EMPLOYMENT RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT MINI COMPETITIONS FOR THE PROVISION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME

Invitation to Tender Form

Tender Round title: Organisation Name: Lot: Contract Package Area (CPA):

The Work Programme Prospects Services Ltd. 2 South West 11 Devon and Cornwall Dorset and Somerset

PART 1: ORGANISATION DETAILS

[1.1] Your response to Part 1 is for information purposes only. If any of this information has changed since the Framework Agreement application stage, please state this within the table below including a short explanation as to why. If you cannot provide any of the information below please explain this within the table. DWP will not be responsible for contacting anyone other than the persons named in this part of your form. If any of this information changes during the bidding period you must inform DWP of the changes by email to: WORK.PROGITTCLARIFICATION@DWP.GSI.GOV.UK Name of the Legal Entity in whose name this tender is submitted and with whom DWP will contract: Trading Name (if different from above): Company Registration Number: Company Registered address: Prospects Services Ltd. As above 3042176 Prospects House 19 Elmfield Road Bromley Kent BR1 1LT As above 801 9043 61 www.prospects.co.uk

Head Office Address, if different: VAT Registration Number: Website Address (if any):

Name, address and company registration number Not applicable of parent company, where applicable: Name and Job Title of main contact: Redacted Strategic Development Director Address: Prospects House 19 Elmfield Road Bromley Kent BR1 1LT Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted Redacted As above Redacted

Telephone no: Mobile telephone no: Fax no: E-mail address: Alternative contact Name and Job Title: Address (if different from above): Telephone no:

Mobile telephone no: Contact e-mail:

Redacted Redacted

PART 2: TENDERER DECLARATION

[2.1] You must complete this Declaration by Tenderer. Failure to include this declaration may result in your bid being disqualified. To: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

For the benefit of the Department for Work and Pensions, we hereby warrant and undertake as follows: 1. We have examined, read, understand and accept in full the proposed Contract documents and all other documents and Annexes provided with this declaration and the clarifications issued during the Invitation to Tender period. 2. We have completed and submitted all information required in the Invitation to Tender Form in the format and order required. 3. We confirm the information set out in our response is complete and accurate to the best of our knowledge and belief. 4. We hereby acknowledge and agree that we have read, understand and accept the Work Programme Call-Off Terms and Conditions, the Work Programme Specification and the draft Order Form.

Scanned Signature: Date: Name: Job Title:

Redacted 14/02/2011 Redacted Executive Chair Prospects Services Ltd.

Duly authorised to sign Tenders on behalf of: Name of Organisation:

Prospects Services Ltd.

PART 3: THE WORK PROGRAMME CALL-OFF CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS - ALTERNATIVE AND/OR ADDITIONAL CLAUSES
[3.1] 3.1 The terms and conditions of The Work Programme will be the Standard Call-Off Terms and Conditions (set out in Schedule 4 of your Framework Agreement), as modified by The Work Programme service requirements (The Work Programme Additional Requirements). The Work Programme Additional Requirements are set out in the Call-Off Terms and Conditions for The Work Programme which is supplied with your Invitation to Tender. A document highlighting the modifications made to the Standard Call-Off Terms and Conditions to reflect The Work Programme Additional Requirements is also supplied with your Invitation to Tender; for ease of identification, the changes made since the draft version issued on 8 December 2010 are shown in boxes within the document. Any proposed amendments to The Work Programme Additional Requirement must be detailed by completing the section below, giving full details of the clause(s) you wish to amend and your proposed amendments. DWP will consider proposed amendments strictly on their merits. Please note that you may only propose amendments to The Work Programme Additional Requirements; proposed amendments to the Standard Call-Off Contract Terms and Conditions will not be considered.

3.2

3.3

Comments on The Work Programme Additional Requirements: MINI COMPETITION ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS (For Framework Supplier Comments only) No. of the clause(s) you Proposed amendment with proposed wording wish to amend

Other than those provisions identified above, [Tenderer to insert name] confirms that it has reviewed the Call-Off Terms and Conditions for The Work Programme and agrees in principle to each of their provisions.

Name: Scanned Signature: Position: Executive Chair Telephone No: Date: 14th February 2011

Redacted Redacted

Redacted

DWP reserves the right to amend any provisions of The Work Programme Additional Requirements at any time during the mini-competition procurement exercise.

PART 4:

SERVICE REQUIREMENT

NOTE: MINIMUM SCORE APPLIES TO ALL QUESTIONS THAT ATTRACT A SCORE WITHIN THIS SECTION. BIDS SCORING 2 OR LESS ON ANY QUESTION WITHIN THIS SECTION WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE COMPETITION. PLEASE NOTE SCORES ATTAINED IN THIS SECTION MAY ALSO BE USED IN A TIE-BREAK SITUATION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

[4.1] Customer Journey - Process Please submit a process map showing the proposed end to end customer journey(s) and attach the process map as Annex 1. This should include a detailed supporting description of the customer journey(s) specific to this CPA. Your response must describe how you will ensure the customer journey is tailored to meet the specific needs and barriers of individual customers, and include the customer requirements defined in the Specification. Please note your response to this question will not be scored but will act as a reference point for the scoring of questions 4.1a and 4.1b Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to five sides of A4. Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the process map which you must insert as Annex 1.

4.1 As a result of our analysis and feedback from partners and customers, we have developed the Ascent Programme, which is described below and in the attached process maps. Annex 1 details: the Ascent Programme depicting Engagement (1.1); Overview of the Ascent Programme (1.2 the customer journey); The Ascent Assessment Diagram (1.3 customer progress); Example of customer journey/case studies for JSA, IS and ESA groups (1.4-1.6). The Ascent Programme Prospects has developed an innovative and bespoke customer journey which will enable the eight customer groups across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset to address their individual barriers and the challenges of their local area. The Ascent Programme is designed so that every customer undertakes a unique customer journey based on their Ascent assessments completed every two weeks with their Ascent Cohort Adviser. We are aware that cross cutting customer groups means that people in different groups may have similar circumstances e.g. disabilities or health conditions, caring responsibilities, aged over 50, socially excluded (including ex-offenders, homeless, substance dependency) and are likely to be represented in all groups. The programme ensures that all issues are addressed, even the hidden barriers. The range of interventions and support from our specialist partners are designed to meet customers disparate and similar needs. Ascent concentrates on challenging and changing ingrained behaviours in a systematic way via a combination of appropriate Ascent Interventions, on-going Ascent Assessment, one to one support and where required, specialist assistance. Our customer journey is not defined by customer group, but defined by individual need including timescales i.e. we would expect to work with someone who has been on IB over a longer period of time. We are aware that while each customer will have a different combination of barriers and needs, the groups highlight common criteria such as ESA and IB groups requiring support with access to work and advice on managing their condition in the workplace. The Income Support group of whom the majority are lone parents, will need specific advice on managing childcare and potentially debt advice. Prospects has invested substantially in multi-media solutions including the development of an Ascent call centre managed by our partner, The Listening Company (TLC), where customers will have access to highly trained graduate Ascent Advisers from 8.00am to 11.00pm Monday to Friday. Customers will have a personal online Ascent Tracker available 24 hours a day so that they can instantly follow their progress. The Tracker will show interventions carried out and due, action points, top tips, progress reports and distance travelled. Ufi will provide licensed flexible access to online, employment focused accredited and non-accredited learning to join up skills acquisition with the customer journey. The Ascent Programme Process Engagement (see page 1 of Annex 1) Customers will be referred via a JCP adviser regardless of which group they are in. This will include volunteers i.e. JSA voluntary early access, ESA Work Related Activity Group lone parent (youngest under 5) and full time carers, other ESA volunteers, incapacity benefit and income support claimants. Each referred customer will be provided with an information card by their JCP adviser (provided by Prospects for all job centres) which has details of how to log on to the public area of Prospects Ascent Programme website. The

customer and the JCP adviser will be able to view videos and testimonials of successful customers on the website and see details of Ascent activities. The JCP adviser will explain what happens next to reassure the customer and provide a warm handover. Prospects will receive the referral from JCP via PRaP following a telephone call from the JCP advisor and will pass on the information to our partner, TLC via a secure encrypted system. The customer will be telephoned by an adviser from TLC (see Annex 1.1) who will confirm the customers details and take him or her through an initial assessment to ascertain their situation and assign them to the most relevant end to end delivery partner by need and geography. As per Annex 1.1, customers who do not have a telephone will be sent an appointment letter to visit a centre within 30 minutes of their home to undertake their initial assessment and evaluation. As part of the initial engagement by The Listening Company (TLC), an Ascent assessment will be undertaken to plot the customers current position on the Ascent tracker (refer to Appendix 1.3). Each of the six core areas (aspiration/ motivation; skills for the future; challenges; employer desirability; notable influences; transferable skills) will be scored between 1 and 10 points where 1 is the lowest and 10 highest. This information will be completed by the TLC adviser with the customer over the phone. The TLC adviser will explain the reasons for doing the assessment and will use the information to assign the customer to the end to end delivery partner. The customer will be provided with details of their provider and their assigned Ascent Cohort Adviser (ACA) and location. TLC will forward the information to the customers ACA who will contact them to make an appointment for the customer to attend within five working days of the initial assessment. Assessment and action planning At the first meeting, the Ascent Cohort Adviser will explain to the customer about the Work Programme and specifically the Ascent Programme and how it will support them in to work. The ACA will show the customer their private Ascent website section (and log on details) which will include their personal action plan and tracker showing their progress. The ACA will explain how the Ascent assessment process works so that the customer is able to assess their own programme and progress. The Ascent Programme ensures that each customer undertakes the journey most appropriate to them, tailored to address all challenges/barriers which may be preventing the customer from achieving sustainable employment. The ACA will work with the customer to ascertain the level of assistance required based on the Ascent Assessment which will ensure that no customer gets left, forgotten or parked. The ACA will reassess the customers using the Ascent Assessment every two weeks. This will inform the action plan which will be updated and amended accordingly. Ascent Programme core areas (for all customers) The Ascent Programme concentrates on six core areas which experience has shown us need to be addressed to achieve sustainable employment. These are as follows: Aspiration and Motivation How genuinely motivated is the customer in returning to the labour market? What are the customers confidence/self-esteem levels? Does the customer believe they are well enough to work? Skills for the Future Does the customer have the required level of functional skills? Can they manage their personal circumstances effectively? Is the customer maintaining a healthy lifestyle which would promote a good work/ life balance?

Challenges What personal challenges are preventing the customer from finding and maintaining employment? For example homelessness, debt, criminal behaviour, addiction, discrimination, health problems and disability. Does the customer have caring commitments e.g. lone parent, full time carer? Employer Desirability Is the customer ready for the competitive labour market? Do they have a basic work ethic? Is assistance with personal presentation required? Are references available? Has the customer been unemployed for a long period? Notable Influences Is there a generational unemployment issue? Are customers being pressured not to work by family, friends or partners? Is being unemployed considered to be the norm in the customers social circle? Do they live in neighbourhoods affected by high unemployment in comparison to the surrounding area? Transferable and Specialist Skills Does the customer have up-to-date skills which match the labour market need? By using a 1- 10 point scoring system for each of the six core areas (1 low, 10 high), the Ascent Programme produces a diagram detailing the customers current distance from the labour market. This enables the customers Ascent Cohort Adviser (ACA) to select the most appropriate Ascent Intervention to help move the customer forward in their journey towards sustainable employment. The unique nature of the Ascent Programme ensures that no two customer journeys are the same. It is highly unlikely that a customer will undertake every Ascent Intervention as not all interventions are appropriate to every customer. Prospects has created an innovative mix of interventions which challenge behaviour and identify areas for action, steering individuals into employment and providing continuous support in work. Annexes 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 depict examples of customer journeys for three different groups we have chosen three: ESA; JSA and IS but are aware that individuals will have varying combinations of challenges and needs. For example Ex IB customers and Early Access customers are likely to require more interventions than the majority of customers in the JSA 18-24 age group. JSA 18-24 age group are less likely to have substantial experience of working and will benefit from work trials and entering an apprenticeship. For example, Heroes to Inspire may be the most appropriate first intervention for an 18-24 year old. An achievement project may be the most appropriate for an Ex IB customer. Interventions also need to take place at the best time and in the correct order for the customer e.g. Ascent Skills Enhancement Projects occur towards the end of the customer journey when the customer is closest to the labour market and ready to revisit personal work ethics. Ascent Interventions/activities All customers will undertake at least one activity per week which we have depicted on the process map (Annex 1.2) between each fortnightly assessment. Activity levels will increase as customers progress to replicate a more structured, work-style routine so that the work ethic becomes ingrained. Interventions will be undertaken in groups and one to ones from the following activities: Ascent Workshops 36 different 45-minute workshops covering the six core ascent areas: Aspiration and Motivation, Skills for the Future, Challenges, Employer Desirability, Notable Influences and Transferable/Specialist Skills. The workshops are stand-alone, based on CBT techniques and have an immediate positive effect which can ultimately change the behaviour of people attending. All customers will undertake a minimum of four Ascent Workshops; these can be any four of the 36 available. Heroes to Inspire - ex-servicemen/women will be employed by Prospects to act as mentors and role models for customers with the aim of helping them to increase motivation and change negative, limiting mind sets.

