12,603 Job Outcomes, and 144,303 JobSustainment blocks, representing a 17% and 57% increase over DWP NationalBenchmark

Job Outcomes Job Sustainment

DWP Min A4e Min + % + DWP Min A4e Min + % +

10,763 12,603 1,840 17% 91,677 144,303 52,626 57%A4e Performance Offer by Customer Group

CustomerGroup

Year1

Year2

Year3

Year4

Years5 to 7

Total

A4eOverall

%Increase

JSA 25+

A4e Offer 309 1,280 1,157 1,010 2,005 5,761

14.7%DWP Min 91 928 1,099 970 1,936 5,024

Difference 218 352 58 40 69 737

A4e‟s performance is based on an average Job Start rate against referral of 49%, Job

Start to Job Outcome conversion rate of 70% for this Customer Group

JSA 18-24

A4e Offer 124 643 614 580 1,105 3,066

12.0%DWP Min 40 472 592 551 1,083 2,738

Difference 84 171 22 29 22 328

A4e‟s performance is based on an average Job Start rate against referral of 64%, JobStart to Job Outcome conversion rate of 69% for this Customer Group

JSA EarlyAccess

A4e Offer 30 111 106 101 200 548

10.6%DWP Min 17 89 105 99 187 496

Difference 13 22 1 2 13 52


JSA Ex-IB

A4e Offer 12 84 92 76 27 291

61.8%DWP Min 6 40 59 54 21 180

Difference 6 44 33 22 6 111


ESA Flow

A4e Offer 47 113 116 117 244 637

21.3%DWP Min 22 88 103 99 213 525

Difference 25 25 13 18 31 112


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8.1 (continued)

ESA Ex-IB

A4e Offer 17 131 153 139 40 480

94.9%DWP Min 7 52 77 73 37 246

Difference 10 79 76 66 3 234


Start to Job Outcome conversion rate of 70% for this Customer Group

ESA Vol

A4e Offer 125 394 349 263 279 1,410

21.1%DWP Min 51 267 325 249 272 1,165

Difference 74 127 24 14 7 245


IB/IS

A4e Offer 41 163 138 57 8 408

5.0%DWP Min 31 156 138 57 7 389

Difference 10 7 1 0 1 19


Start to Job Outcome conversion rate of 74% for this Customer Group A4e Sustainment Overview

DWPIllustratedLevel (C.9)

JSA25+

JSA18-24

JSAEarlyAcc

JSAEx IB

ESAFlow

ESAEx IB

ESAVol

IB/IS

Job Outcomes 5024 2738 496 180 525 246 1165 389

4 Wk Blocks 35061 14914 3482 2197 10377 4752 17685 32094 Wk Blocks /

JO 7 5 7 12 20 19 15 8Max 4 Wkblocks 13 13 20 20 20 26 20 20% of MaxSust'd 54% 42% 35% 61% 99% 74% 76% 41%

A4e ExpectedLevel (C.13)

JSA25+

JSA18-24

JSAEarlyAcc

JSAEx IB

ESAFlow

ESAEx IB

ESAVol

IB/IS

Job Outcomes 5762 3067 548 291 637 480 1410 408

4 Wk Blocks 58454 29368 7897 4224 9529 9912 20704 42174 Wk Blocks / JO 10 10 14 15 15 21 15 10Max 4 Wkblocks 13 13 20 20 20 26 20 20% of MaxSust'd 78% 74% 72% 73% 75% 79% 73% 52%

In absolute terms A4e‟s Sustainment proposals significantly outperform DWP‟s expected4 week block expectations. The exception to this in percentage and absolute terms is theESA Flow Customer Group, where we have profiled 9,529 blocks of 4 week sustainmentoutcomes compared to 10,377 in DWP‟s model. The DWP model expects a 99%performance in relation to the ESA Flow group compared to A4e‟s projected 75%.

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[8.1a] Performance - Rationale

Please provide your rationale for your expected Job Outcome Performance levels, byindividual customer groups as detailed in 8.1.

