New DWP prime contractors

For the attention of existing and potential new DWP prime contractors

You may be aware that we recently ran events in both Newcastle and London which aimed to inform potential sub-contractors about the opportunities to become involved in the delivery of DWP employment programmes. During these events, we asked attendees to provide us with feedback on their experiences of engaging with prime contractors. One of the key issues raised was that prime contractors sometimes give sub-contractors very tight deadlines to express interest in working with them - for instance, examples were given of cases where there was a 13 week window for tenders to be developed and submitted to DWP but shortlisted prime contractors had required expressions of interest from potential sub-contractors by the end of week one.

We fully recognise that it is for you, as prime contractors, to decide on appropriate deadlines and ensure you have sufficient time to finalise arrangements. However, we felt it important to pass on this feedback and re-iterate that placing overly restrictive timescales on sub-contractors could result in you being limited in the organisations who are willing/able to work with you and thereby result in a poorer quality tender.

Tracy Hughes

DWP Head of Delivery Strategy