Reality Camps - customers will attend a reality camp (away from their home area) where they will learn survival basics, undertake physical challenges, gain new skills and learn to work as part of a team. Life Checks - customers will attend a workshop delivered by actors who will demonstrate how the customers current behaviour has an impact on others, their environment and their personal future. Customers will role play and visualise the future, comparing differences of a life on benefits and a life in employment. Aspiration: Rewards and Consequences - customers will be given the opportunity to work towards one of their own personal aspirations e.g. attending a football match, a spa day, visiting an upmarket restaurant, visiting a museum or amusement park. By working towards their aspiration, they are rewarded for that work and given an insight into the different lifestyle that can be achieved through a life of employment. Motivational Speakers - inspirational people will deliver motivating and life changing talks about what can be achieved when you overcome challenges and fulfil your potential. Speakers will be drawn from backgrounds similar to customer groups e.g. a person who has overcome considerable ill health to run a successful business. Achievement Projects - customers will complete different activities which result in quick wins to build their confidence e.g. taking part in a music group, undergoing a makeover, taking part in an arts/craft project, completing DIY or learning a circus skill. Well Being Groups - customers will learn how to adjust their lifestyle to improve their health, fitness and personal circumstances. Group work and 1:1s will tackle weight loss, addiction, fitness, mental and physical health and money management. Come Dine With Me Workshops - customers will complete a four week healthy eating course which demonstrates how to shop and cook healthily on a limited budget using locally sourced ingredients. Relocation, Relocation, Relocation where appropriate, customers will be helped to move to a new area with a plentiful job market. Prospects will provide accommodation and assist the customer to integrate with the local community. When employment is gained, Prospects will provide assistance with rent payments for up to six months. Prospects Sports Teams - various sports teams will be created across the CPA so that customers have the opportunity to play in local leagues. Ascent Community Events - customers will be encouraged to work on local community events where they will have the opportunity to see the results of their work and become involved with the local community. Ascent Skills Enhancement Projects - community and social enterprises will be available to customers increase their skills and gain valuable references. Customers will have the opportunity to gain enhanced skills in strong and emerging employment sectors. Projects will include Ascent Accessories, Ascent at Home (renovation of furniture / electrical goods), Ascent Hair and Beauty, Ascent Catering, Ascent Landscaping, Ascent Clothing, Ascent Retail, Ascent Administration Services, Ascent Marshalling Services, Ascent Low Carbon & Marine Opportunities, Ascent Care. All customers will have access to at least one project lasting four weeks. This will be mandated activity for some customer groups. Ascent Radio - customers will be assisted to run their own community radio slots including Skills for Hire enabling customers to sell their skills to potential employers. Specialist Support The Ascent Programme is flexible to meet the needs of the eight customer groups. The core programme will be supported by specialist partners who will help customers address individual challenges such as debt, housing, addiction, support for ex-offenders, physical and mental health advice, apprenticeships, self-employment and well-being. ACAs will refer to our specialist partners as appropriate to support the customers journey.

Into Work Support When the customer is assessed as reaching Point 8 on four or more of the Ascent core areas (Appendix 1.3), the Employer Solutions Team will work alongside the ACA to provide appropriate work opportunities for the customer. Customers will work one to one with an Employer Solutions Team Adviser (ESTA) who will ascertain the customers skill set, personal qualities, realistic job goals and USPs. The ESTA will utilise an Intelligent Job Search System (IJS) where applications will be made on behalf of the customer, eliminating poor practise in applications and increasing the chance of selection for interview. ESTAs will undertake interview training with the customer and provide work trial opportunities and part time work/slivers of time combinations to create the equivalent of full time opportunities. The customer will continue undertaking Ascent Interventions while working with their ESTA and ACA. Customers interested in self-employment will be supported by a specialist selfemployment partner who will guide them through the process of setting up in business including taxation, employment, raising finance and budgeting. We anticipate that some of our customers, particularly from the JSA 18-24 group, will undertake apprenticeships. Our specialist partners include training organisations providing apprenticeship training and support. Post-Employment Support All customers will benefit from weekly contact in the first month of employment, then fortnightly contact up until week 26, and bi-monthly contact until sustainability has been achieved. We will support customers using The Listening Companys high quality customer contact centre and ESTAs. Each customer will have access to their online Ascent Tracker providing them with tips about work and access to multi-media support from 08.00 to 23.00 Monday to Friday. They will be encouraged to contact ESTAs or their ACA if they are uncertain about their situation at work or concerned about issues surrounding their ability to work e.g. a change in their physical/mental condition, loss of confidence in their ability to maintain the job, travel and carer issues. Advisers will provide appropriate support and advice by telephone, email, through the Ascent site or in person. Additional information Childcare and carers support will be provided to customers to enable full participation ACAs will work with family members/mentors if appropriate. For example, an IB customer may feel more comfortable in attending an intervention with the support of a family member or mentor. Customers who experience a break in their employment will return to their ACA and be reassessed. Where possible the customer will receive immediate support from their ESTA. If the customer has regressed on their Ascent Tracker due to the break in employment, the ACA may postpone ESTA engagement until the customer is again ready to enter employment.

[4.1a] Customer Journey - Rationale Please describe in detail: your rationale for your proposed Customer Journey(s) detailed above in 4.1 within this CPA; and

the benefits to the individual customer groups of this approach.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to four sides of A4.

4.1a Rationale for our proposed Customer Journeys Prospects has developed its proposed end to end customer journey based on extensive investigation and evaluation of what works for the eight customer groups, and importantly, what doesnt. We have spoken at length to welfare to work service users, providers (including our proposed supply chain), employers and stakeholders including local authorities, third sector and faith groups, NHS providers and CBT practitioners. Traditionally, employment programmes work through a Red, Amber, Green system, with customers who are more able receiving the most assistance, while those who are less able left with little chance of finding employment. With the ability to assist customers for longer and in more innovative ways than before, The Ascent Programme enables customers to tackle barriers and address individual need. Customers will benefit from interventions and support which match their individual circumstance (Annex 1.2 customer journey and 1.3 assessment). The further away from the labour market a customer group is deemed to be, the more interventions and assessments will be undertaken. Our model concentrates resource in the pre-employment support period because experience from Prospects delivery and its subcontractors has shown that where customers are pushed into taking jobs too early, the majority leave their job and return to benefits within the first 13 weeks. In a survey of 500 New Deal customers by Prospects, 67% of customers felt they were made to job search too early and that problems preventing them from working were not dealt with fully. To address this, our customer journey ensures that individuals are at an appropriate point in their journey prior to being referred to the Employment Support Team to search for work. The estimated average timeline for each customer group in our model is different according to their distance from employment. Prospects holistic approach will help customers achieve sustainable employment because every aspect of a customers life including location and access to transport, experience of generational unemployment, health issues, caring responsibilities, disabilities, work experience, qualifications/skills and motivation and confidence will be assessed and addressed. Prospects will ensure all customers undertake a minimum of one activity per week (building on frequency/length during their engagement on programme) to help them prepare for the structure of a working day. Rationale for including some of our innovative activities are explained as follows: Ascent workshops: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) based workshops which address the 6 core Ascent areas (Annex 1.3). Rationale: Use of CBT has been proven to provide "jump start" results with up to 46% of people making significant progress within just 12 weeks of undertaking a CBT session. Heroes to Inspire: Ex-service people will provide motivational workshops and mentoring. Rationale: Prospects recently recruited an ex-naval chief to work with Gateway to Work (GTW) customers As a result job entries for GTW doubled over a 6 month period, 87% of customers citing the ex-naval chief adviser as being the major contributing factor to feeling more motivated to find work. Reality Camps: Provision of outward bound style 5 day course away from the customers home area. Rationale: Feedback from customer motivational away days stated: 92% of customers had gained new skills, 79% had made new contacts that could

help them to find a job, 96% felt better about themselves and 88% felt more motivated to find work. Ascent Skills Enhancement Projects: Community/social enterprise projects will enable customers to increase their skills and gain valuable references - mandated activity for some customer groups. Rationale: 82% of customers (recent Prospects survey) stated that they believed real work would help them to find a job. 78% of employers surveyed stated that recent experience in the work place was a contributing factor in selection. Employer Solutions Team Adviser (ESTA) - Intelligent Job Search: All job search activities will take place 1:1, with the ESTA undertaking applications on behalf of the customer. Rationale: 63% of customers surveyed felt that job search in a group was distracting and did not improve their chance of securing interviews. 97% said they would have been more successful if they had undertaken 1:1 job search only. Multimedia support via The Listening Company (TLC): Multi-media support will be accessible for all customers via their online Ascent Progress tracker and a helpline available Monday to Friday 08.00- 23.00. Rationale: 53% of customers stated they often wanted to speak to an adviser outside office hours. 26% of customers said they often found it easier to discuss difficult issues on the telephone or by email. A research project called Do helplines work? found that Many service users spoke about their relief of being able to talk about things .. as well as obtain advice, particularly out of hours The benefits to the individual customer groups of this approach Prospects customer journey is highly flexible enabling customers varying needs to be addressed. This means that individual customer groups will benefit from support tailored to their requirements. The Ascent Programme has been developed to tackle six core areas which our experience indicates need to be addressed to change behaviours, tackle issues and achieve sustainable employment (see 4.1 & Annex 1.3). Many customers share common barriers to employment, for example: low confidence, low self-esteem, low sense of self-worth, low motivation levels, poor personal presentation, out-dated skills, poor job search abilities/lack of job search tools, no/little/fragmented work experience and fear or losing their benefits and returning to work. Every Ascent Intervention benefits the customer by tackling at least one of the above issues as demonstrated below:
Come Dine With Me Relocation, Relocation Achievement Projects Skills Enhancement Projects Community Projects Aspiration (C & R) Motivational Speakers Ascent Employability Kit Ascent Online Tracker Intelligent Job Search Ascent Workshops Well Being Groups Ascent Sports Teams Specialist Support Heroes to Inspire Reality Camps Life Checks

All Customers (potential needs and barriers)

Low motivation levels Low self confidence Lack of recent transferable work skills / references Personal presentation

issues Low self-worth Lack of work ethic Fear of returning to work and losing benefits Lack of job search tools Lack of job search skills Low level functional skills

We have highlighted below the Ascent Programmes examples of benefits for customer groups by benefit type and addressed specific needs: Customers claiming job seekers allowance We are aware that the range of customer groups claiming job seekers allowance is highly diverse. We have compared their similar needs and how they will benefit from the Ascent customer journey above. To ensure that our programme benefits all customer groups we have engaged end to end partners and specialist to implement Ascent and provide specific support. For example, a key characteristic of the JSA 18-24 group (research from CTF in Devon and Cornwall 2010/11) is that many have chaotic lifestyles - 40% from single parent backgrounds; approximately 20% from 2nd and 3rd generation unemployed families; almost 30% have a criminal record; many use recreational drugs. We have engaged partners including Barnardos to support young people who have left care, have mental and physical health issues/disabilities and require additional support to access and maintain employment. Their track record is good - 80% achieve independent employment. JSA 25+ - key characteristics include significant periods of unemployment and reliance on benefits so many are fearful of living independently and sourcing work. Prospects will use Heroes to Inspire, Ascent Workshops, Life Checks, Aspiration and motivational speakers to raise confidence levels and demonstrate a more productive lifestyle off benefits. Specialist providers will demonstrate budgeting techniques, better off in work calculations and the Ascent Cohort Adviser will promote in-work benefits. Many 50+ customers (84%) believe that they are victims of age discrimination we have engaged partners with extensive experience of working with this group e.g. Tomorrows People who deliver Working Communities in Bristol focusing on older people. Tomorrows People also has specific experience with ex-offenders and people with mental and physical health issues/disabilities, lone parents/disadvantaged parents and will work across many of the customer groups including JSA Early Access which will includes some of the hardest to help customers e.g. offending, housing, debt, functional skills and mental health. Early Access includes young people with significant barriers and NEETs (not in employment, education or training). Prospects has engaged specialist partners such as Fifteen Cornwall who train disadvantaged NEETS (long term workless, mental health and learning difficulties, homeless, BAME groups in particular) to become chefs. Our partner, the Princes Trust helps young offenders back into employment, education or training (EET) dealing with the most disadvantaged. In 2009/10 they supported 3,000+ disadvantage young people in the South West; 80% moved into EET. JSA Ex IB many ex-IB people will have been unemployed for a significant period of time and may resent having to look for work, feeling the decision to move them to JSA was