Explain the activities and support that will be introduced to help secure the achievement

of these performance levels together with any other best practice evidence to supportyour proposed performance.


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8.1aJob Outcome (JO) Rationale for SY: A4e‟s minimum JO performance offer shows a17% increase in JOs over the DWP benchmark. Core to our offer is strong performance ofWP from Day 1 and achievement of a step change in performance within Years 1 & 2.This offer is underpinned by our significant investment in the design of our WP service inthe last 6 months, our considerable over-investment in staff at contract start, and built

upon our experience of delivering international welfare services over the last 21 years.The critical elements of our proposal for SY that form the basis our JO performancerationale are detailed below. These apply to all eight customer groups:1. Jobs First approach & performance from 1st June 2011: Our „Jobs First‟ approachmeans that we will start to deliver high volumes of jobs from Day 1 of the WP contract.We will deliver an additional 440 JO in Y1 and 828 JO in Yr2 above DWP's JO NationalBenchmark. A4e‟s investment in infrastructure in the past 2 years (equating to £80m of capital investment) means that we can rapidly shift our service model to WP. We havemade the choice to maintain our investment and retain current staff through transition sowe are ready to start moving customers into jobs from 1st June 2011. This will includeretaining 66 staff across 5 centres in SY so they are trained and in-post ready to deliver

WP from Day 1. We have factored in our existing relationships with customers who willtransition to WP, as well as local employers and stakeholders, and how this will enable usto move a greater proportion of people into work from the outset.2. Excellent Local Supply Chain: Through a rigorous selection process we have formedpartnerships with 55 organisations across SY. Our focus has been on identifying highperforming local partners, specialists that can meet the need of local growth sectors, andexperts that can meet the needs of local customer groups.Evidence: 1 JHP: One of the largest providers of integrated employability and skills delivering consistently high performance – working with 3,000 customers per year. Work FocusedTraining (18-24) 41% job outcomes achieved against a target of 35%. Existing FNDcontracts (including Sheffield) achieving 93% sustainability2 NDDT: Experts in working with significantly disadvantaged customers in deprived communities - Support 2,500+ customers per year from 8 community sites acrossDoncaster. Jobmates contract achieved in excess of all contractual job outcomes & 6month sustainability targets, including a 49% Job Entry Rate3. Sheffield Works: Locally integrated 3rd sector consortium with 26 community delivery locations: 3rd Sector SPV for WP supported by Sheffield City Council - premisesinclude One Stop Shops, Library Learning Centres, Children‟s Centres & Healthy LivingCentres. Achieved all contractual targets on Future Jobs Fund & Community Outreach.3. Enhanced Management & Staff Development: A4e has invested in Business

Solutions & Commissioning Team (BSC), including enhanced Supply Chain Managementcapacity. The BSC Team will drive performance improvement across our supply chainover the life of the contract. They will provide insight into WP services, identifying what ismost effective locally and targeting areas to improve JO rates. We are investing indeveloping the capability of small and third sector partners through our sister charity, theFoundation for Social Improvement, to ensure performance is consistent across thesupply chain. We have designed new staff professional career routeways and aPractitioner Programme that will be available to our partners in order to drive theprofessionalisation of our frontline staff.Best Practice Evidence: A4e‟s 2010 Merlin report highlighted the role of our PartnershipManagers as best practice and stated that „robust policies and procedures underpin

supply chain management behaviours’ ‟. 4. Effective Profiling & Personalised Support: A4e has designed a new assessmentsuitable for all WP cohorts aimed at earlier effective profiling and placing customersearlier into the right jobs to boost JO levels. Our service design draws on our experience

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8.1a (continued)of running Invest to Save contracts internationally and in the UK addressing the range ofissues to drive JOs across all 8 customer groups.Best Practice Evidence: The piloting of this assessment in A4e‟s FND delivery resultedin a 60-fold increase in disclosure of health needs. This resulted in a 15% increase in jobplacements for our hardest to help customers.

