The Mayoral Priority Skills Fund (MPSF) was created to provide flexible grant funding to meet current priority skills gaps in the region. Priorities have been identified through robust intelligence gathered through delivery of previous and existing programmes, data, reports, and gaps identified through our other services, such as Skills Connect. The aim was to have a Fund that was flexible enough to respond to identified gaps where there are no other means of funding, or to bridge gaps in funding which may otherwise lead to gaps in vital skills provision. It also aimed to enable innovation and the ability to test interventions where there are gaps.
This first round of MPSF funding (known as 'phase one') consisted of £2,580,665 from the Mayoral Combined Authority Investment Fund and £3,200,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), providing almost £5.8 million to address gaps in provision for the region.
Phase one of MPSF commenced in July 2023 and is due to come to an end in December 2025. There are 16 projects funded under phase one. 15 projects were funded until March 2025 (known as 'call one') under several themes (see below). A few of these projects will continue to be funded until September 2025 using some underspend (known as 'continuation funding for call one projects'). A 16th project, Union Learn West, is due to start delivery imminently and will run until December 2025. Individual projects have received between £50,175 - £1,413,000.
The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority are now looking to procurement a final evaluation of phase one that looks at both the impact that phase one has had on the region, and what we can learn from the implementation and delivery models of phase one that could be fed into the implementation of phase two.
The successful tenderer will deliver a final process, impact, and value for money evaluation of phase one of the MPSF to answer the research questions set out below. The evaluation will ensure useful learning is provided for the MCA but also that we well prepared to submit evidence of impact to the Government as part of future Gateway Review processes.
The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) aims to establish an innovative Investment Platform and Marketplace to align with its Climate Ecological Strategy and Action Plan (CESAP 2023). The platform will help achieve nature recovery and halt environmental decline by 2030, supporting Bath, Bristol, Northeast Somerset, and South Gloucestershire (West of England Region).
The Mayoral Combined Authority will procure an external software developer to create an investment platform that supports funding and investment within the West of England region. This platform will host a range of natural capital assets, offering investors a dedicated tool to track nature-based assets and monitor the impact of their investments.
The platform aims to streamline the investment process, providing transparency and real-time insights into asset performance and environmental benefits. Through this initiative, we hope to attract more sustainable funding into the region, aligning investments with regional conservation and climate goals.
An evaluation of the Retrofit West Scheme that looks at the impact and value for money of the Retrofit services on the supply and demand for domestic retrofit in the West of England region, as well as drawing lessons learnt from the implementation and delivery of Retrofit West (process evaluation) that could be fed into future decision making about funding in this area. The evaluation should take a contribution analysis approach to the impact evaluation, considering what else is contributing to the achievement of outcomes, as well as considering the contextual factors that may be preventing the full achievement of project outcomes.
The MCA require an investigation into potential opportunities for heat networks in Northeast Somerset around the settlements of Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Peasedown St John, Paulton, and the surrounding villages.
The aim of the study is to identify heating, cooling, and power demand loads, and heat supply opportunities, for the purposes of heat network scheme development. The exercise will identify, evaluate, and prioritise potential heat network opportunities, and any potential schemes will be fully modelled to understand whether a heat network is technically and economically viable, with recommendations for potential phasing, timeline, key dependencies, and constraints.
With circa 100,000 homes above or near to former mines in the West of England, the potential for heat from mines needs investigation. The principle for investing £1.66m of Green Recovery Fund (part of the MCA Investment Fund) was agreed at Committee in March 2023. Heat From Mines is an investigatory project funded by the MCA in partnership with SGC to scope out potential for an operational mine water heating scheme(s) in the region.
We are looking for providers to conduct five detailed desktop studies concurrently from February to June 2025. These will be in the West of England Combined Authority Area which includes Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council . The specific locations that the detailed desktop studies will be required to focus on will be determined by the project working group in January 2025 and specified in the full procurement phase from mid/late January 2025. Decisions will have been made by consideration of the output reports from two current phases of studies commenced between September to December 2024 and from an earlier detailed desktop study of South Gloucestershire from 2023.