unfair. Our model will enable us to address their attitude using CBT trained advisers and Ascent Workshops. Partners engaged to work with ESA/IB customers include St Loyes Foundation who focus on helping people with disabilities and health conditions. Over the past 4 years 49% of the people they helped found work and over 50% sustained their job during this period. The Ascent journey provides the flexibility to work with specialist partners; customers will benefit from excellent support network including Access to Work, CAB, MIND, Workways and DEAs. Employment Support Allowance customers Prospects model enables us to meet the very varied needs of the ESA groups by providing Ascent interventions to match their specific requirements. We have planned longer periods of time in which to support them; we expect to work with the average customer for 52 weeks before they get into work. ESA customer groups will benefit from additional assistance from the Employer Support Team who will be working with employers to provide opportunities in their local area so that any disabilities or health conditions the customer has can be managed effectively in work. This will include job carving, slivers of time and in-work support. We will work closely with the Access to Work teams and ensure that customers are clear about any additional in-work benefits they can access to make work sustainable. We have designed the Ascent Programme so that this group of people, some of whom are likely to have very severe disabilities either cognitive, mental or physical, will have the confidence to commit to their customer journey. We have selected partners (See St Loyes above) who have experience of working with people with disabilities and long term ill health and we recognise, for example, that ESA Volunteers are unlikely to be ready for the labour market immediately. They will need specialist support provided by our range of partners in addition to working with the Ascent Cohort Adviser who will recommend the most suitable interventions in keeping with the customers individual limitations, yet focusing on what the customer can achieve. Voluntary ESA Flow customers are likely to be in a similar position. Abilities Ltd, a key partner, specialises in helping people with disabilities and long term health issues return to work. Partners, including PLUSS specialising in mental health, physical disabilities, learning difficulties, 50+ and offenders will support our customer journey across a range of groups including the ESF IB/IS group. The IB volunteers will have similar requirements to ESA volunteers and therefore the Ascent Programme will benefit them by providing a flexible journey which will adapt to their requirements. A high percentage of customers claiming IS are likely to be lone parents or people with caring responsibilities. Many will have been unemployed for a considerable period and will need advice and support across a range of indices e.g. updating skills, increasing confidence, knowledge of the labour market and understanding in-work benefits. Our programme will provide them with the varied support they require and Ascent Workshops will help them breakdown negative patterns of thought regarding their abilities and the work option. Prospects understands that a major concern for lone parents and carers is how to fit care responsibilities around work. ESTAs will work with the customer to decide availability for work sourcing flexible employment opportunities to accommodate these specific time periods. In-work support continuing up to a year and a half after they enter work will provide them with additional confidence to stay in work.

[4.1b] Service Requirement DWP expect all customers to receive a minimum level of service. Please clearly define:

Your minimum service delivery levels for all customers within this CPA; Your rationale that supports your approach: How it addresses the needs by customer groups.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two sides of A4.

4.1b In accordance with the specification, compliance with DWP standards and current law (Equality Act 2010 in particular), expected customer volumes and indicative budget, we will provide the following to each customer as a minimum. We will also provide a copy of minimum service levels to each customer at their point of referral from the Jobcentre so that they understand what to expect and when. Specific service delivery levels 90% of customers will undertake an initial assessment within 10 days of referral Rationale: To ensure that following referral by their Jobcentre, customers will benefit as soon as possible from joining the Work Programme maintaining momentum, enabling their initial assessment to be completed quickly and maximising time on programme. All customers will be provided with an appointment with their Ascent Cohort Adviser (ACA) within 5 days of their initial assessment and will undertake their first Ascent intervention within 5 days of their meeting Rationale: In order to maintain momentum, it is vital to begin the relationship between the ACA and customer as quickly as possible, eliminating the possibility of losing the customer between referral and start on programme No customer will be at a financial disadvantage from attending the Ascent Programme. All travel costs will be reimbursed, childcare funded and carer support supplied for all approved Work Programme activities Rationale: Work Programme customers will have little disposable income and will need additional support to attend. Programmes that provide entire cost refunds have a 40% higher retention rate than those that do not. All customers will have access to the Ascent Employability Kit and will receive a minimum of one item for example a haircut, personal hygiene kit, alarm clock, work or interview clothing Rationale: Prospects currently provide a discretionary fund on the CTF programme of 15.00 per customer. Job Entry rates for this programme are at 45%, which is double that of contracts where assistance is not available for personal items. All customers will have their own secure log-on for their Ascent Online Progress Tracker Rationale: All customers will have a unique ID which enables them to access their own information securely and can only be accessed by the customer, Prospects and The Listening Company to protect their data. All customers will be able to view their Personal Action Plan and Ascent Tracker online Rationale: Distance travelled is a key motivator in maintaining progression. Customers will be able to view their progress whenever they want and see how far they have moved towards their goals. Of particular importance in large rural areas is the opportunity to link with advisers and other support easily. The Ascent Tracker will be a personal portal to tips and hints on job search, job vacancies, adviser links and live web chat. All customers will be reminded of their Ascent appointments and interventions by phone and/or text following the appointment letter Rationale: Reminding customers of their appointments increases attendance rates comparison across a CTF contract found that attendance was 30% better after reminders. All customers will be able to contact an Ascent Adviser between 8am and 11pm Monday to Friday Rationale: Provides extensive opportunity for customers to follow up any concerns raised at interventions or during their job search. The extended contract time enables employed Work Programme customers to talk to an adviser outside office/core working hours. All customers will have an assigned Ascent Cohort Adviser Rationale: Customer builds trusting relationship with the adviser and communication links are easier. Retention and job outcome rates for programmes with assigned advisors are 35% higher.

All customers will receive 1:1 contact with their Ascent Cohort Adviser once every two weeks as a minimum Rationale: The adviser will work closely with the customer assessing progression and providing the driving force towards sustained employment helping the customer adapt their customer journey/action plan to keep them moving forward. All customers will undertake at least one activity per week on the Ascent Programme Rationale: Customers who engage less than once a week are less likely to remain engaged with the programme and less likely to gain employment. All Ascent Cohort Adviser 1:1 contact will take place within 30 minutes travel of the customers home Rationale: Prospects has identified that customers who travel shorter distances are more likely to remain engaged than those who have to travel over 30 minutes. In Devon and Cornwall retention rates for customers within 30 minutes of a delivery centre were 36% higher than those who had to travel further (Community Task Force 2010). On progressing to employment all customers will benefit from weekly contact until week 24 followed by fortnightly contact until week 26, followed by a minimum bi-monthly contact until sustainability has been achieved. All customers will have continued access to Ascent Workshops following entry into employment for a minimum period of 12 months Rationale: Many customers experience a difficult transition period when they first find work. All customers will receive continued in-employment support to ensure sustainment. The Ascent Workshops are motivational and confidence building and will continue to support them until they are settled. How our minimum service delivery levels address the needs of the customer groups Prospects minimum service delivery levels focus on ensuring that all customer groups have equal opportunity to access the Ascent Programme. We have taken into consideration customers who may have specific barriers, such as physical disabilities, which could make travel on public transport difficult. We are therefore committed to ensuring that no-one has to travel further than 30 minutes for contact with their ACA, and to paying travel costs. A key consideration for all the groups we will work with is to maintain their involvement. We are therefore committed to making sure we complete our initial assessment within 10 days of their referral from JCP, followed up by their first 1:1 with their assigned Ascent Cohort Adviser within 5 days of their assessment. We are aware that some of the ESA/IB and Early Access groups in particular, may need more support than others to participate. Our minimum service level will ensure that all customers, even the most reluctant, will be followed up assiduously. We will use these service delivery levels to monitor our supply chain including specialists. A key barrier to the ESF IS group will be the cost of care. By promising to provide facilities/funding for this we will ensure that lone parents and carers can access the Ascent Programme fully. Provision of additional support costs, particularly for people with disabilities/health issues will also help customers attend. The provision of an online site giving 24 hour access to a customers personal action plan and progress together with a helpline available from 8am to 11pm Monday to Friday benefits all customers, but in particular people who have limited mobility (ESA/IB), caring responsibilities which keep them at home (IS and JSA groups) or anyone living in a remote area with poor transport links.

PART 5:

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

[5.1] Delivery Strategy Please describe in detail your delivery structure for all elements of the Work Programme provision across this CPA and explain why you consider your delivery strategy to be the best approach for customers in this CPA. You should clearly state how you intend to work with your sub-contractors and how you will ensure the needs of all your customers, including the hardest to help, are fully addressed from within your supply chain including voluntary sector organisations where appropriate. Please also complete:

Annex 2 to show the structure to be put in place within the supply chain to deliver the Work Programme provision in terms of overall percentage of delivery, specialism and geographical coverage; and Annex 3 (Sub-contractor Declaration) for your proposed sub-contractors as appropriate.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to three sides of A4.

5.1 Overarching Strategy: Our delivery structure to deliver the Ascent model includes key strategic partners, end to end subcontractors responsible for the core customer journey for up to 104 weeks plus in-work support for all customer groups and specialist partners. Annex 2 does not include local stakeholders and programme partners from the voluntary and community sector and statutory services who will support customers journeys and be a key part of our delivery structure. Strategic Partners Rationale: The Listening Company (TLC) will (alongside other services) provide freephone support for customers from a trained Advisor(s) between 8am-11pm Mon-Fri including in-work support as well as providing online access. Napier University research suggests that telephone helplines are particularly popular with job seekers in rural areas. TLCs service will help overcome transport barriers to physical jobseeking support in CPA11 as well as increasing the accessibility to key disadvantaged customers including lone parents, carers and those with disabilities. Ufi will provide licensed flexible access to online, employment focused accredited and non-accredited learning to join up skills acquisition with the customer journey. Our partnership with Ufi recognises that physical access to post 16 skills provision in the south west has been highlighted as a key barrier in the South West England Skills Priorities Statement 11/12. Our delivery structure at a local level brings together a coalition of organisations from the private, public and voluntary sector who have a proven track record of supporting disadvantaged and hard to help customers into sustained employment locally and are strongly embedded within their local communities. Somerset Rationale: Key localised challenges include flexible delivery for rural customers, pockets of deprivation in West Somerset and the main towns and meeting the needs of the relatively high number of micro employers. Prospects will directly deliver to customers across all eight customer groups through bases in key hubs, complemented by outreach. Prospects has a strong track record of working with the long term workless in Somerset, including multiple disadvantaged and disabled customers supporting on average 550 long term workless customers into employment per annum in Somerset through New Deal (prime contract) and Work Choice and DWP ESF subcontracts (aimed at the hardest to help customers and those with health conditions and disabilities on IB/ISA). Currently 44% of Prospects DWP ESF customers are progressed to employment on shorter programmes than the Work Programme. Prospects delivery to the IB/IS group across Somerset will build on our delivery of an ESF programme, 4Wards Into Work, aimed at customers with mental health and musculoskeletal difficulties across Somerset which engaged with 300 customers and progressed 260 people (86%) into employment or a positive outcome. Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (BDP) Rationale: Key localised challenges in Dorset include rurality, pockets of deprivation in Boscombe and Melcombe Regis and higher than average lone parent numbers in East Dorset. Abilities, a third sector, locally based user/disability led organisation with advocacy at their core, will deliver in Weymouth and West Dorset as well as providing outreach capability. Abilities have delivered exceptional employment outcome performance on their New Deal subcontract in BDP with between 37 and 49% of customers progressing to employment in 09/10. Bournemouth and Poole (B&P) College will offer coverage across Bournemouth and Poole urban areas and suburbs. B&P College have a strong track record in the sub region with 46% of customers on their current New Deal prime contract progressing to employment. Additionally the college will also bring extensive supporting pre and post-employment training funded through SFA mainstream funds across the sub and wider region. Prospects will also

deliver, principally in Bournemouth and Poole, and has a strong delivery track record locally. For instance on our former Programme Centres contract in Dorset 45% of customers, through relatively short interventions, progressed to employment. Prospects experience of delivering to IB and IS claimants will build on two local ESF funded projects. Melcombe Regis (Deprived Area Fund) engaged with 100 customers and progressed 55 customers into either employment or training. Parents into Work engaged with 376 customers and progressed 51% into a positive outcome. Devon, Plymouth and Torbay Rationale: This area has the challenge of urban and rural customer bases, lone parent claimants are significant in Plymouth and Torbay and a high proportion of 50 plus customers in some areas. Westward Pathfinder (WP), a charity, with a strong track record of delivering employment and skills related provision through a network of pathfinder outreach locations and links with community based organisations across rural areas will deliver in Exeter and Torbay and North Devon. Through offender contracts WP have considerable expertise of working with this key target group in Devon. In Plymouth/Devonport Groundwork South West and Tomorrows People, successful third sector organisations with strong community links, will share delivery; both have experience of helping the hardest help groups, including those with disabilities, and successfully using social enterprise, community and environmental based initiatives to support people into sustained employment. Tomorrows People currently deliver Pathways to Work in Plymouth (subcontracted) and localised programmes such as Getting Devonport Working (achieved 38% of starts into employment) and Workroute in North Prospect (achieved 32% of starts into employment in the latest operational year). Groundwork South West has created 776 employment opportunities for long term unemployed young people through their Future Jobs Fund work in the CPA in the 6 months between October 09-March 10. Prospects will invest in new locations by contract rollout to directly deliver across rural South, East and Mid Devon. This will provide closer support for the supply chain in this sub region where we anticipate the largest flow of customers; build closer links with programme and strategic partners and a further base for managing across the geographically dispersed Devon and Cornwall area. Cornwall & Scilly Isles Rationale: Our delivery strategy here is for grassroots, community based provision to meet the considerable challenge of rurality and localised hotspots of worklessness. Access Training is experienced at delivering peripatetic support to disadvantaged workless customers, as well as providing mental health support and mentoring. Mental health has been identified as particularly significant factor in worklessness in Cornwall. Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change (CN4C) is a community based charity and social enterprise with a peripatetic model of employment related delivery and will deliver across Bodmin, Bude, Launceston, Liskeard, Penryn/Falmouth and Penzance. CN4Cs vision is to create vibrant and thriving local communities. Over the last eight years they have helped 1,500 individuals into employment, 120 individuals to set up their own business and worked with 102 grassroots community groups. On Cornwall Works Plus (ESF co-financed) aimed at unemployed customers, CN4C has supported 60% of customers into employment. Groundwork South West will also deliver in Cornwall from Truro. Groundwork will also be able to support delivery through their outreach work clubs delivered via a mobile classroom facility in local communities. Meeting the needs of the hardest to help and specialist need: Our end to end delivery providers will be supported through a network of specialist support providers. Devon, Dorset and Somerset have a higher number of ex-offenders and we have commissioned Dorset Probation Trust, Avon and Somerset Probation Trust and Westward Pathfinder (the latter through their mainstream provision) to deliver additional support to this customer group. We have also commissioned support for end to end providers across the