5. Effective Employer Services: Designed to capture all local job opportunities andgenerate opportunities aligned to the ambitions of customers. JO performance will beboosted through professional employer account management, investment in jobaggregation and matching technology, national employer partnership agreements.Evidence: Through our Employer Engagement Pilot we trialled measures includingtesting new employer-related KPIs for frontline staff, new vacancy matching techniquesand employer aftercare. The pilot showed increases in vacancies secured, interviewattendance, a reduction in interview to job ratio to 2:1 and an increase in job entries of53% in some pilot areas.At a macro level, business will get a better deal from WP with investment in making jobssustainable. We will engage with businesses to co-invest in get involve in mapping future

skills and workforce requirements. Based on OBR analysis and using Oxford Economicstools we can identify the sectors that will drive the by jobs growth and create the rightskills infrastructure for that growth. Over the course of WP A4e expects total employmentin SY to grow by 80,000 jobs. Growth will be greatest in Real estate, rent & businessservices (72,000), Distribution (25,000), Other personal services (12,500), Hotels &restaurants (9,000) & Transport & communications (8,000). Self employment in SY willbe strongest in Distribution (4,100), Construction (2,700) and Transport &Communications (1,200). Working with employers, driving job creation, we will achieve anincreased level of job outcomes by supporting WP customers to focus on key sectors thatoffer sustainable employment growth.Our Ability to Create Jobs: A4e has formed a national partnership with regenerationcompany Mouchel with the primary purpose of linking unemployed people with the jobscreated by local regeneration projects, infrastructure development and economic growth.7. Black Box & Welfare Reform: Our JO performance offer reflects the greater freedomand longer time we have to work with customers to instil a work ethic and break benefitsdependency. We will take advantage of changes to achieve more JO: 2 year service will give us more time to work with customers farthest from work. Early eligibility for the hardest to help will give us the opportunity to provide support to

before barriers become more entrenched. Eligibility at 9 months for young people will enable us rapidly move motivated young

people into work before they become disenfranchised.

Black Box provision will give us the freedom to invest in services for customers(including the hardest to help) that are finely tuned to individual needs,. This willultimately deliver higher outcomes and greater benefit savings for Government.

Evidence: Analysis of NOMIS data suggests that current provision moves approximately40-50% of the 18 –24 cohort off JSA between 9 and 12 months. A4e expect that WPsupport will assist an even higher proportion into work.8. Business, enterprise and economic development: A core component of A4e‟sperformance offer, we have developed partnerships at a strategic level with LAs in SYaround regeneration to target job creation at areas of high worklessness. . We will investin supporting our customers to create new enterprises supported by social finance and A4e‟s own enterprise support funding. We estimate that our enterprise support service will

increase JO performance by a minimum of 5%.Evidence: A4e are committed to working with Groundwork Sheffield to develop a capitalproject that provides starter accommodation for the incubation of Social Enterprises, todrive business creation in Sheffield.

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8.1a (continued)9. Joined Up Budgets – Total Person: Joining together budgets is crucial to deliveringbetter outcomes for less and eradicating waste. We will work with other local serviceproviders to tackle an individual‟s barriers to employment alongside other socialoutcomes, e.g. re-offending, increasing jobs and sustainability.Best Practice Evidence: Through ESF Progress Together, A4e works with the SFA,

DWP & other service providers to bring together multiple funding streams that provide aseamless customer journey for SY ESF customers. Monthly meetings are held with BESTto ensure their Key Worker activity is aligned with A4e‟s Employment Solutions and Self Employment activity. In the last 12 months A4e have secured 632 job outcomes.10. Service Investments to drive JO performance:New innovative health-focused support: We estimate that 50% of our currentcustomers have health barriers. Our investment in assessing needs has led to muchbetter identification of personal health barriers. To assist customers with unmanagedhealth conditions into work we have devised a package of health-focused supportincluding national specialist partners Advanced Personnel Management (APM), DisabilityWorks, Lifeskills and Turning Point. International Health & Work specialist, APM‟s

