SEND Specific Fun and Food Programme for Children in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals (Easter 2026)

Award outcome

Award Criteria

There is Essential Pass Fail criteria. Bidders are also required to complete the 'Easter Proposal' excel form to present a holistic view of your offer so the Council can assess your proposal which should address how you will meet the national standards as set out below against the requirements of the contract, including the indicative participant numbers, variety of proposed activities and geographic factors. The Council reserves the right to undertake the following: • Not award if Evaluators feel the proposal does not meet need; • Not award if Evaluators feel the proposal does not achieve value for money • Not award if Evaluators feel the demographic within the geographical area is not of deprivation i.e. the % of Children with SEND in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals is not sufficient to achieve proposed number of participants • Apply tiebreak should there be a duplication of the same/similar activities in a given geographical area; • Approach bidders to reduce/increase participant numbers based on Evaluators professional judgement and knowledge of delivery in the geographical area; • Approach bidders to reduce/increase hours of delivery based on Evaluators professional judgement; • Approach bidders to deliver in another geographical area, based on Evaluators professional judgement and knowledge of gaps in delivery for geographical areas; Evaluators will use their professional judgement using the stated scoring to assess your proposal and how this will meet the requirements of the contract (healthy meal, enriching activities, physical activity and nutritional education) and achieves value for money. The evaluation criteria will be applied to the proposal(s) received. The Council will consider in combination the following factors to determine the most appropriate provision (this is not an exhaustive list): o Service delivery location and/or o Value for money and/or o Enriching activities and/or o Healthy meal provision and/or o Number of places available and/or o Engaging with those children with SEND who are in receipt of benefit related Free School Meals o Professional Judgement of the Evaluation Panel

Description

The Council wishes to seek multiple Providers to deliver the Fun and Food programme to Children with SEND in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals within the boundaries of County Durham. This project utilises Department for Education (DfE) funding which is for school aged children in receipt of benefits related free school meals. All providers must meet DfE framework of standards as below: • Food Provision • Enrichment Activities • Physical Activities • Increasing Awareness of Healthy Eating, healthy lifestyles, and positive behaviours • Signposting and referrals and supporting families • Safeguarding • Policies and Procedures Please note - sessions do not need to be exclusively for children in receipt benefits-related Free School Meals, alternative funding may be sourced by the organisation to fund children ineligible for DfE funding i.e parents/carers may be charged for sessions by the activity organisation.

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