Guidance

Life chances through procurement guidance for DWP contractors

Updated 4 April 2022

Introduction

DWP shares the government’s commitment to supporting growth and improving life chances. Commercial Directorate can increase the social value gained from contracts by committing suppliers to specific actions on economic, social and environmental well-being.

Scope

DWP is required by the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 to have regard to economic, social and environmental well-being in connection with public services contracts. Our contracts also include obligations from the Equality Act 2010.

Life Chances through Procurement is part of the Department’s response to these obligations and allows Commercial Directorate to make a greater contribution to the objectives of the Department. The Life Chances Schedule in the Standard Terms and Conditions communicates this to our suppliers. The schedule addresses the following DWP Priority Groups:

• Disabled People: a person is disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities
• Young People: people under 25 are under-represented in work and training which affects future life chances and increases social inequality
• Older Workers: people over 50 are often overlooked for employment opportunities despite high levels of skill and experience
• Black and Minority Ethnic People: a person who identifies themselves as being of non white descent
• Ex-Offenders: people with unspent convictions who often face discrimination resulting in difficulty securing employment

And to champion the provision of:

• Apprenticeships: providing work and practical training with study for people from all walks of life

Where the contract duration is 12 months or more it is mandatory to include the Life Chances Schedule. Where the requirements of the whole schedule are not appropriate the rest of this topic advises you how to identify those areas which are. This should form part of the discussion with potential suppliers in the pre-procurement stage.

If the entire schedule is deemed inappropriate to the requirement it should be referred to the Commercial Board for the procurement. In the absence of a Commercial Board this decision should be taken by the senior person involved in the procurement. You must record the reasons for the decision in the Tender Evaluation Report.

If you choose to use Life Chances as an evaluation criterion you should amend the schedule as appropriate and provide the market with details of your requirements as soon as possible. Life Chances does not supersede quality and cost considerations when developing your evaluation methodology and weightings.

Pre-Procurement

When meeting with suppliers in pre-procurement you should always address the Life Chances agenda. You should be clear that DWP seeks to engage with suppliers across all categories of spend who support our mission of transforming lives and are socially responsible.

In many cases suppliers will already have corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies or mechanisms that will help them meet the Life Chances Schedule requirements. Those suppliers who do not have a CSR policy should be reassured that our requirements are not onerous, can provide real benefit to their business and support is available from DWP and others.

Remember that suppliers may have legitimate concerns about how they can meet our requirements. You should provide the Life Chances through Procurement Guidance for DWP Contractors and details of the Life Chances schedule at an early stage in pre-procurement activity to encourage supplier engagement.

Where you are using Life Chances as an evaluation criterion be prepared to discuss the reasons for this decision and to describe how Life Chances is linked to the subject matter of the contract and DWP’s overarching strategic aims.

DWP’s strategic aims include improving the lives of disadvantaged people and increasing overall Life Chances. Every contract we let implicitly supports those outcomes. It is therefore straightforward to link social and environmental criteria to the subject matter of a contract and this allows the Department to use social value as an evaluation criterion (with specific sub-criteria).

Invitation to Tender

The pack or suite of documents that comprise the invitation to tender (ITT) must be very clear about how you will incorporate Life Chances through Procurement.

If you are using Life Chances as an evaluation criterion you will need to adapt the Life Chances Schedule accordingly. For example, you may need to remove the references to engaging specific disadvantaged groups if this was feedback from the pre procurement activity.

The Life Chances Schedule is a contractual requirement for the contractor. The ITT instructions to bidders (and the SQ instructions to bidders) include details of the requirement and a link to the Life Chances through Procurement Guidance for DWP Contractors.

Evaluation Criteria

We can use criteria inviting bidders to outline their own methods of building Life Chances opportunities into the contracts workforce. Usually this will mean engaging with the priority groups. It is not appropriate for the Department to suggest targets. To avoid accusations of encouraging discrimination, suppliers should also not be asked to suggest their own targets for the employment of people from specific groups to work on delivery of the contract.

Suppliers may be scored on their proposals for engaging with and attracting with workers from the priority groups. These proposals will, in many cases, form the equivalent of the diversity and equality delivery plan and you can use the requirements of the Life Chances Schedule to form the basis of evaluation criteria where appropriate.

The following example selection criterion has been developed by the Commercial Policy team. Its use is not mandatory and can be adapted to fit your individual procurement.

[LC1] Life Chances

Please provide your Outline Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan describing how you intend to meet the requirements of the Life Chances schedule, covering each of the DWP Priority Groups included. Example provided in the “Life Chances through Procurement Guidance for DWP Contractors”.

Your response should include but is not limited to:

• summary of your own policies regarding the promotion of equality and opportunity
• details of key activities and timescales to engage with potential workers in the Priority groups
• how you intend to achieve the target for the recruitment and deployment of apprentices
• how you intend to collect activity data from the supply chain.

Response Guidance

Response: Text & supporting documentation

Your Outline Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan should be submitted as an MS Word Document and MUST be limited to 6 sides of A4, Arial Font 12.