specialist assessment will ensure that we are able to support customers with varyinghealth issues pre and post employment.Evidence: In Australia APM delivers 80,000 Job Capacity Assessments pa, have 4/5 starratings in all areas and 6 month sustainment rates 5% above the average.Support for Life – effective in-work support: A4e has delivered welfare services withsustainability measures since 2001. Our experience includes delivery in France where weachieve job sustainability levels of 75% at 26 weeks, Israel where we have delivered a50% reduction in welfare benefit expenditure (against a government target of 35%) and inAustralia we are currently delivering an average of 38% 3 month JOs across ALLcustomer groups.Our support services that will drive JOs include: Risk profile assessment to understand barriers affecting ability to sustain work Extended opening incl. evenings to support customers around working hours A4e‟s Incentive Scheme to provide incentives for customers to stay in touch. In-work employer offer - to ensure the customer stays in work and adds value.Maximising JOs: Our in-work support will maximise the impact of the new WP JOmeasure. Ongoing support, assisting the customer to move from job to job where requiredwill enable us to help customers accumulate shorter periods of employment to lead toJOs. We estimate that this will drive the JO performance up by 5-10%.Performance Rationale by each individual Customer Group 1: JSA 18-24 Comparable customer group - FND 18-24DWP JO Benchmark 39.7% - A4e JO Offer 44.5%Performance Drivers: A4e‟s Job entry for this customer group has exceeded 50% onour FND delivery. We estimate that changes to the JO measure will significantly uplift JOperformance for this group and along with the change to 9 month eligibility from 12monthswill lead to JO levels of over 50%.

2. JSA 25+ Comparable customer group - FND 25+DWP Job Benchmark 30.2% - A4e JO Offer 34.6%Performance Drivers: FND introduced a step change in job entries for this customergroup from the „old‟ New Deal (average 25% on PCND to 45% on FND). The 2 year programme and the opportunity to work with people for longer to address barriers will be

key to this group, along with the new WP JO measure. We estimate it will uplift ourcurrent 6 mth sustainability levels for this group by 25-30%.Evidence: A4e achieved 83% job outcomes in programmes for LT unemployed in Polandthough better profiling and health-related support that we are adopting in WP.

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8.1a (continued)3. JSA Early Access Comparable customer group - Progress 2 work (p2w)DWP JO Benchmark 18.5% - A4e JO Offer 20.4%Performance Drivers: A4e‟s Progress to Work contracts over the last 12 months havedelivered 32% jobs from leavers. Surveys show over 73% sustain at 3 months giving 23%JO. Performance will be driven by freedom to invest in the most marginalised customers,

inline with the Invest to Save principle including investment in support from localspecialists such as the Big Life Company – providing employability support for drug &alcohol misusers, including relapse and detox support. With the 2 year programme andincreased support in our WP delivery model we will deliver 20.4% JO offer.

4. JSA ex-IB Comparable customers: Job Ready Pathways (mandatory)DWP JO Benchmark 13.1% - A4e JO Offer 21.2%Performance Drivers: A4e‟s Pathways contracts are currently exceeding 38% Jobentries with sustainment rates of over 70% at 3 months for mandatory customers. Thiswould equate to over 26% JO under WP, hence we are confident of exceeding our 21.2%offer. This will be underpinned by investment in health support from a range of specialists

including Healthy Cross Community Project, providing health & skills assessments.Evidence: Lifeskills achieve 91% job outcome sustainability over 26 weeks on their DWPIn-Work Support Programme that supports IB/ESA customers and lone parents.

5. ESA Volunteers Comparable customers: NDDP & PtW (voluntary)DWP JO Benchmark 37.9% - A4e JO Offer 45.9%Performance Drivers: A4e‟s NDDP service has averaged over 55% Job Entries in thelast 12 months. Our research shows over 73% sustain at 12 months which suggests that,with the 2 year programme and increased support in our WP delivery model, 45.9% JOlevel for this group is achievable.