CPA to support customers with severe mental and physical disabilities through third sector organisations Pluss and St Loyes who have proven local track record. Shelter will provide homelessness advice and support to customers. Close working is already embedded with specialist drug and alcohol agencies including Turning Point. 18-24 unemployment has been growing (alongside NEET levels in some areas) so to reflect customer need we have included the Princes Trust and Barnardos who deliver evidence based interventions that help young people into sustained employment. The south west has the highest proportion of self-employment in England (particularly in rural areas). We have commissioned Gloucestershire Enterprise Ltd (GE), who currently support 250 business start-ups per year, to deliver self-employment support across the CPA. Specialist partner Meridian Business Support, operating recruitment solutions across the CPA, will offer an additional dimension to provider Employer Solutions Teams and have helped source 650 jobs across the south west in the last year. Triangle Fusion run the Apprenticeship Training Agency across the south west and will increase access to employed apprenticeship opportunities for our customers. Our supply chain will also be able to directly deliver pre and in-work training through SFA mainstream contracts, integrating the employment and skills journey for customers. Capitalising on the strengths of voluntary and community activity: Community projects and the strength of voluntary and neighbourhood organisations in helping the long term workless back to employment also feature strongly in our delivery structure. The value of these has been shown on our CTF prime contract in Devon and Cornwall where third sector organisations such as ReZolve Kernow, Cornwall Foundation of Promise, Groundwork South West, Volunteer Cornwall have pioneered community work-like activity/social enterprise creation delivering high levels of customer satisfaction (95%) and importantly helping 45% of customers into employment in the open market. Programme Partners: Key programme partners will include transport accessibility schemes such as Devon Wheels2Work; Cornwall Wheels to Work and Learning; Somerset Moped Scheme and Slipstream in Dorset. Prospects and our partners have embedded relations with local community and statutory services such as mental health services, Drugs and Alcohol Action Teams, housing, Childcare/Sure Start centres and community organisations. Alignment of these services with Work Programme delivery will be a key to the successful delivery of the Ascent Programme. Working with subcontractors and evolving the delivery structure Prospects approach to working with subcontractors will embed Merlin principles including transparency, clear performance expectations and open dialogue. All partners will have a nominated supply chain manager. Whilst providers will be trained and expected to deliver to the Ascent delivery model and achieve specified service levels and job outcome and sustainment levels, we will encourage providers to innovate and tailor their delivery to the local needs that they understand best. Underpinning our working relationship with partners will be a commitment to sharing good practice which Prospects will facilitate through quarterly good practice events. We also recognise that the overall supply chain will need to evolve and strengthen over time and that our partners will be key to supporting this. For instance, on taking over the CTF contract in Devon and Cornwall in January 2010, a new area for Prospects, through regular open dialogue and intelligence sharing with end to end delivery partners, we have been able to identify new customer needs and quickly bring on new programme partners. [5.2] Management Structure

Please provide: a description of the proposed management structure and how the required management skills and expertise, including working with local stakeholders, have been identified and will be delivered. You should also include a description of associated responsibilities and reporting lines ; a description of how you will work with the management teams of any supply chain organisations and key delivery partners; and explain why your management structure is appropriate for the Work Programme within this CPA;

Please include an organisation chart (attach as Annex 4) showing the proposed management structure for the Work Programme for this CPA.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to three sides of A4. Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the organisation chart(s) which you must insert as Annex 4.

5.2 Management Structure Annex 4 page 1 shows that Prospects Employment and Training Senior Director will have overall operational and financial responsibility for Prospects Work Programme delivery in CPA11, 12 and 4, reporting to Prospects Board. This will include oversight of the commercial contracts with our three strategic partners, TLC and Ufi who are supporting our delivery across all CPAs. Page 2 of Annex 4 shows our locally based senior operational management structure which we propose for CPA11, with four Prospects full time Operations Managers (OMs) reporting to a full time Operations Director (OD). The OD role has overall responsibility for the implementation and programme delivery in CPA11 over the life of the contract, as well as stakeholder reporting and management and will be central to embedding and engaging Prospects and our partners with regional and sub -regional partnerships and local large-scale employment opportunities. The OD has an in-depth understanding of the strategic context in the south west, good presentational and networking skills and track record of successfully delivering benefits to local customers. Management Structure Rationale The Operations Director is an existing Prospects staff member with over 10 years successful welfare to work director-level operational experience in the south west. Supporting the OD will be existing Prospects corporate managers and their support teams. This will include a Company Development Manager (existing staff member) reporting to the OD during the implementation stage of the contract who will co-ordinate the activity of corporate managers. Corporate managers covering functional disciplines including quality, information security, health and safety, procurement, finance, information technology, HR, facilities management and legal services have already supported the implementation of contracts valued at over 25m per annum over the last six months. They will provide support to the contract throughout its lifetime. Reporting to the OD the Operations Manager Supply Chain (SC) will manage a team of two Supply Chain Managers (SCMs) (page 4 Annex 4) based in and covering Cornwall and Devon; and Dorset and Somerset including Bournemouth and Poole. This management team will contract /account manage all delivery in their geographical area including Prospects own delivery using forensic monitoring of MI from the Ascent MI system; monthly contract reviews and action planning; and where necessary notifying the Operations Manager Performance of the need to enact notices to improve. Supply Chain Managers will be the first point of contact with partners management teams and will also manage localised relationships with Jobcentre Plus. Whilst these are new posts we feel that there is a strong chance that existing, experienced welfare to work managers/Team Leaders both internal to Prospects in the south west or TUPE transfers will, with further Prospects training, be well suited to these roles. The Operations Manager Performance (page 5 Annex 4) will oversee operational and financial performance across CPA11, ensuring that targets are being met and initiating notice to improve action where required this is a vacant post requiring a broad experience of performance management, not necessarily in the welfare to work sector. The OM-Performance will manage a Finance Manager; Ascent Cohort Managers based across Dorset, Somerset and Devon, overseeing Prospects Ascent Cohort Team Leaders and Prospects Cohort Advisers responsible for ensuring customers get into and remain in employment. These posts are existing posts filled by experienced Prospects welfare to work managers with strong knowledge of local provision and operational delivery. The OM Performance will also oversee the work of the Employer Solutions Team Manager overseeing Prospects employer engagement and vacancy sourcing and in-work support

for customers the current staff member holding this post has 20+ years of recruitment experience including working with welfare to work customers. The OM Performance will also manage the Engagement Team Manager and Advisers who will encourage customers to join the Work Programme who do not respond to the initial engagement call from The Learning Company; this will ensure that the maximum number of customers start after being referred. The Operations Manager Delivery (page 6 Annex 4) is a current Prospects employee with over 20 years of welfare to work management experience in the south west of England who will oversee Prospects direct delivery in Somerset, Dorset and Devon, managing Ascent Delivery Managers and Team Leaders based in Somerset, Dorset and Devon. These management posts are filled by Prospects staff managing welfare to work provision in the south west. The OM-Delivery will also line manage the Innovation and Multimedia Team Leader (new post) responsible for formal communication with partners, stakeholders and customers across the CPA via the innovative use of multimedia throughout the Ascent programme. The Operations Manager Business Support (page 7 Annex 4) is an experienced welfare to work manager in Prospects south west team who will oversee the local support function across the CPA. The PRaP Manager will manage the PRaP Co-ordinators; two Quality Managers who will drive quality improvements to the customer journey across the supply chain of which one (vacant) will oversee staff observations and one (vacant) will be responsible for other quality auditing. Facilities and Health and Safety Co-ordinators will also report to the QM Audit & Compliance. The Observations and Evaluation Coordinator will report to the Quality Manager Observations and Evaluation. The Training and Development Manager (vacant post) will report to the OM-Business Support . The latter will be a new staff role requiring extensive experience of training and formal qualifications delivery as well as an understanding of welfare to work. Management Structure Rationale CPA11 presents a number of management challenges geographical size and scale; working with five unitary authorities (including the Isles of Scilly); four county councils; twenty local authorities; which is overlain by changing spatial configurations facilitated through the LEP process and very different localised issues faced by areas which are in close proximity to each other. We believe our management structure helps meet this challenge through: Locally based, well known staff with successful experience of managing and delivering welfare to work provision in CPA11 including New Deal (Somerset), Community Task Force (Devon and Cornwall), ESF Co-Financed Provision (Somerset and Dorset), Work Choice (Dorset) and JCP Support Contract (Somerset and Dorset), which gives them an understanding of the challenges and successful management strategies in the region. This localised knowledge will also apply to our partners local managers, all of whom have existing experience of successfully delivering welfare to work programmes in their locale The close monitoring of suppliers performance through two Supply Chain Managers and an Operations Manager Supply Chain across Devon; Cornwall; Somerset and Dorset recognises how the large geographical spread requires sub regional management rather than a pan regional approach. This approach will also facilitate better working relations and more frequent contact with partners; enable supply chain managers to really know their patch and partners and foster clear lines of communication. Our contract management approach has been particularly effective on Prospects CTF programme in Devon and Cornwall which was our first contract in the Devon and Cornwall sub-region The separation of the performance, delivery and business support management is informed by current good practice on our welfare to work provision. The rationale for

this split for the Work Programme is that high levels of performance and financial monitoring will require forensic monitoring and intervention from Ascent Cohort Managers and Team Leaders. This monitoring, if incorporated into delivery or support functions may dilute their key purposes of practical day to day delivery management and the quality of the customer experience The success of the Work Programme in CPA11 will be underpinned by the ability to integrate the Work Programme with key partnerships as well as alignment with changing regional structures e.g. LEPs. The OD will ensure that we are well placed to embed Prospects and our partners into regional and sub regional partnerships such as Cornwall Works and Employment and Skills Boards at a strategic level, and also practical working at a ground level to maximise the benefits from regeneration or largescale employment projects such as the nuclear build programme in Bridgwater, or low carbon initiatives e.g. wind farm build in Cornwall to ensure our customers benefit from these as much as possible. The OD will work with local Supply Chain Managers and subcontractors managers to strategically oversee the better local alignment of services for customers such as health and wellbeing, skills and transport, improving outcomes for all our customers and local communities. This community improvement focus and the benefits this can bring to customers is also reflected in our Supply Chain Manager posts who will work to develop this approach in Somerset and Dorset, learning from the important work of partner organisations such as Groundwork in Devon and Cornwall. Working with partners management teams Supply chain partners: Central to our partnership approach with managers of supply chain partners will be open and transparent account management and clear, unambiguous performance expectations. Local managers of end to end delivery partners and specialist partners will have one point of contact through their named Supply Chain Manager who will have monthly contract review meetings/action planning with them, initiating with the Operations Managers Performance notice to improve processes if required. Prospects OD for CPA11 will be the first point of contact for complaints/issues with local supply chain partners which cannot be resolved with their Supply Chain Manager as well as being the direct contact with partners senior management, who in some cases will be based outside of the CPA11 region. Prospects corporate managers will also work with the relevant staff member from partners functional teams (e.g. Personnel Manager or local manager), facilitated by the OD or Supply Chain Manager. The business support operational management team will regularly undertake monitoring and quality checking and deliver training and development across all supply chain partners. Key delivery partners: Relationships with Jobcentre Plus District Managers and Third Party Provision Managers will be sub-regionally managed by the relevant Supply Chain Manager, although our partners managers and staff as well as local Prospects managers will have local office-based relations with JCP staff as appropriate. Strategic relationships with partners such as local authorities and strategic bodies will managed by the OD CPA11 who, depending on their seniority, will be supported by the Operations ManagerSupply Chain and sub-regional supply chain managers. The OD will have overall responsibility for strategic relationships, including reporting on performance to strategic bodies either through existing structures such as employment and skills boards (which some sub-regional stakeholders have suggested) or other partnerships. We will expect all local managers across the supply chain to actively co-operate with the Prospects strategic engagement approach to better align statutory and community services across the CPA with our Work Programme delivery. [5.3] Management of Delivery

Please clearly describe: How you and your supply chain will manage and monitor the quality of delivery of the Work Programme to ensure that the whole provision within this CPA is of a consistently high standard and meets your minimum service levels;

Your approach to performance improvement activities for your supply chain as a whole, outlining how you and your supply chain will act on the findings of any monitoring activity including the resolution of issues from within your own supply chain, partners or other bodies.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to three sides of A4.