Any text submitted over the 6 page limit will be disregarded and not evaluated as will any embedded files.

Marking scheme

10 - The Potential Supplier’s response fully addresses the requirements expressed in the question, with a comprehensive Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan which provides strong assurance that they will implement steps to achieve the requirements of the Life Chances schedule.

7 - The Potential Supplier’s response addresses most of the requirements expressed in the question, with a reasonable Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan which provides assurance that they should be able to implement steps to achieve the requirements of the Life Chances schedule.

2 - The Potential Supplier’s response addresses some of the requirements expressed in the question, with a limited Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan which provides weak assurance that they can implement steps to achieve the requirements of the Life Chances schedule.

0 - The response does not address the requirements expressed in the criterion, or is unanswered.

Where you use Life Chances as an evaluation criterion you will need to adapt the schedule, before issuing the ITT, so that it does not present conflicting requirements and outcomes for Life Chances. Note that you must keep the requirement for the return of the diversity and quality delivery plan as this provides assurances about the supplier’s approach to equality and diversity and not just Life Chances.

The criterion themselves should be developed during pre-procurement in conjunction with suppliers to ensure that overall appropriateness and supplier engagement is maintained.

The Requirements of the Life Chances Schedule

The schedule puts several obligations on the supplier. From the commencement date of the contract suppliers are required to take specific actions to support the employment of people in DWP’s priority groups, within the staff delivering the contract. The schedule does not extend to the supplier’s entire workforce only those working on the contract. Note however that the actions are designed to allow the supplier some flexibility in their approach. The aim of the schedule is to promote on-going development rather than including numerical targets. Progress should be discussed regularly as part of contract management.

Suppliers are required to produce and return a Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan. The specific detail of the plan and timing of returns is covered below. The plan includes the suppliers’ diversity and equality policies, actions in support of priority groups and staff training.

As part of the requirements of the schedule suppliers must complete and return the Social Value Workforce Monitoring Template. The specific detail and timing of returns is covered below. The template collects progress towards actions in support of priority groups and provides the Department with information about the diversity of the staff working on the contract.

Apprenticeships

It is important that DWP does all it can to support the government’s pledge on the creation of apprenticeships. All central government departments have been asked to actively promote the delivery of apprenticeships as part of contract expenditure.

Apprenticeships are the only area of Life Chances where we can stipulate a target. This is because an Apprentice is a job role and not a type of person. This target will likely be in the form of a % of the entire contract workforce or a number of new apprenticeship places created.

The expression of a hard target should be explored as part of the pre-procurement, seeking feedback from interested suppliers as to what is achievable and appropriate in relation to the requirement and the way in which that particular market operates. Where possible the inclusion of a target for apprenticeships should always be included.

For all contracts over £10million it is now Government policy to include an emphasis on apprenticeships. It is expected that this will materialise as a target within the contract relating to apprentices.

For those contracts above £10milion it is expected that Life chances (including Apprenticeship delivery) will be included as an award criterion.

The Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan

The plan has several distinct aspects and the detail must be specific to the contract in question. The plan must, as a minimum, include:

• A summary of the policies and procedures addressing obligations under the Equality Act
• What the supplier is doing to support priority groups
• The completed workforce monitoring template
• Details of staff training, and communication and promotion of policies
• Time bound activities to support delivery against the Life Chances schedule.

The plan must be returned to the contract manager 6 months after contract start and then every 12 months after for the duration of the contract including any extensions. For example, for a 3 year contract a return would be due at the 6 months’ stage, the 18month stage and 30-month stage.

The plan should refer to and build on the information provided in the workforce monitoring template building on progress and trend information.

The Life Chances Workforce Monitoring Template

The information provided in the template should relate only to the staff working on the contract in question, including sub-contractors’ staff. The template should reflect those priority groups and activity which were agreed to be appropriate within the pre procurement and throughout the procurement exercise.

The template must be completed and returned to the contract manager on the same time table as the Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan, i.e. 6 months after contract start and then updated and returned every 12 months thereafter.

The data in the template should be used to inform and measure the success of the actions in the Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan.

Contract Management

The requirements of the Life Chances Schedule and the information in the Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan and the Life Chances Workforce Monitoring Template should be discussed at contract management reviews. The supplier should be asked to demonstrate tangible progress and develop actions to address shortfalls. These actions should be incorporated into the Diversity and Equality Delivery Plan.

The contract manager has a vital role in ensuring that social value is delivered within DWP contracts. Where the schedule is used in full remember that many of the deliverables are not enforceable. Suppliers should be encouraged and supported in achieving against the aims. Contract managers should focus on positive results and good practice shared as appropriate.

Whilst contract managers are expected to robustly pursue Life Chances outcomes failure to achieve needs careful handling as breach action will not be appropriate.

Where Life Chances has been used as an evaluation criterion and their plans scored there will potentially be more stringent requirements for the supplier to meet. It will fall to the category team and contract manager to decide on the level of enforcement of these requirements.