6. ESA FLOW Comparable customer group: PtW (mandatory)DWP JO Benchmark 17.7% - A4e JO Offer 21.4%Performance Drivers: YTD on our Pathways contracts for the mandatory customers wehave achieved 38% job entry, and sustainment rates of over 70% at 3 months. This wouldequate to over 26% JO under WP. Investment in health-focused support from APM andDisability Works will be critical for this group and will drive JO performance for thesecustomers.

7. ESA Ex-IB Comparable Customer Group: PtW Mandatory, hard to helpDWP JO Benchmark 7.8% - A4e JO Offer 15.2%

Performance Drivers: A4e invested in external primary research with stock IB customersto gain insight into the precise needs and characteristics of this group. This evidence wasused to design elements of our service such as a new A4e role of Occupational HealthCoach. Pathways LTU JER average is currently 25% with 70% sustaining at 3 months.This is equivalent to a 17% JO for these customers

8. ESF IB & IS Volunteers Comparable customer group: ESF VolunteersDWP JO Benchmark 39.9% - A4e JO Offer 41.9%Performance Drivers: We will invest in the engagement of voluntary customers throughCommunity Managers in target communities such as Burngreave and Athersley. A4e hasachieved 62% starts to jobs and 90% sustained jobs for our ESF employability contract in

Poland. Customers consisted of long-term unemployed, homeless residents and peoplewith disabilities who were supported to leave welfare through a combination of thoroughinitial assessment, health support and ongoing support in the initial months of work – keyfeatures of A4e‟s WP.

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PART 9: IMPLEMENTATION

NOTE: MINIMUM SCORE APPLIES TO ALL QUESTIONS WITHIN THIS SECTION. BIDSSCORING 2 OR LESS ON ANY QUESTION WITHIN THIS SECTION WILL BE REMOVEDFROM THE COMPETITION. PLEASE NOTE SCORES ATTAINED IN THIS SECTION MAYALSO BE USED IN A TIE-BREAK SITUATION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

[9.1] Implementation Plan

Please provide:

an Implementation Plan for the Work Programme in this CPA clearly stating thedate on which you are proposing to commence delivery of the service. Theplan, which must be in the form of a Gantt chart (insert as Annex 6), mustinclude the key activities required to put provision into place by the servicecommencement date. It must include key milestones, timescales for activitiesincluding start and end dates and who is responsible for each activity including

the expected start date for delivery. It will also show the critical path andinterdependencies.

A narrative to expand on the implementation plan which must identify andaddress all the key risks, including the impact of winning multiple WorkProgramme contracts and how these shall be mitigated.


Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the Gantt chart which you

must insert as Annex 6.

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9.1 Ability to implement multiple Work Programme contracts: A4e has a proven trackrecord of implementing large scale contracts with concurrent timescales across extensive,varied geographies. In 2009, we implemented 3 new services, with a total orderbookvalue of £913m – 12 FND & JCPSC contracts in the UK and internationally Job ServiceAustralia. This included the mobilisation of a supply chain consisting of 117 deliverypartners. This experience will underpin a smooth and rapid transition to WP from current

contracts. Our existing infrastructure in SY means ready resources are in place toimplement the WP at the earliest opportunity, on 1st June 2011.Overview of A4e’s Implementation Plan: A4e commenced planning the transition to thenew WP service and implementation activity in July 2010 following the announcement ofthe new service as a replacement for FND, A4e‟s largest current contracts. Our fullImplementation Plan, in the form of a Gantt Chart (Annex 6), details all planning and aswell as preparation work that has already taken place. It illustrates key milestones and thenames of individuals, throughout our supply chain, responsible for reaching these targetdates in time.A4e has significant infrastructure in place to support our WP Implementation Plan. This£80m investment in people, property, technology, established processes and partners will