The detailed desktop studies will build upon knowledge and reports from previous study phases to produce output reports. The detailed desk top study output reports will need to provide us with detailed understanding of mines studied, water quality, structural and environmental constraints, potential drilling targets, costs of potential drilling abstraction and reinjection boreholes, all associated risks and to help us determine whether and where follow-on potential drill testing stages can take place. The studies must consider both heating and cooling potential and identify whether inter seasonal storage is possible. We also require an evaluation of the economic and social benefits and constraints from potential mine water schemes.
Provision of a mobile connectivity data platform and a clear and actionable assessment of S106 and CIL funding opportunities for digital infrastructure
External research commission to supplement in-house analysis, clarifying the current and future construction skills needed for housebuilding in the West of England, comparing this demand to existing and projected supply.
The Youth Guarantee pages on Skills Connect Find your direction - how to get into work - Skills Connect are designed to be the primary digital gateway for young people aged 16-25 across the West of England to explore employment, education, and training opportunities. The pages bring together local provision, support services, and guidance, but much of this information is currently delivered through written content.
To improve accessibility, engagement, and user confidence, we want to commission a series of short, high-quality explainer videos that present key information in a clear, relatable, and youth-friendly way. These videos should support young people to understand their options, feel reassured about next steps, and be encouraged to explore relevant opportunities hosted on Skills Connect.
This requirement is for a Media Agency in support of Bus communications & promotion. This requirement will provide a greater understanding of the available services and benefits among members of the public that can access them, in turn generating a greater uptake and usage of such initiatives.
We are seeking to procure an off-the-shelf software system to act as a project register and progress tracker, holding a list of key project attributes and facilitating highlight reporting and analysis of performance. The requirement must fulfil the MCA specification needs.
The West of England plan will be a locally owned, 10-year strategy which will set out how the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) will use its devolved powers and funding to drive growth in the region. It will build on the region’s unique strengths and opportunities to support growth-driving sectors, identify wider business environment priorities, and provide a framework to focus and unlock investment. Our region’s Local Growth Plan (LGP) will need to relate to Government’s thinking around priority sectors set out in the National Industrial Strategy green paper and its emerging sector plans. While many of the strengths in the West of England align with the sectors in the green paper, the economy in the MCA is highly interrelated and relies to a significant extent on cross-sectoral spill overs. In collaboration with Government, our Priority Sectors are defined as – 1. Advanced Manufacturing (our regional AM growth markets
The West of England plan will be a locally owned, 10-year strategy which will set out how the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) will use its devolved powers and funding to drive growth in the region. It will build on the region’s unique strengths and opportunities to support growth-driving sectors, identify wider business environment priorities, and provide a framework to focus and unlock investment. Our region’s Local Growth Plan (LGP) will need to relate to Government’s thinking around priority sectors set out in the National Industrial Strategy green paper and its emerging sector plans. While many of the strengths in the West of England align with the sectors in the green paper, the economy in the MCA is highly interrelated and relies to a significant extent on cross-sectoral spill overs. In collaboration with Government, our Priority Sectors are defined as – 1. Advanced Manufacturing (our regional AM growth markets
As part of its overall objective of reducing its carbon footprint, BCP is looking to investigate the potential for heat network infrastructure in the area. An early feasibility study was completed in 2017 , focusing on an area known as Wessex Fields (consisting of the General Hospital and Business Park), with concept designs focused on gas-fired combined heat and power plants (CHP) as the primary heat source. Although the proposed solutions are no longer appropriate, the study demonstrated a networked solution is worth investigating further.
This contract supports the Kids Go Free subsidised fare initiative that allows for free travel for the under 16s, with this supplier over the Christmas period.
To support and grow the social economy in the region, whilst also addressing the current issues of sustainment in the market and the demand for income diversification from the sector.
An experienced business support provider(s), working in partnership with the Combined Authority (CA), is required.
Importantly, support should be available to organisations to explore growth opportunities, along with sustainment and risk management. This will include developing new income streams, building cash reserves, financial management, and building capabilities.
The service will be broken into five key areas of delivery:
• A range of themed workshop, responsive to the needs of the recipient organisations
• Mentoring from experienced social entrepreneur(s)
• Specialist consultancy where necessary
• Peer networks with mixed representation of organisational structures
• An accelerator service (this will be for a limited number of organisations each year).