5.3 Managing and monitoring Prospects Ascent Management Information System, a secure online portal, has been designed specifically for our Work Programme model of delivery by our key strategic partner, The Listening Company (TLC). It will be central to monitoring and ensuring consistently high standards of delivery and the achievement of minimum service levels across the supply chain. Delivery and administrative staff (depending on their security access rights) will record each customers contacts, interventions and action plan reviews during their personalised journey to sustained employment. The Ascent MI system will alert Prospects and supply chain partners staff and management when individual customers have actions outstanding or fall behind their programme milestones. The Ascent MI system will enable live monitoring of progress at customer and aggregate customer level against our 13 minimum service level indicators and job entry, and outcome and sustainment contractual targets throughout our delivery. Our CPA11 management and performance review structure will enable a keen focus on quality and performance. End to end delivery partners and specialist partners will have clearly defined, measurable contracted volumes and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) combining performance (job entry, job outcome, sustainment by customer group) and minimum service level indicators ( specified in 4.1b); key qualitative indicators and measures, and a financial payment profile. Prospects direct delivery and partners direct delivery will be reviewed against KPIs at monthly contract review meetings with their Supply Chain Manager (SCM) who will account manage partners by sub regional geography (Cornwall and Devon and Somerset and Dorset including Bournemouth and Poole). Partners delivering across more than one sub-region will be managed by the Operations Manager Supply Chain. Contract review meetings will be informed by forensic, detailed performance data supplied by our Performance Management team and qualitative information provided by our Business Support functions including quality monitoring and customer feedback analysis. Our Performance Management function will provide daily, detailed forensic monitoring of the performance of Prospects and our partners, making full use of the Ascent MI system, and enabling early intervention to avoid performance slippage. For Prospects delivery in Somerset, Dorset and Devon Ascent Cohort Managers/Team Leaders will, using the MI system, pro-actively identify customers behind their programme interventions/milestones and work with the responsible Ascent Adviser to help the customer back on track. Where contract review meetings identify under-performance against minimum service levels, outcome targets or quality measures, a timebound action plan (reviewed at subsequent contract review meetings) will be agreed between the responsible SCM and partner. The plan will identify areas for improvement and agreed actions (with appropriate Prospects support e.g. training), with timelines for monitoring and review. Action plans will be copied to the Operations Manager-Performance and the Operations Manager Business Support who will log this on the quality improvement matrix. In circumstances of repeated under-performance against outcome targets or minimum service levels, refusal to implement action plans or failure to comply with quality standards, a notice to improve will be issued by the Operations Manager Performance and agreed by the CPA11 Operations Director. Notices to improve will be the first step to the removal from the supply chain of a partner (although in examples of gross misconduct Prospect will reserve the right of immediate dismissal) detailing the SMART improvements that must be achieved and explaining that failure to achieve will lead to removal from the supply chain (this will also apply to Prospects own locations). Prospects has successfully managed supply chains delivering employment provision in the south west for ten years and has implemented notice to improve processes leading to the removal of only one partner from

our delivery network. Our typical approach is to work with partners to improve their performance, offering them support through training/development which also helps to ensure consistently high delivery standards. We will have a dedicated business support management team across CPA11 which will include Training and Development Manager. The Operations Manager - Performance will cascade monthly data on individual partners performance against outcome targets and minimum service levels to enable transparent comparison of performance. Monthly data reports will also analyse performance outcomes and minimum service levels across all social groups. Action planning through the monthly contract review process will identify measures to address under-performance. At three monthly intervals throughout the contract, end to end delivery partners will have their delivery benchmarked by the Operations Manager Business Support against a star rating. The star rating will benchmark partners performance (against service levels and job entry, outcome and sustainment targets) and quality (compliance audits; customer feedback; observations) to provide a transparent rating of each partners provision. Quality monitoring implemented by our business support function will further standardise delivery practice across the supply chain. This will include: Observation of all delivery staff by the Prospects Quality Manager (Observations) or trained supply chain line managers at minimum six monthly intervals. Observations will use standardised paperwork and benchmarking against a tailored version of the Ofsted Common Inspection Framework. This will inform training and development undertaken by individual staff as well as the annual training and development plan developed by the Prospects Training and Development Manager Common practices and policies including Data Protection, Information Security, Equality and Diversity, Health and Safety, Fraud and Whistleblowing and Staff Development across the supply chain we recognise that some organisations in our supply chain have policies/ procedures which are equivalent to Prospects. Where these are not in place the OM Business Support will work with suppliers in the implementation stage to ensure these policies are in place Internal audit checks undertaken six monthly by the Prospects Quality Manager (Audit and Compliance) which will: assess customer journeys and experiences while they are on the programme using focus groups; check paperwork for financial and security compliance and check the continued suitability of premises to provide a professional location for customers which meets health and safety, DDA compliance, legal and customer needs by type. Performance Improvement Continuous performance improvement will be driven by our strong supply chain account management structure allied with the strong performance monitoring and quality monitoring processes which are outlined above. All our supply chain partners have strong performance management, staff development and quality management systems which have been assessed through our open and competitive tendering process. We will not duplicate or replace these systems; rather it is our role to set in place the structures, systems and processes that build on these. Our approach to facilitating performance improvement across the supply chain will include: An annual training plan for CPA11 which will be developed by the Training and Development Manager informed by contract review feedback; skills audits of staff across the supply chain; feedback from staff observations and audits and needs identified through customer and stakeholder feedback schedules (see below). The annual training plan will typically include a mix of formal qualification based training (such as NVQs in IAG which Prospects is accredited to deliver); themed training such as observations; MI use; self-assessment; employer engagement and

working with disadvantaged customers. This approach has been particularly successful on our Community Task Force (CTF) programme in Devon and Cornwall, which had positive feedback from partners and continuously improved performance against contractual outcomes Quarterly good practice sharing events arranged by SCMs this has been a particularly successful innovation on our current CTF contract in Devon and Cornwall and led to elements of delivery such as job search techniques from our best performing partners being cascaded across the supply chain Collection and analysis of customer, employer and stakeholder feedback. The Operations Manager Business Support will be responsible for implementing our approach which will include twice yearly questionnaires and canvassing of employers and stakeholders e.g. JCP; feedback; online customer focus groups using the Ascent MI system; quarterly customer satisfaction questionnaires (online and paper based) to customers and quarterly analysis of customer complaints. Customer feedback will be analysed and cascaded to partners management teams quarterly and through the monthly contract review process with action plans agreed to address improvements within a specified period. This comprehensive approach to soliciting customer, employer and stakeholder feedback has enabled Prospects to identify areas for improvement across a range of our welfare to work provision. For instance analysis of customer feedback from our New Deal basic skills programme in Somerset led to a change in the format of delivery improving job entry rates by 50% over the contract year. Prospects OM Business Support will oversee the annual self-assessment and improvement cycle across the supply chain. Each partner will self-assess their provision using performance data, feedback from customers, stakeholders and employers, audit and staff observation outcomes. Self-assessment reports will be moderated by the OM Business Support and each partner will draft a development plan setting SMART improvement targets and underpinning activity, agreed with their SCM to achieve clear performance improvements over the following year. Development Plans will be reviewed quarterly at contract review meetings. Prospects will have defined dispute resolution procedures in place set out in contracts with partners and published criteria for key stakeholders such as DWP, Jobcentre Plus, MPs or employers. Our dispute resolution procedures are based on the Office of Government Commerces Dispute Resolution Guidance incorporating a pledge between Prospects and all partners to abide by the commitment to resolve disputes appropriately. Partners (JCP and supply chain partners only) will initially be required to raise disputes and concerns with their SCM. If this does not resolve the dispute then they should set out their concerns in writing to the Operations Director for CPA11 (other partners should directly address concerns/issues to the Operations Director). The Operations Director (or deputy) will investigate the issue within five working days and provide a written response to the complainant. In instances where the response is not accepted by the complainant, the Operations Director will refer the matter to the Head of Prospects Performance Quality Unit (based at our Bromley Head Office) who will independently investigate the matter in full and report on the most appropriate form of action e.g. negotiation, mediation, conciliation, expert determination or worst case scenario litigation. The Prospects Operations Director will also, upon initiating internal investigation, notify DWP and be responsible for providing regular updates as requested to the relevant DWP Account Manager.

[5.4] Delivery Locations Provide details of the key delivery locations and explain how you and your supply chain will achieve full geographical coverage of provision for the delivery of the Work Programme within this CPA; and

Detail what you have taken into account in terms of the needs of the customer groups in determining this approach.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to four sides of A4.

5.4 Premises Location context/Delivery Strategy CPA11 is geographically one of the largest English Work Programme CPAs and is predominantly rural. To inform our understanding of premises need we have mapped the anticipated flow of customers per annum through different locations to ensure the availability of delivery sites to meet these needs, taking into account transport patterns and availability. All premises conform to core standards e.g. availability of job-search facilities, interview rooms and training areas as well disability access (all facilities are DDA compliant). Additional facilities are available at most venues for disabled customers and where further specialist support is required these can be accessed through our approved specialist partners - St Loyes and Pluss. Prospects and subcontractors are existing providers of welfare to work services in CPA11 with extensive experience of working with disadvantaged customers including people with severe disabilities/health conditions and older customer group. Premises have been adjusted/equipped accordingly and we have made provision for customers (key for group 8) needing childcare or daycare facilities. Poor public transport across CPA11 makes the location of delivery sites and availability of outreach crucial to the success of the programme. All of our premises are in central locations and we have made sure that our delivery sites are located in close proximity to bus and (where possible) train routes. Centralised delivery sites will enable customers to access complementary services which may not be available locally e.g. childcare, college training and specialist support. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset have existing transport strategies/initiatives, e.g. the SLINKY bus in Somerset which connects customers from outlying/rural areas to the main towns. Prospects will promote community bus/mini bus programmes in Cornwall and Devon and Door to Door Dorset, as well as specific schemes for those with disabilities through Ascent Cohort Advisers and customers personal online Ascent pages to ensure customers are able to access to delivery locations and the transport available to them. We will work with local authority transport officials to ensure joined up partnership working with these key programmes, as well as influencing local transport strategies through our strategic engagement work on behalf of our customers. As highlighted in previous questions all our customers will have access to freephone support from a trained adviser between 8.00 and 23.00 (The Listening Company) as well as online support (although we recognise that in some areas of the CPA such as Cornwall, broadband access is irregular) which will enable customers to access additional support flexibly, overcoming barriers to access in rural areas. Recognising customer needs We are committed to a minimum service level of 30 minutes maximum travel time for customers to visits their Cohort Advisers for their fortnightly 1:1 contact. Our premises have been strategically placed on main transport routes within each sub region and we will make use of outreach premises including local facilities such as libraries to ensure this is achieved. This commitment is recognition of the barriers and disadvantages that some of our customers face including disabilities ranging from the work-restricting to the most extreme, lone parenthood and caring responsibilities, all of which are compounded by rurality and poor public transport links. We recognise that shorter journey times increase the likelihood of customer engagement e.g. in Devon and Cornwall, retention rates for those within 30 minutes of a centre are 36% higher than those who have to travel further. To achieve our minimum service level we will require a genuine commitment to outreach delivery, using existing venues such as community centres, libraries or partners premises this delivery model reflects Prospects vision of a genuine community based programme which is shared by our partners, many of whom such as Westward Pathfinder Trust, Access, Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change and Abilities have been employing this

model of delivery for some time. Our Next Step model delivered in London at 300+ community venues and Next Step delivery in the Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber also provides a template and evidence for the success of outreach based approaches. In the next section we have highlighted our rationale for premises in each sub-region we feel that our approach offers the combination of a strong permanent footprint of high quality premises across the CPA11 combined with the flexibility of outreach delivery (all delivery sites will be health and safety vetted) which will ensure the full geography is covered. Please note that all of the premises below are DDA compliant. Supply chain delivery will be supported by key specialist partners included in Annex 2 (but not in the following list). FACILITIES Training room Tr Job search facilities JS Telephones Interview room/area IR Toilet Refreshment facilities R IT facilities Lift First aid facilities Photocopier Fax machine TRANSPORT LINKS/OTHER INFORMATION Access to On bus Walking distance Nearby car park(s) T B J train stations routes to local job centre and/or on street parking Delivery Locations Facilities (size sq/ft) Somerset (14.8% of the total volume of delivery) Prospects Bridgwater Tr JS IR R Prospects Frome Tr JS IR R Prospects Shepton Mallet Tr JS IR R Prospects Taunton Tr JS IR R Prospects Wells Tr JS IR R Prospects Yeovil Tr JS IR R Transport/ Other info. TBJ TBJ T B No J TBJ TBJ TBJ