be available at the point A4e is appointed preferred bidder. This infrastructure meansthere will be minimal physical implementation. As current programmes cease, A4e willfocus on training staff for WP, thus enabling customers to receive support on 1st June ‟11 1) Service Start Date – Commencing Delivery of the Work Programme: A4e and itssupply chain partners are experienced providers of welfare services with extensiveestablished infrastructure across the SY region. This will enable us to commence deliverynationally and from key locations in SY from 1st June 2011. Delivery in all locations willcommence by 31st July 2011. Phased implementation of new approaches: Servicedelivery will be supported by enhanced versions of our existing systems during the initialmonths of delivery, specially adapted to support the WP. Permanent new operatingsystems will gradually be rolled out as our new IT infrastructure (an investment of £6.1m)is put in place. Planned changes will be managed so that they have no impact on day-to-day delivery to customers.2) Key Stages: A4e‟s WP Implementation Plan is segmented into logical stages, toensure that the correct experience and expertise is utilised at the correct time. These areas follows, with full details in Annex 6: NB Timeframes are contingent on DWP delivering in accordance with its published milestones.

Key Stages TimeframeStage 1: Service Design & Tendering: Solution Design,project/implementation planning including plans for all areas

July ‟10 – June ‟11

Stage 2: Initiation: Pre-emptive implementation activities,

including supply chain capacity building (e.g. security planning)

Dec ‟10 –

March „11 Stage 3: Preparation: Refine implementation plans, post tenderdiscussions and negotiations

Jan ‟11 onwards

Stage 4: Implementation: Full implementation commences andservice testing

Feb ‟11onwards

Stage 5: Operational: Service commencement and refinement Jun to Dec‟11 3) Implementation Management & Resources: A4e Executive Director, [REDACTED],will have overall responsibility for WP implementation. [REDACTED] has extensiveexperience of delivering welfare services in addition to transformational change workingwith CRB/Home Office and Local Government. [REDACTED] will be dedicated to thisproject and will report progress and issues directly to A4e‟s CEO and Group Board. A4e‟s

WP Implementation Plan will be overseen by a professional, experienced team of projectmanagement staff and A4e‟s Project Management Office (PMO). The PMO will beaccountable for ensuring all deliverables are met within agreed timescales.Project Management: A WP Project Director, Jasmail Sanghera, has been in post since

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9.1 (continued) July 2010 leading an established team of 8 Project Managers (PMs, allPrince 2 qualified) that support 12 functional Work Stream (WS) Leads:

Framework & Tender, [REDACTED] Business Solutions, [REDACTED] Legal & Commercials, [REDACTED] Supply Chain, [REDACTED]

Employer Engagement, [REDACTED] Financing, [REDACTED] & [REDACTED]

Business Transformation , [REDACTED] Communications, [REDACTED] IT, [REDACTED]

HR, TUPE & Training, [REDACTED]

Risk, Security, Compliance,[REDACTED] Estates, [REDACTED]

The programme is being run using PRINCE2 methodology. All PMs and WS Leads haveexperience of implementing A4e contracts and wider experience outside A4e.WP Project Initiation Document (PID): In July ‟10, A4e‟s PMO conducted an initialscoping exercise for the WP, produced the Implementation Plan and PID, including a risklog and detailed contingency plans with key mitigations. These are updated on anongoing basis, and progress is monitored and reported to A4e‟s Management Board.Weekly meetings and reports ensure risks & issues are logged and mitigated against.Risks & Mitigating actions: A4e has mapped potential risks and planned mitigating

actions as part of its implementation preparation and business readiness programme:Risk Mitigating Actions

Delays e.g in Announcement ofpreferred bidders by DWP

Implementation plan is fully adjustable, useexisting systems as contingency

Supply Chain: Partner withdraws /failure to implement to timescales

Readiness Plan in place for all E2E partners;reserves; implementation sessions eg. TUPE

HR: Unable to recruit/train staffwith skills/experience,TUPE delays

Ongoing recruitment, phased training &transition to new roles, staff secondment

Premises: Unable to find suitablepremises or premises not ready for

contract commencement

Utilising existing premises; new premisesalready sourced; co-location with supply chain

and outreach strategiesManagement Capacity: impact onexisting contract perf; WP fails tomeet perf levels in initial months

Implementation management structureincludes national, function and CPA-specificresource; rec of add. management resource

Security: Plans not in placeacross supply chain

A4e plan drafted pre-bid, standards assessedduring partner selection, partner workshops.

