1. Rebecca Rhodes, Senior Associate, UVAC r.rhodes@bolton.ac.uk
The 2017 to SUBCONTRACTING RULES Update (using version 2 of the 2017 to 2018 Funding Rules)
Rebecca Rhodes, Senior Associate, UVAC

2. Agenda Subcontracting Subcontractors Subcontractor Management
Current Issues / Scenarios

3. Documentation (with hyperlink = Para 121 onwards )
Provider Agreement
Institution XYZ
&
SFA
Contract for Services
Institution XYZ
& SFA

4. Subcontracting – your accountabilities
If you fail to check, SFA will place restrictions on your future use of subcontractors
RoATP
Main
owning the employer relationship
Must conduct all or ‘some’ of the training
Supporting
Must not exceed £500,000 delivery each year*
Must not deliver 100% of the apprenticeship
Employer-Provider
Can only train their own staff (or connected company/charity)
Must evidence actual costs of delivery as main or subcontractor
Not on RoATP
Must not exceed £100,000 delivery each year*
*The first ‘year’ is 1 May 2017 – 31 March 2018

5. First Time Subcontractors
P 127. You must not agree to the use of delivery subcontractors with an employer if you do not have knowledge, skills and experience of contracting with, and managing, delivery subcontractors.
It appears that you can still seek written permission from the SFA. Existing guidance is still posted

6. Subcontracting Rules
Delivery subcontractors must meet one of the following criteria :
Be on RoATP for main or
supporting routes (capped at 500K)
The apprentice’s employer (or connected company) or charity and on RoATP having applied through employer provider route
Deliver less than 100k value of training and assessment quantum between May 2017 and March 2018
You can only subcontract from your own budget line
You retain the relationship with the employer at all times
You must have a legally binding subcontract contract with the subcontractor (see Para 141 for detail)
The main provider must deliver ‘some’ of the apprenticeship delivery in each employers apprentice programme which must have ‘some substance and not be just a brief input at the start or a small proportion of the total apprentice numbers

7. Subcontracting Considerations - Your Checks
You MUST ensure that a ‘supporting’ RoATP registered subcontractor does not have contracts that exceed £500 k in total or 100k if not on RoATP)
your subcontracting will be restricted
the subcontractor excluded permanently
CHECK the list of Declared Subcontractors, for those on the supporting RoATP route
Require subcontractor to declare other contracts to you in signing your agreement
All of the following must be carried out and results available to SFA:
Seek legal advice about the Public Contracting Regulations on recruitment
Carry out Due Diligence checks ( see examples )
You have to have an external audit report to SFA specifications if your delivery subcontracts exceeds 100k in a financial year, to provide assurance about your arrangements to manage and control your deliver subcontractors. You must supply a certificate signed and authorised to the SFA.
Make effective decisions:
Who you subcontract with is evidence of your robust management processes
Don’t contract if you believe the organisation is not suitable - even if this loses you the contract with the employer
Have procedures ( in your due diligence) to ensure you don’t fund an extremist organisation

8. List of Declared Subcontractors
Your Delivery Subcontractor Declaration form is required twice this year between 1 May 2017 and 31 March Dates will be published
Even if you don’t subcontract you MUST make a nil return
Late return or failure to submit = suspended payments

9. Subcontractor Fees and Payments
Employers
If you subcontract to an employer to deliver part of the apprenticeship , they must be on the employer-provider route of the RoATP
They can only deliver to their employers/ connected company employees
Can only charge the actual costs if delivery
You must check all of these elements
Your Fees
You must set out your fees for monitoring and managing the subcontract in the employer agreement and the subcontractor contract
You must set out what support you provide for these fees
And specify how you will monitor quality

10. Monitoring
You must carryout a regular and substantial programme of QA checks visits at short notice
You must manage and monitor to ensure high quality delivery that meets the SFA funding rules
. You must report any instances to us where your findings don’t match records
You cannot transfer the employer relationship lead
You are responsible for the quality of delivery by your subcontractors
include whether the apprentices exist and are eligible
observation of initial guidance, assessment and delivery of training and/or on-programme assessment

11. Managing Subcontractors In Practice
Regular (monthly) reviews
review of forecast volumes, ILR data returns, progress
You must make sure these meetings and reviews take place
Document actions, circulate and follow up
Check paperwork matches ILR - conduct a sample file review
check dates, values, eligibility, incl employer provider/ connected company
Check that ILR returns are made on time, funding is claimed (and paid to subcontractors) on time
Termly visits to observe delivery across the portfolio of delivery:
Quality of guidance, teaching and learning
Embedding of safeguarding and PREVENT
This all applies to employer providers - you are still responsible and accountable

12. Scenarios Scenario Fundable ? 1
HEI intends to subcontract delivery to the employer for 6 months of a 12 month programme
YES Delivering 50 % passes the ‘some’ test 2
HEI intends to subcontract out all of the delivery of an integrated degree apprenticeship but is the degree awarding body
? NO
Main provider must retain the employer relationship
Owning the quality process does not count as ‘some’ training or assessment 3
HE staff are used by the EPA as assessors for the HE’s own apprentices
Training provider cannot carry out the end point assessment 4
The Main provider is subcontracting back to the employer’s training team who are a commercial function so charge this rate for their delivery
NO delivery to an employer’s own staff must be at cost

13. LET US KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD FIND USEFUL
Questions
Please use the questions facility to add your feedback and comments about the webinar
Any further scenarios? - please me
Other webinars are available in the UVAC future webinar programme:
Topics include:
The ILR and Data
On programme assessment and review
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD FIND USEFUL