Delivery Rationale/Coverage: In Somerset we anticipate the most significant flow of customers through our delivery site in the three major towns of Bridgwater (Sedgemoor), Taunton (Taunton Deane) and Yeovil (South Somerset) which are the most significant employment and transport hubs in Somerset (10.2% of the total customer volumes in CPA11). In the Mendip area which is predominantly rural, delivery will be provided at centres in the market town of Frome, Shepton Mallet and the cathedral city of Wells where we anticipate the most significant flow in the area. In South Somerset our premises will be located in Yeovil (which will also take some customers from neighbouring Dorset) servicing customers from the surrounding area of South Somerset. Prospects has developed strong links within the local communities and organisations in Somerset through ten years of welfare to work delivery, enabling us to co-locate delivery at community venues, for example in local village halls, which we will employ to deliver in predominantly rural areas such as the Mendip and hotspots of deprivation in West Somerset and elsewhere across the county. Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole (19% of the total volume of delivery) Prospects Bournemouth Tr JS IR R TBJ Bournemouth & Poole College Tr JS IR R TBJ Bournemouth & Poole (x3) Prospects Poole TBJ Tr JS IR R

Abilities Shaftesbury Abilities Weymouth

Tr JS IR Tr JS IR

R R

T B No J TBJ

Delivery Rationale/Coverage: Our anticipation is that 15.2% of CPA volumes will flow through Bournemouth and Poole (including suburbs), and our premises proposal ensures significant coverage for this area. A further 2.6% of the CPA volumes will flow through Weymouth and Portland (which is mainly non rural). East, West, North Dorset and Purbeck are principally rural areas, including market and coastal towns/resorts (examples of the latters being Swanage and Lyme Regis). Our partners Bournemouth and Poole College have additional delivery sites in market towns including Dorchester, Bridport (both West Dorset), Blandford (North Dorset - central), Shaftesbury (North Dorset - north); and Christchurch. Abilities use established outreach through co-location at Sturminster Newton (North Dorset) and Christchurch, as well as co-location at community partner venues such as NACRO. This will offer additional coverage across market towns on public transport routes. Both of of our partners (as a community college and third sector organisation) and Prospects are strongly embedded across the county and through extensive partnership working with local authorities, Primary Care Trusts and voluntary organisations will be able to facilitate outreach delivery at community venues across East Dorset and Purbeck. Some West Dorset customers will be serviced through our delivery site in Yeovil e.g. customers in Sherborne. Devon (51% of the total volume of delivery) Groundwork Exeter TBJ JS IR R Groundwork Torquay TBJ Tr JS IR R Westward Pathfinder Trust Exeter TBJ Tr JS IR R Westward Pathfinder Trust Torquay TBJ Tr JS IR R Westward Pathfinder Trust Barnstaple TBJ Tr JS IR R Westward Pathfinder Trust Bideford and Tr JS IR TBJ R Brixham (Community outreach) Groundwork South West Plymouth (x 2) Tr JS IR R TBJ Tomorrows People Trust Ltd, Plymouth Tr JS TBJ R (x2) Tomorrows People Trust Ltd, Devonport Tr JS IR TBJ R Outreach (x2) Prospects, premises to be sourced in Premises will be located centrally on public Tiverton and Newton Abbot (outreach transport routes and meet all premises delivery in Honiton and Totnes) standards Delivery Rationale/Coverage: Key hotspot locations will be in the Plymouth and Devonport, Exeter and Torbay areas. Six premises will cover the Plymouth and Devonport area where we are anticipating 24.4% of the customer flows across the CPA. We will have three sites in Torbay where we are anticipating 9% of CPA customer volumes and two sites in Exeter (7.4% of the CPA volumes). In rural areas outreach capacity will be critical. Westward Pathfinder Trusts rural Pathfinder Learning Centres which have pioneered innovative communications technology to enhance service delivery, will contribute to this based in Barnstaple (North Devon), Okehampton (West Devon), Braunton (North Devon), Westward Ho! (Torridge) and Lynton (North Devon). In Cornwall Groundwork South West have established mobile classroom facilities where advisers work in local communities and deliver services through outreach in village halls. Groundwork South West are currently extending this service throughout the south west region where there may be premises gaps or a need identified to address transport/rurality or mobility issues. This approach has proven successful in their delivery of the Future Jobs Fund and Community Task Force. Prospects will establish a new delivery site in Tiverton (servicing mid Devon) and also deliver outreach in Honiton (East

Devon). We will establish a delivery site in Newton Abbot (covering Teignbridge), and deliver outreach in Totnes to offer coverage of south Devon. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (15.6% of the total volume of delivery) Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change, TBJ T JS IR R Redruth Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change will T JS IR TBJ R deliver out of community outreach venues ensuring coverage of Penzance, Bodmin, Bude, Launceston, Liskeard and Penryn/Falmouth Access Training (South West) Ltd, St TBJ T JS IR R Austell x 2 Access Training (South West) Ltd, TBJ T JS IR R Redruth x 2 Groundwork, Truro TBJ T JS IR R Delivery Rationale/Coverage: Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly is predominantly rural with hotspots of worklessness in Penzance, St Austell and Clay Villages, Bodmin, CambournePool-Redruth, Launceston and Newquay where we anticipate 10.9% of the total CPA customers flowing through these areas. Delivery in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will need to demonstrate significant outreach due to poor transport links. Our partners Groundwork, Access Training and Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change are particularly experienced at adopting this approach using a range of venues such as arts centres, childrens centres, libraries and cafes this flexibility is particularly welcomed by customers in Cornwall and helps to ensure sufficient coverage across the county. Cambourne-Poole-Redruth, St Austell and Newquay will be covered by Access Training who already successfully deliver peripatetically. Cornwall Neighbourhood for Change have extensive experience of delivery throughout Cornwall through various contracts including Response to Redundancy and well established links with the local communities with over 100 outreach/community premises to ensure their delivery is in the heart of the community. They will cover Mid, North, West and East Cornwall through this approach. Groundwork will deliver in Truro and the surrounding area in Mid Cornwall. We will work with our specialist partners throughout the region facilitating outreach support for all customer groups. For instance, ReZolve has county wide relationships with stakeholders, third sector organisations and employers which could be utilised for delivery. Premises Strategy throughout the life of the contract Whilst the above represents our premises strategy at the start of the contract, we will continuously review the locations and delivery methods in line with feedback from customers, intelligence from stakeholders such as Jobcentre Plus Third Party Managers and District Manager, as well as analysis of volume fluctuations and changing customer groups. In these cases, Prospects Operations Director for CPA11 will be responsible for leading the change cycle of assess change - assess to facilitate new premises or delivery locations across the CPA, as well as updating premises standards and requirements across the supply chain. A key part of our strategic engagement with stakeholders, led by our Operations Director for CPA11 will be to engage with Dorset, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset County Councils, to provide written evidence (acquired through customer feedback) on the transport barriers faced by customers seeking employment to influence local Public Transport Strategies. In developing our tender we have undertaken an assessment of current transport strategies and initiatives locally.

[5.5] Volume Fluctuations and Customer Group Changes Describe how you and your Supply Chain will maintain service delivery in the event of fluctuations in numbers of customers and changes to the customer groups referred including potential alterations resulting from changes to the welfare regime referred to you (see Future Services Schedule). Your response should include the following: How you will maintain minimum performance levels; How you will manage expanding/contracting business as a result of Market Shift or economic factors without an adverse effect on service delivery.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two side of A4.

5.5 Prospects and Supply Chain Experience/Lessons Learned: Prospects and our end to end delivery partners, as established welfare to work providers, are expert at responding quickly and effectively to volume fluctuations/new customer groups whilst maintaining effective service delivery. For instance, in the last 12 months Prospects has: *Doubled premises size in Bristol within 5 days to accommodate Jobcentre Plus (JCP) anticipation of a growth in New Deal customers; *Scaled down provision in some of our Community Task Force (CTF) locations in Devon and Cornwall as a result of reduced volume flow, whilst maintaining service levels for all customers; *Rolled out a new, DWP funded programme for professionals and executives, across the whole of the south west within two weeks which has successfully delivered 65% of customers into employment. We have selected providers for our supply chain who through competitive tendering and dialogue have demonstrated an understanding, track record and the organisational structures/expertise geared to responding to volume changes and new customer groups, e.g.: peripatetic/outreach delivery (Access Training and Abilities); multi-skilling of staff (Westward Pathfinder); strong community working relationships (Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change). In order to ensure flexibility/responsiveness across our supply chain and maintain service delivery, Prospects and our partners will adopt the following core approaches: *Flexible premises leases negotiated with break clauses; using outreach locations and serviced offices to extend the reach of providers to address volume rises *Regional-wide contracts with staff enabling re-deployment in the event of fluctuating volumes; use of fixed term/temporary contracting staff to risk manage flow changes; speedy recruitment of new staff through Prospects recruitment agency CfA *Prospects/partners temporarily delivering in non-core locations to gap fill provision *Supply Chain Managers working with JCP Third Party Managers and District Managers and partners to understand anticipated customer group changes or volume flows to inform supply chain responsiveness; *Prospects Operations Director (OD), engaging with DWP and local strategic stakeholders e.g. LEPs and Employment and Skills Boards to understand the anticipated changes to customer groups/volume flow. In addition to this Prospects will commission (through procurement) new suppliers to meet volume growth; for instance we successfully commissioned a new end to end delivery partner in Plymouth within two weeks on our CTF programme in response to JCPs anticipation of additional volume flow. Customer Group changes: Prospects understands that target group make-up will change due to social, economic and policy changes. Our delivery structure commissioning reflects our anticipation that the number of customers with work-restricting/limiting disabilities will escalate significantly (current WCA re-assignments trajectories and proposed changes in conditionality). The number of lone parents (in addition to the ESF customer group) will rise (reduction in the age of the youngest child at which lone parents claim income support), particularly in Bournemouth, Poole, Plymouth and Torbay. We are likely see a rise in customers who have worked in the public sector, especially Plymouth, Taunton, Torbay and Exeter. Proposals to extend the joint claim offer to parents with adult children will require much more ward level family based interventions using approaches which have been adopted by our partners such as Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change. CPA11 has a relatively high number of offender claimants. Additional MOJ commissioned work will require capacity building of the services we have commissioned through Probation Trusts. In addition there will be the implications of the universal credit, changes to the economic cycle and socio-geographical complexion of locales. We will work with our supply chain to respond effectively to growing skills needs e.g. the green industry.

Central to managing the volumes/customer group uncertainties will be the embedding of our change management cycle across the supply chain through the lifetime of the programme, overseen by the OD. Prospects Change Management Cycle will involve: (1) analysis of change requirements e.g. market shift; new customer groups, projected reduction in volumes in Devon (2) assessment of the implications of change (3) time-lined, costed, fully resourced response (4) communication of change elements to staff, supply chain and stakeholders (5) implementation of the fully resourced response and (6) ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of the change implementation against objectives and performance (and if necessary re-institution of the change cycle). Managing expanding/contracting business: Our approach to maintaining service delivery in the context of expanding/contracting business as a result of market shift or economic factors will reflect our experience across the organisation. For example on our nextstep prime contract in London in 2009/10 the contract value and customer volumes were almost doubled as a result of the recession. The contract was also re-focused on workless groups and had a new delivery structure. The Regional Manager and Supply Chain Manager analysed the changes, assessed the capacity of the 40+ supply chain and put in place a plan which included: the recruitment of new Prospects staff; procurement of new partners to meet the needs of new groups/additional volumes and sourcing new outreach locations. A newly recruited MI Manager provided detailed information on performance against profile over the contract year to ensure that performance/service levels against targets were maintained; senior managers intervened when there was any evidence of slippage. Prospects Supply Chain Manager will hold quarterly reviews with supply chain and Prospects delivery team to assess staffing v actual volumes to ensure staffing is in line with proposed and actual volumes. Our proposed delivery model has a tolerance of minus/plus 10% on customer numbers before it impacts on staffing. Prospects Work Programme OD will be responsible for: analysing change requirements; consulting with partners; delivering a fully resourced and time-lined plan for action; communicating/ consulting with partners and assessing the effectiveness of the change intervention. In the case of Work Programme change management planning the OD will also bring in support from Prospects corporate managers, e.g. HR Managers for redundancy support. Prospects recognises that change can be unsettling for staff internally and externally: clear communication through Work Programme newsletters and Q&As will ensure that all staff/ managers are fully updated through the transition process. Maintaining minimum performance levels Strong performance management will be central to maintaining minimum performance levels in the context of volume fluctuations and new customer groups. Prospects and our partners will use Prospects Ascent MI system which will enable real-time, live monitoring of progress against targets/minimum service levels and will flag when these are near to or have been missed enabling the supplier and their Supply Chain Manager (SCM) to take immediate action. Prospects SCM will have contract review meetings with all partners (including Prospects own delivery managers) at monthly intervals using detailed data from our Ascent MI system. Where service levels have not been met, the Supply Chain Manager will investigate the reasons for this and agree a time-bound, SMART action plan to ensure that this is not repeated. This will include additional support the supplier may need from Prospects. For instance on our CTF programme we have instituted discrete training for underperforming suppliers including training in admin requirements, job search and employer engagement. This approach has worked particularly successfully and contributed to Prospects exceeding minimum service levels in the context of significant anticipated changes in volume flow.