Implementing multiple WP contracts: Our Implementation Plan is based on A4eretaining our position as a UK-wide welfare provider, securing 8 WP contracts and 5major subcontracts to other prime bidders. We understand the risks involved withimplementing multiple contracts and have mitigated against these risks: Our Implementation Plan and PID are scalable and adaptable to the business we may

secure. We will adapt these immediately on announcement of preferred bidders, e.g.re-assessing distribution of implementation resources across CPAs.

We are well resourced to support WP implementation on a central and local level andwill adapt plans to differing geographical areas. Current Regional Managers will leadimplementation at an operational level in SY

Existing infrastructure in SY - A4e has 5 existing centres and 124 delivery staff in postand our major supply chain partners have 39 premises and 58 staff.

Investment in pre-emptive activity, e.g. planning with partners and developing thecapacity and capability of 3rd sector suppliers, including Security Planning.

Experience of concurrent implementation in multiple locations (see below).FND1, 6 contracts; £829m; 94 supply chain partners: FND implementation required an

approach that was able to setup a complex service across large geographical areas tochallenging timescales. In 7 weeks we set up 25 sites and recruited 664 staff.

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9.2 Contingency Arrangements

Please describe:

how your proposals for delivery of services within this CPA will be put in placewithout adversely affecting your organisation‟s or your Sub-contractors‟ ability to

deliver existing and recently won contracts as well as other contracts you arebidding for.

in detail your contingency plan for maintaining the entire scope of your proposalwithin your bid should members of your supply chain withdraw prior tocommencement of delivery of this contract.


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9.21) Implementing the Work Programme without impacting on other services A4e‟s Work Programme Implementation Plans include specific contingency measures toensure effective roll-out of the service in multiple CPAs without impacting on the deliveryand performance of other contracts. We understand the danger of overstretch and thepotential consequences of failure, to our customers and business strategy, and have

planned accordingly. Our service and implementation plans, including contingenciescover the whole supply chain, including delivery by A4e and our subcontractor partners.Existing Business: We currently deliver 44 DWP contracts across all 11 Regions. 32 ofthese contracts will be replaced by the Work Programme or will have ended by thecontract start date. This capacity, along with our upfront investment in service design andtransition planning, means A4e has unrivalled capacity to implement the WP in multipleCPAs with minimal or no impact to other services‟ performance.New Business: A4e has detailed growth plans to support our growth ambitions to be a£1bn turnover company by 2020. This includes bid pipelines for new services, many ofwhich are linked to tackling poverty and will be complementary to delivery of the WorkProgramme. We are planning for potential concurrent implementation of several contracts

in 2011 including: Ministry of Justice Unpaid Work, as part of a joint-venture with MITIE Disability Employment Programme, (DENVRS) Australia Nat. Money Guidance (financial literacy), Consumer Financial Education Body.Full plans for the implementation of these services, along with the Work Programme havebeen put in place by A4e‟s Corporate Services Division, which includes the PMO functiondescribed in 9.1. This function is resourced to implement this business fully in a timelyway in line with contractual customers‟ requirements. In addition, the business has anetwork of associate programme and project managers that we can call on to increasecapacity at short notice. Financial Capacity: A4e has been proactive in financial planning to ensure we have theresources and capacity to implement WP alongside existing and other potential newcontracts. A4e expects to call on one lead bank to fund its working capital requirements.However, we have worked with six clearing banks and several equity providers to ensurewe are in the best possible position and have the required funds in place at the time ofcontract signing and for the peak working capital requirement. Our Pricing Submissionincludes letters from banks who have expressed strong interest in supporting A4e. Fullplans and contingencies have been formed by a Finance Steering Group, a sub-set of theGroup Board lead by [REDACTED], A4e‟s Group Financial Director. Subcontractor Implementation Capacity: Our supply chain selection process hasinvolved full assessment of every potential partner‟s ability to implement the Work

