Connect To Work

Published date: 24 February 2025

Contract summary

Industry

Training services - 80500000

Location of contract

North East

Value of contract

£30,000,000

Procurement reference

OPEN2025178

Published date

24 February 2025

Approach to market date

20 March 2025

Contract start date

1 August 2025

Contract end date

31 July 2028

Procedure type

Open procedure (above threshold)

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

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Description

This notification / Prior Information Notice (PIN) / update is intended to alert providers to an opportunity to deliver the Connect to Work programme for the North East Combined Authority (North East CA).

The e-tendering system used by the North East CA is Open. Potential applicants for Connect to Work are encouraged to register on Open as soon as possible. It is free to register and use the system.

You will need to create an account on Open to access and bid for public sector opportunities issued by the North East Combined Authority, including this Connect to Work opportunity. Visit www.open-uk.org to register an account.

The Open Hub provides resources and information to help you get the most out of Open. There is an FAQ section and a range of how-to guides so you can familiarise yourself with the system at your own pace. Visit the Open Hub to find out more, or contact open.support@nepo.org

Connect to Work

The recently launched "Get Britain Working" White Paper outlines Government's strategy to invest £240m to support the ambition of a national 80% employment rate and help improve workplace health and keep people in work, including trials of combined public services for those out of work due to ill health. Connect to Work is the first major element of the Get Britain Working Strategy.

By encouraging join-up between health systems and employment support, Connect to Work will support those, primarily, currently outside the workforce and facing greater labour market disadvantages, to stay in work and get back into work. In turn, supporting the Government's ambition for a more inclusive economy, supporting local people to realise their potential and supporting local and national growth. Connect to Work funding will support around 100,000 disabled people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to get into employment and on in work. In the North East, Connect to Work will support 13,500 residents across the entirety of the programme.

The North East Combined Authority is the Accountable Body for Connect to Work in the North East and, working in partnership with the seven constituent local authorities, is responsible for the commissioning of Connect to Work delivery.

Connect to Work is a voluntary programme, delivering the evidence-based Supported Employment model, 'place, train, and maintain', via two different types of interventions based on the needs of the participant - Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Local Supported Employment (LSE). This opportunity relates to the IPS intervention only.

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More information

Spend profile

This table displays the spend profile of the notice

Financial year	Budget
2025/2026	£10,000,000
2026/2027	£10,000,000
2027/2028	£10,000,000