[5.6] Managing the Customer Experience Please describe: How you will evaluate and monitor the quality of the Work Programme provision to ensure that it meets the needs of individual customers;

What procedures will be in place for handling complaints as well as feedback from customers of their experiences on the programme; and

how you will act on any findings.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two sides of A4.

5.6 Prospects is committed to delivering a service which meets the needs of each and every customer and this will be set out in our customer charter at their induction. We are committed to bringing together the best possible offer to meet customer needs in CPA11 of our Ascent model personalised to each customer, our choice of strategic partners, commissioning of local expert end to end and specialist partners and our commitment to better aligning local complementary services with the customer journey. We recognise that each customer will have highly personalised, complex, unpredictable and changeable needs at a cohort and individual level meaning that Prospects and our partners must understand these quickly, in order to respond effectively. Central to evaluating, monitoring and responding to the needs of individual customers will be our complaints and customer feedback processes and continuous improvement cycle described overleaf. Evaluating and monitoring the quality of provision to ensure that it meets the needs of individual customers *Operational Level: All customers will have an assigned Ascent Cohort Adviser (ACA) who will be responsible for meeting the customer at maximum fortnightly intervals to review their personalised Action Plan and undertake an Ascent assessment to understand the customers progress/needs. The ACA will use this information (which is entered on the Ascent MI system) to evaluate how well the customers needs are being addressed by monitoring their progress. In response to this review their action plan will be updated to reflect any new and emerging needs that they might have. The Listening Company advisers will update Ascent MI from their phone conversations and webchat with customers and this information will feed into our assessment of how successfully TLCs work is meeting customer needs. *Monitoring and evaluating performance: Prospects Ascent MI system will enable Prospects and our supply chain partners to monitor the needs of customers and evaluate how the Ascent model is meeting them. The Ascent MI system will record all customer interventions/contacts and Ascent assessments and a system of flags will highlight when customers fall behind their customer milestones, have not been contacted or have raised issues either online or on the TLC Freephone. Results from Ascent interventions across all delivery will be monitored and evaluated to measure the success of each type of intervention for the 8 customer groups. This information will be used to inform delivery and will ensure continuous improvement. Prospects Operations Manager (OM) -Performance will take responsibility assessing overall success of the Ascent model and implementing changes/adding interventions in response to customers and cohort needs. Ascent Cohort Managers/Team Leaders will task the customers Ascent Adviser with making sure that support given to the customer meets their needs. As highlighted in 5.3, monthly performance reviews with supply chain partners (and Prospects managers) will identify how far delivery is meeting the needs of all customers including by social group. *Engagement and partnership evaluation: To ensure we have a clear understanding of the needs of customers we will have monthly contract review meetings with delivery partners to understand new and emerging customer needs as well as quarterly good practice forums across the supply chain. *Evaluating the quality of the individual customer experience (feedback): Our approach to gathering customer feedback is based on current good practice on our welfare to work delivery. The Operations Manager Business Support (independent of operational functions) will be responsible for analysing and cascading feedback across the supply chain and ensuring follow up action to improve delivery. Our approach: Customer satisfaction questionnaires being issued to customers mid-way through

their customer journey and on exit from the programme as well as after specific interventions ( paper based or online to encourage greater completion take up) Quarterly cycle of customer satisfaction questionnaires using random sampling (online and hard copy) Web-based, online customer focus groups which customers will access through their personal Ascent journey webpage. We will hold local, focus groups on Mondays between 10am 11am facilitated by the Quality Manager Observations and Evaluation Monthly management floor walking at each Prospects and end to end delivery partner centre. This approach, based on managers actively soliciting feedback from customers at centres, is less formal but has proved extremely successful for instance, in our Weston centre this led to the re-configuration of the centre layout with a resulting improvement in customer satisfaction and outcomes. Customer compliments and complaints and customer feedback Prospects Customer Compliments and Complaints Policy will apply across all delivery. The Policy will be explained to all customers as part of their induction with their ACA and they will be required to confirm their understanding of this. The policy (available in a range of languages, large print, braille and audio format) will be publicised in all delivery centres/venues and online. Customer complaints will be treated in strictest confidence. Customers and their advocates will be able to register compliments and complaints in writing (using our Tell Us What You Think leaflets), by phone, in person and by email. All customer complaints will be sent to the OM Business Support who will acknowledge all complaints within 5 working days, investigate within 10 working days and provide a full response detailing action to be taken. If the complainant is not content with this response they can refer the matter to the OD for CPA11 within 10 working days who will re-examine the matter and either uphold the outcome or investigate further. If the complainant is not satisfied s/he will be invited to address their concerns to Prospects Executive Chair who will either commission mediation/resolution between the complainant and Prospects through the Performance Management and Quality Assurance Unit (PMQUA) or in serious cases, commission a full internal investigation chaired by the Head of PMQUA (who will notify DWP of the action being undertaken) and will make formal recommendations including referral to the Independent Complaints Examiner (ICE). Acting on complaints and customer feedback Every quarter the OM Business Support will provide an analysis of customer complaints and compliments, customer questionnaires and focus group conclusions for each partner. The Supply Chain Managers (SCM) will feedback results at contract review meetings with delivery partners (including Prospects own delivery) with timebound action plans agreed where customer feedback highlights key needs/changes. This approach has worked well, for instance, following customer complaints about induction the OM - Business Support improved induction by using more interactive materials. Customer feedback will inform the yearly self-assessment and development planning cycle all partners across the supply chain will assess the quality of their provision using customer, stakeholder and performance data and agree a development plan with their SCM which sets SMART targets for improvement. The OD and SCM will evaluate customer feedback at a subregional level to identify gaps in meeting customer needs and commission additional services and/or interventions. In cases of serious complaints, where this reaches the stage of referral to the Prospects Executive Chair, following the conclusion of the investigation or mediation by the Head of PMQUA, recommendations for improvements in systems and processes will be agreed with the Operations Director for CPA11.

PART 6:

RESOURCES

[6.1] Staff Resources Staffing Numbers, Job Titles and Roles Please provide: Details of the number of staff, shown as full time equivalents, you and your supply chain propose to employ to manage and deliver the Work Programme for this CPA. You should include a description of why you consider this staffing level is appropriate for this CPA at contract start date, together with details as to how you will manage the staffing levels as customer volumes rise and fall over the lifetime of the contract. This should include a description in detail of the number of staff to be drawn from current resources, those to be recruited by both your organisation and any supply chain organisations involved. Please provide details of how you have identified the skills required by staff in your organisation, and that of any sub-contractors, to deliver the service you have proposed at Section 4. You should describe how you propose to acquire staff with these skills or provide the appropriate training to ensure that these skills are available to commence delivery of the service on the date you have proposed. A resource plan should be provided (attach as Annex 5) showing how staffing, by full time equivalent and job title/role, will be allocated across this CPA and a description of the job roles of staff shown in Annex 5.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to five sides of A4. Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the resource plan which you must insert as Annex 5.

[REDACTED]

[6.2] Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) Please refer to the Provision Specification and Supporting Information before completing the following TUPE questions. [6.2a] TUPE Managing the Transfer Please detail your plans and those of any Sub-contractors for managing TUPE transfers which will/may result from this Work Programme contract. Your response should include: measures you propose to take under Regulation 13 of the TUPE regulations, (including any proposals to seek agreement to change terms and conditions of employment or any redundancies for organisational, technical or economic reasons over the life of the Contract), to enable you to meet their statutory requirements; how you propose to communicate with transferring staff prior and immediately after the transfer date; an outline of your plan of activity to transfer in staff; how you propose to work with existing employers to ensure a smooth transfer of staff; and details of how you plan to ensure that any Sub-contractors will fulfil the requirements of TUPE Regulations and any relevant Codes and Statements of Practice.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two sides of A4.

6.2a TUPE - Prospects and subcontractors Prospects has considerable experience of TUPE transfers, successfully managing the inward TUPE of 2,060 transferees from 52 organisations since 1995, including 800 staff in 23 transfers in the last two years. We intend to meet fully the requirements of the TUPE Regulations (and of A Fair Deal for Staff Pensions where it applies) and require our subcontractors to do the same. Prospects has extensive experience of outsourcing public services and establishing appropriate pension arrangements. We have three separate admission body agreements under which some 560 current employees participate in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Our admitted body agreement with the London Pensions Fund Authority for the LGPS is an open one and could immediately accept any TUPE transferred staff with this entitlement. Prospects is a participating employer in the Prudential Platinum Pension scheme to provide broadly comparable pensions for TUPE transferees in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. Platinum's core benefit structures are approved by GAD and covered by certificates of broad comparability. We also have experience of operating the Teachers Pension Scheme. Our in-depth organisational understanding of TUPE will inform our approach. Prospects will deliver a proportion of the service directly and subcontract the remainder; we will take a proactive lead role in managing TUPE across the supply chain, as we have anecdotal evidence that hands off approaches from Primes in previous transfers created difficulties. Subcontractors will be required to accept TUPE transferees in proportion to the volumes and locations of work they accept. When selecting subcontractors we have made them aware of their TUPE obligations, required compliance as a condition of contracting with Prospects, and stated that non-compliance will result in their removal. We fully recognise the complexity of TUPE in this programme, and will provide an experienced HR Business Partner (HRBP) in the CPA, to address these challenges and ensure coherence. S/he will provide Prospects lead Transition Manager, the transition team and our supply chain partners with guidance and leadership in managing the TUPE process, full time from April-August 2011. S/he will negotiate the transfer of TUPE transferees from their employers (transferors) with nominated lead contacts in each of our supply chain partners, and oversee compliance with our TUPE management process during implementation. S/he will provide on-going TUPE and HR support for Prospects and the supply chain throughout the lifetime of the programme as a 0.4FTE. Proposals to seek agreement to terms and conditions/redundancies We have no proposals at present for changes in terms and conditions, or redundancies, over the life of the contract. Any such proposals by Prospects or subcontractors for economic, technical or organisational reasons will follow a common process, proven in other Prospects contracts, overseen by the Prospects HRBP. During this process, we will identify the need for change and conduct a baselining exercise propose appropriate restructuring, circulate new job profiles (if required) consult and communicate with employees, and staff/union representatives, the reasons for and nature of changes required including any cost savings, proposed new structure, loss of posts and proposals for dealing with this identify groups of employees affected and consult them, with deadlines for comments devise and share the implementation plan and timescales consult further if redundancies are involved implement a fair, transparent exercise to fill available posts in the new structure conduct a performance review after six months. Plan to transfer in staff, working with existing employers and other Primes

With two Work Programme Prime Contractors and several existing providers in this CPA, effective TUPE transfers will require co-operation. We will agree with the other selected Prime Contractor, by mid-April, a joined up approach to existing service providers to obtain information and a common method for allocating eligible staff. Should agreement not be reached, Prospects HRBP will approach existing suppliers on contract award to request full, individual TUPE information i.e. total weekly hours/hours spent on welfare to work delivery; date of birth; job title; location; whether disabled; annual salary, pending increases; continuous service date; on costs; shifts, unsocial hours or premium rates of pay; any allowance and bonus details over the last twelve months, pending allowances/bonuses; pension scheme membership (if yes, scheme name, type final salary/ defined benefit/ stakeholder, % employer contribution); annual leave entitlement; notice period; current maternity/other long leave. We will also request job descriptions for each category of job; salary scales; employment terms and conditions; redundancy policies/conditions; Trade Union names/ recognition agreement/s; details of all trade disputes and industrial action at any time during the preceding twelve months. Prospects and subcontractors will meet existing providers immediately on contract award, explain how we will approach TUPE and arrange access to existing staff. On behalf of the supply chain, Prospects assigned HRBP and Transition Manager for the CPA will formally review the TUPE list and challenge the inclusion of employees not clearly assigned, removing the challenge if the evidence for TUPE is clear. At the conclusion of the brief challenge period, we will conduct a full assimilation exercise of eligible staff into appropriate posts with Prospects and subcontractors. Communication with staff/Regulation 13 Regulation 13 on providing information to and consulting employees on a transfer underpins our approach to TUPE transfer management. We will arrange the earliest possible access to transferring staff. We recognise that change can be unsettling and will inform staff fully and clearly about plans, expectations and changes that will need to be made as a result of the new programme. The HRBP will implement a communication strategy across the supply chain, to meet TUPE regulations and establish effective dialogue with transferees and their employers. We will implement our transfer plan between contract award and go-live on 18th July 2011 as follows: Timetable of consultation meetings with staff, representatives, trade unions Meetings with all transferees; group and individual Information to all staff about Prospects and subcontractors pension arrangements Measures Letter, timed appropriately, to transferors Assimilation process into new posts, facilitated with current providers ahead of contract start date as far as possible Question and answer newsletter and helpline to enable staff to ask questions Prospects and subcontractors existing staff informed of new contract Individual letters to transferees home addresses confirming transfers of employment ICT systems in place at contract start to allow full access for new staff to Prospects/subcontractors email and company intranets Welcome newsletter for all staff on day one and early welcome/corporate induction New, enhanced CRB/ISA checks through Prospects as early as possible (immediately, if without valid, current check); name badges/ID cards on transfer Mandatory training as part of induction for all staff across the supply chain in the first four weeks of their employment (dates arranged in advance of transfer). [6.2b] TUPE Managing the Transfer

Please supply details of what lessons you and any of your Sub-contractors have learned from TUPE transfers and/or major organisational change which will influence how you would handle similar issues in the context of this Work Programme contract including details of how it influences how you would manage any transfer/change which may arise as a result of this Work Programme contract. Please describe what aspects of TUPE you consider will be relevant to this procurement. Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to one side of A4.