Programme alongside existing contracts and any new business. This has includedsubmission of written implementation plans and face-to-face discussions about how anorganisation will make arrangements for go live in June 2011 at the latest. A4e willcontinue implementation discussions with partners post-tender submission and throughbid evaluation to ensure momentum is maintained and relationships are built to last.Evidence: An example of our major partners‟ ability to implement the Work Programmealongside current contracts and details of planned business is below:JHP currently deliver Flexible New Deal for A4e in Sheffield, therefore premises, staff andmanagement infrastructure will be available for Work Programme. Implementation in SYwill be led by [REDACTED], Regional Manager.Barnsley MBC contracts coming to an end include Jobzone and Progress Together.

[REDACTED], Barnsley MBC Directorate, will lead implementation for the WorkProgramme.2) Contingency Plans for a Supply Chain Partner withdrawing pre-startA4e has conducted in depth discussions and has been transparent with every supply

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9.2 (continued) chain partner as part of its tender preparation to minimise the risk oforganisations withdrawing during post tender discussions. This also reinforces our drivefor rapid implementation and to commence delivery in June 2011. Since July 2010 andthe announcement of the ERSS Framework we have been developing our deliverystrategy and associated supply chain for SY. Our objectives have been: to create a diverse supply chain without reliance on any single provider or sector

to put in place a supply chain where every member is fully prepared to deliver WPand other ERSS services in line with DWP‟s delivery requirements.

Pre-bid: As part of our pre-planning phase we have taken a series of measures tominimise the risk of partners withdrawing before the contract start date, including: Proactive engagement of high quality partners through networking by Regional

Partnership Teams, including existing supply chain partners in whom A4e hasinvested significantly through the setting up of FND and JCPSC.

Offering flexible contracting terms, financial support and capacity building support topartners prior to inclusion in our bids to minimise the risk of withdrawing due to poorcash flow or financial reasons

Clear articulation of key DWP requirements in key areas such as security, TUPE and

safeguarding, which historically A4e has found to be triggers for withdrawal. This hasincluded Security Plan workshops and sessions by the Foundation for SocialImprovement, a charity that capacity builds third sector organisations.

Thorough assessment of the capacity and capability of all major partners as part of oursupply chain selection process, including risk assessment, financial capacityassessments specifically to analyse a partner‟s ability to cope with the demands of Work Programme delivery.

Every partner will be asked to produce a Business Readiness Plan. Full support andadvice will be provided by A4e‟s Y&H Partnership Team and partners will be givensupport from A4e specialists whenever requested. The Plan will be reviewed weeklyby A4e‟s Partnership Manager prior to „go live‟. The plan will include steps to be takento contract signing, technical Infrastructure plans, premises & environment,recruitment, processes & procedures, branding and marketing, training, Health &Safety, Information Security.

If a partner withdraws: In addition to pre-emptive measures to minimise risk we have fullcontingency plans that will be enacted in the event of a partner withdrawing. Specifically,we have a reserve of pre-approved A4e partners that are potential replacements shouldthe preferred partner withdraw, e.g. see examples below:E2E partner selected Reserve partnerSheffield Works Consortium Sheffield City Region Work Programme

Partnership, Rathbone, Talent Training

Rotherham College of Arts Sector Solutions, Groundwork

If a reserves are unable to deliver then will A4e seek out additional partners by advertisingopportunities via its Partner website, providing an existing WP partner with an opportunityto extend their delivery or, where feasible, delivering directly.Evidence: one week prior to JCPSC go live our subcontractor in Newport withdrew from

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