If you have a specific question relating to the Dynamic Framework, please ask this via Jaggaer as a clarification question. All questions submitted are logged and answers are published on Jaggaer. 

Voluntary organisations working in criminal justice can also send questions to us at probation@clinks.org. Through this mailbox we will answer your question if we can and collect feedback from organisations to inform our influencing of the probation review programme but we may need to refer you to the clarification process on Jaggaer if we can't answer your question. We will answer as many enquiries as we can and will work to provide an initial response within 48 hours. Please do consult the questions below and those published on Jaggaer before contacting the mailbox.

Below we have provided a list of the questions and answers collated from our recent Introduction to the Dynamic Framework events.

What is the expected turnaround time from issue of call off competitions to submission deadline?

HMPPS are looking at a minimum of four weeks from the formal launch of each call off competition to the submission deadline.

What will the minimum mobilisation period be?

HMPPS haven’t finalised timings for upcoming contracts yet but they have released the order in which call off competitions will take place. They are hoping that for day one services that the contract award will be this year, so there will be a minimum of six months for the mobilisation period.

How long will the Dynamic Framework be in place?

The framework will exist for seven years and can be extended up to three years (so overall it could last for 10 years).

How long will the individual contracts be? Will there be opportunity for longer contracts, or will they all be short term?

HMPPS haven't made a decision on contract lengths yet. They have been listening to the voluntary sector and have heard that longer contracts are preferred. They will update in due course.

Can I bid for more than one lot? Won’t this take a lot of time for a small organisation to fill in?

To a certain extent HMPPS expect that only larger organisations will bid for several different contract lots, whether that be the same lot in several geographic areas or multiple lots in one geographic area. For the evaluation, there will be some questions which are standard across all of the lots and some questions which are focussed on local solutions. So organisations won’t need to change the entire evaluation for every lot. In terms of timescales HMPPS will provide the final, locally specific specifications around 4 weeks before the competitions go live. They will provide the evaluation criteria as soon as possible after that, which should give people more time to work on those different bids.

If you want to offer a range of services (for example both education training and employment (ETE) and personal wellbeing) you may do so and would have to bid for multiple lots to ensure the totality of your service offer was maximised.

Can we qualify to be on the framework for different areas in the future following our first submission?

In terms of geographic areas, yes, you can go back to update your submission in the future if you’re working in new geographic areas. In terms of different categories and need areas, you can do, but this will be a more complicated process in terms of re-submitting your application. And so it would be preferable if you include all of your categories on the initial qualification application.

How can we identify appropriate consortium structures? Do we need to have a larger organisation leading bids, or is the Framework designed to accommodate equal partnerships of smaller organisations?

HMPPS won’t evaluate bids differently depending on how the consortium is set up. They will be looking for services that meet the needs and respond to local priorities. If a way to ensure that you are providing a localised service is to include smaller local organisations, then obviously that will be viewed positively. But there is no automatic preference based on how you choose to bid, consortia size etc.

If bidding in a consortium/partnership, would every organisation need to pre-qualify to be part of that bid?

You will need as a minimum one organisation qualified in the supply chain for all the relevant areas the consortia wishes to deliver (women’s services; accommodation; employment, training and education etc.). This could be one organisation qualified for all areas or several different organisations in the supply chain qualified in different areas.

HMPPS would absolutely encourage all organisations to qualify individually because the advantage is you get access, you will be invited to all of the relevant call offs, and therefore you'll get notified about them. So even if you plan to respond as part of a supply chain, they would encourage you to qualify individually anyway.

What kind of information will be required in the case studies we need to provide to qualify?

The case studies are the most straightforward way to demonstrate your ability to deliver the outcomes that HMPPS are seeking. Focus on services you deliver and outcomes you have achieved in line with what is described on the Standard Questionnaire.

Are all lots based on volumes and targets?

HMPPS haven't made a final decision yet about the payment mechanism that will be used. They are asking for views and feedback about this. At framework level, there are three options, which are: a fixed price, regardless of volume; a fixed price with volume bands (depending on the volume you have, you would have different fixed prices for each volume level); or a unit price.

For day one contracts, they will not be using unit price because the volumes are too high. So the options for day one contracts are fixed price or fixed price varying by volume. HMPPS are keen to get views on which of those would be preferred.

In terms of targets for the day one contracts, all contracts will have at least two performance measures, which are around initial assessments and intervention received, and then the larger contracts will also have quality measures.

When will we know what each lot is worth in terms of money?

HMPPS have provided indicative contract values. Once they launch the call off competition for each lot there will be a final value. The indicative values are in the procurement event itself in the general attachments area on Jaggaer.

Is there a minimum turnover or minimum number of years existence to qualify for the framework?

There isn't a minimum turnover required as such. However, there are different requirements in terms of demonstrating your financial health depending on the size of lots you’ll be going for. There is information on this in the market warming documents and a presentation on the Standard Questionnaire and qualification – all on Jaggaer. This sets out the different levels of evidence that you would need to provide depending on which level of lot you are likely going for. In terms of years existence there is also no specific requirement.

Clinks has been advocating that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) specific contracts are part of commissioning framework from day 1. It looks like this isn't the case as yet. When will these contracts be commissioned?

HMPPS know that this has been a concern and a request, and they would absolutely like to see, going forward, contracts for specialist BAME services let. There is a very clear element to the specification for all contract lots which requires providers to demonstrate how they will meet some of the Lammy review recommendations in their service delivery.

To what extent, if at all, will any services be commissioned for delivery in prison prior to release? Replacing for example pre-release programmes provided to date by the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs)?

In relation to the day one services the only two categories which will have a pre-release element are accommodation and within the personal wellbeing category - social inclusion.

Please can you give more information on the Greater Manchester co-commissioning model and why this is different from other areas?

HMPPS’ vision for the framework in the future is to include lots more co-commissioning because if the National Probation Service (NPS) is working with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), local authorities etc. this will achieve better outcomes for service users. Greater Manchester is in a much more advanced place in terms of structures to support co-commissioning at the moment – there has been a devolution agreement there in place for some time, and various governance structures which are chaired between the NPS and the combined authority. So the reason for the difference is simply that HMPPS has been able to progress more quickly in terms of getting that co-commissioning in place for day one. More co-commissioning is expected for other services – including dependency and recovery, and finance, benefit and debt – which will come later and will be led by the regions. This will also be the case when looking at replacement services in a few years’ time.

Update 13th August: HMPPS will not be procuring day one services for Greater Manchester (GM) through the Dynamic Framework. HMPPS are co-commissioning these services with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and will be procuring them through GMCA procurement routes. HMPPS appreciates that some providers have submitted a Selection Questionnaire (SQ) and have said that they were interested in the Greater Manchester geographic units. These SQs will still be evaluated and providers can join the Framework if they are successful. HMPPS may commission some future services for the GM region via the Dynamic Framework. HMPPS will share the names of any qualified organisations who expressed an interest in providing services in the GM area with GMCA so that they can be included in any communication regarding GMCA procurements for probation-services.

What will be the impact of the re-nationalisation of the probation service, will the scope of opportunity be much reduced?

No, for the Dynamic Framework nothing is changing. Changes are to unpaid work, accredited programmes and structured interventions which will now be delivered by the National Probation Service (NPS).

Will there be any grants? Will they be judged at Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) level?

HMPPS don’t have any intention for day one services to be commissioned as grants. It’s a possibility for the future but they can’t give any answers at the moment because there are no specific plans for grants.

If I already have a login with Bravo can I login to Jaggaer?

Yes, your Bravo login will work with the new portal Jaggaer. Access it here