6.2b Experience and Lessons Learned - TUPE and Organisational Change Prospects very substantial experience of implementing successful TUPE transfers (2,060 transferees and 52 organisations) has enabled us to refine our process and identify key stages of effective practice e.g. close working with transferors, clarity of planning, effective communication of accurate information, consultation with transferees and transferors, Measures Letters, early assimilation, regular Q&A newsletters, dedicated, experienced HR and Transition Managers and effective induction. Lessons from our experience will influence our management e.g. in addressing short timescales for transfer we will adopt the approach we took when transferring Havering Connexions staff in April 2008 (40 transferees from two providers in one month). We updated our Q&A documents twice weekly to unions and staff representatives, answering all questions, and the transfer went smoothly. Where existing employers are reluctant to provide access to their staff we will follow the example of Leeds Connexions transfer of 107 transferees. We demonstrated our willingness to work with the existing employer but made alternative arrangements to identify and resolve staff issues. This worked well and we were quickly given access to the staff. To address culture change in moving from one organisation to another, we will replicate aspects of the September 2010 transfer of 255 home based Ofsted Early Years inspectors in the North and Midlands. This involved conducting road shows for transferees to meet Prospects representatives and providing a full induction and training programme, ahead of transfer. A training needs analysis was undertaken with transferees within 4 weeks of transfer to inform a contract wide training plan. Other effective approaches evolved from lessons learned in TUPE transfers include buddying managers from the transferring organisations with Prospects managers to help the transition into the new organisational culture. Several of our subcontractors also have substantial, successful experience of TUPE and we have discussed this with them in detail. We will incorporate the lessons learned into our management of transfer in the Work Programme: Early, effective consultation and communication with transferees and their representatives, individually and in groups, including all-staff meetings to introduce the new provider and clarify expectations Positive engagement and additional support for transferees e.g. telephone helpline Intensive work with transferors, to obtain accurate information and establish positive working relationships with existing service providers Introductory visits to the new work environment for transferees Skills audits of transferees in relation to new roles, facilitating effective assimilation Negotiated release of transferees for contract specific training before transfer date, recompensing transferor for staff time and travel costs Formal welcome and thorough induction for all transferees from first day. Aspects of TUPE Prospects considers that all aspects of TUPE, covering employees terms and conditions, are relevant to this procurement. Our understanding is that staff currently employed on contracted out welfare to work programmes (with the exception of JCP staff reference DWP letter dated 24th January 2011 and Provider-led Pathways to Work/New Deal for Disabled People staff, reference DWP letter dated 9th February 2011) will be eligible to transfer under TUPE to new suppliers on their existing terms and conditions. Prospects HRBP overseeing the transfers will implement a full, compliant process including staff/representative consultation and review. Should either subcontractors or Prospects wish to change terms and conditions for ETO reasons, a proper process will be implemented as described at 6.2a. above.

PART 7:

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT]

[7.1] Local Stakeholders Please describe in detail how, in relation to this CPA you and your supply chain will engage with key local stakeholders including smaller and voluntary sector organisations to ensure effective on-going relationships with them throughout the life of the contract. Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to three sides of A4.

7.1 Prospects recognises the importance of establishing effective relationships with key local stakeholders, including smaller voluntary sector organisations throughout the lifetime of our Work Programme delivery to improve service delivery for all of our customers. We see key local stakeholders as including: Jobcentre Plus, sub-regional strategic groupings including Employment and Skills Boards and new and emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), local authorities and County Councils (in particular officials working in regeneration and transport strategies), adult social care services, local health services, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and successor GP commissioning bodies, Probation Trusts and existing local worklessness initiatives funded through alternative streams e.g. Cornwall Works and Plymouth Works. Local stakeholders will also include colleges and education and training providers, Childrens Centres and the range of locally based, smaller third sector organisations. Key challenges to implementing our approach over the life of the contract will be the changing complexion of local sub-regional groupings through the LEP process; new organisational structures (for instance the replacement of PCTs) and reduced public sector funding that will impact on the capacity/staffing levels of both public sector organisations and those funded through public funds. Building on current good practice Prospects and our end to end subcontractors and specialist partners in CPA11 already have significant experience of engaging effectively with local stakeholders. Our inclusion of a number of smaller voluntary organisations within our proposed delivery structure also provides evidence of our current engagement. Prospects has established links with the Director of the Regional Employment Skills Board and the South West Forum whilst developing our approach to the Work Programme and our Ascent model. Through Prospects welfare to work delivery across CPA11 Prospects managers have monthly case conferences with Jobcentre Plus local managers and Third Party Provision Managers. Local managers and Prospects staff have strong relations with local JCP Advisers. In Somerset Prospects works with Project Taunton a major regeneration programme combining the local authority, local businesses and charities. Prospects works closely with Taunton Housing Association, the Volunteer Bureau and St Giles Kennels. In Dorset Prospects is a member and former chair of Mindful Employer a network bringing together social care agencies, employers and providers of support services. In Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Bournemouth & Poole College is the largest skills provider across the sub-region and is a key partner of strategic groupings such as the Multi-Area Agreement. Abilities work with adult social care services across Dorset County Council and the two unitary authorities. In Devon Westward Pathfinders are a member of Devon County Council Productive Skills for Devon Workforce Development sub group. They are also represented on the North Devon Employment and Skills Board and work extensively with local voluntary and specialist organisations including the Volunteers Bureau, CAB, Poverty Action Groups, Bideford and Ilfracombe Regeneration, Tarka Housing and Freedom Trust. In Cornwall, Access Training are involved with local Chambers of Commerce, the South West Subcontractor Network and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Learning Partnership. Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change work with 102 grassroots organisation across the county. Our approach to local stakeholder involvement Our approach will build on existing links with local stakeholders across our supply chain, putting in place a detailed plan over the life of the programme to improve and embed engagement. We do not intend to take-over embedded relationships that work well we see our role as helping to maximise engagement for the benefit of the customer experience and ensuring the programme as a whole is strategically aligned with sub regional and local priorities/activity. The Operations Director (OD) for CPA11 will be responsible for overseeing our stakeholder engagement strategy and yearly plans, with the Operations Manager Supply

Chain and Supply Chain Managers in Somerset and Dorset; and Devon and Cornwall, taking daily lead responsibility for stakeholder engagement in their sub-regions. Contract Award and Communication Strategy At contract award Prospects will agree a marketing and communications plan with DWP/Jobcentre Plus (JCP) as part of the RAG Implementation Process. Part of this plan will include communication with local stakeholders, including third sector network organisations, about Prospects and our supply chain through our website, local media and direct e-mailing. This will provide information on our model; our aims for the programme; and a contact name for further information. The OD for CPA11 will lead this work and be responsible for setting up follow up meetings with local stakeholders two weeks after the contract award. We will send out a bi-monthly email newsletter to all local stakeholders building up our network and subscription list throughout the programme. The newsletter will include a list of local management contacts across the supply chain so that locally based stakeholders know who to contact about Work Programme delivery in their area. This approach has worked particularly effectively in engaging with new partners and generating interest in partnership working on our Community Task Force programme in Devon and Cornwall, building up the number of programme partners both from the public and third sector. Strategic Involvement To maintain the engagement of key local stakeholders throughout the life of the programme, the Operations Director for CPA11 will have meetings with key stakeholders across the CPA within two weeks of contract signing. In the first three months the OD will consult with partners, particularly Jobcentre Plus District Managers and Third Party Provision Managers, Employment and Skills Boards, SW Councils and actual and emerging LEP groups about the geographical coverage of this/these groups/groupings (to avoid duplication) with an understanding that different sub regions may wish to work with Work Programme suppliers differently. For instance some may wish to link the steering group to existing structures like Employment and Skills Boards (Workforce Development Strands) rather than a new structure. The strategic involvement of partners will bring a shared understanding of progress against contract throughout the life of the Work Programme and enable the strategic insights, experience and knowledge of partners to input into programme design and delivery throughout (aligning delivery more effectively with sub regional and local priorities). Prospects is also aware that steering group structures may adjust over the lifetime of the programme due to changing regional structures. Effective working protocols throughout the life of the contract Key partner for day to day working with Prospects and our supply chain will be Jobcentre Plus (JCP). Prospects currently have working relationships with job centres across the whole CPA through our welfare to work delivery (all of our partners as existing providers have strong local, job centre based relationships). Prospects will take responsibility for strategically managing the relationship with JCP through the Operations Manager Supply Chain (overall) and Supply Chain Managers in their respective sub regions. The Operations Manager Supply Chain and Supply Chain Managers will attend District meetings and liaise where appropriate between DWP/JCP and the supply chain partners at an operational level. We will expect our local partners and managers to establish strong working local relationships with individual job centres. We will share with JCP a regularly updated list of local contacts. Agreements, procedures and working protocols will be agreed with JCP to manage the referral of customers to the programme and referral of customers to JCP for sanctioning as part of the pre implementation of the programme. The Operations Manager Supply Chain will also be responsible for establishing agreements/working protocols with local partners delivering employment related provision through alternative funding streams, guidance services and local colleges to maximise the

benefits for customers and minimise duplication (in preparation of skills conditionality). Prospects has significant experience of developing partnership agreements with colleges and training organisations through our Next Step and Connexions work. Aligning local service delivery Central to our vision for the Work Programme is a better alignment of service delivery for customers at ground level, for instance, access to drugs and alcohol services, social care provision and debt counselling. This will build on Prospects current practise of inviting local and regional support services to work with customers in our network of centres. For instance, once every two weeks a member of the Turning Point Drug & Alcohol Team comes into a centre that we operate in the south west and provides an information service. At our Bristol centre we recently ran a Healthy Living Week for customers that was organised in partnership with NHS Bristol, Citizens Advice Bureau and Bristol Mind where customers gained direct access to support on-site. We see this sort of pro-active approach to engaging with local stakeholders and partners as being instrumental to improving the wellbeing of customers and helping them to overcome barriers to employment. Supply Chain Managers will be tasked with embedding this approach across the supply chain during the life of the contract, working with partners managers locally and also evaluating local stakeholder engagement at monthly contract review meetings. We will also use the Ascent online customer portal to communicate the availability of relevant support services for our customers. This will build on the already effective approach that has been developed on the Cornwall Works website. Transport strategies Poor public transport represents a significant barrier to employment in rural areas of CPA11 and the OD will engage with Dorset, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset County Councils to provide written evidence (acquired through customer feedback) on the transport barriers faced by customers seeking employment to influence local Public Transport Strategies. Engaging with smaller voluntary sector organisations Prospects will actively engage with the South West Forum (inviting representation onto the Prospects led strategic grouping if appropriate) which aims to strengthen the voice and influence of the third sector in the region as well as the local VCS networks. We have already got demonstrable links with smaller voluntary organisations in the region which is evidenced by our supply chain. To build on this, throughout the life of the programme we will also arrange twice yearly Work Programme networking and development events for smaller organisations. These have been very successful on our Devon and Cornwall Community Task Force programme - engaging new organisations as programme partners and increasing the innovation of our delivery for customers. Prospects Ascent Programme will be strongly embedded in each community. Within our delivery chain we have included third sector organisations such as the Cornwall Foundation of Promise (Fifteen Cornwall), ReZolve Kernow and network organisations such as Volunteer Cornwall, who will support an innovative approach to meeting the needs of customers. Evaluation of Engagement and Maintaining Impact The Prospects OD will be responsible for managing and monitoring our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and updating yearly plans. Throughout the lifetime of the programme the OD will initiate, through the quarterly good practice workshops, an assessment of the effectiveness of our stakeholder management across the supply chain. In addition to this the Prospects OD will also be responsible for soliciting formal feedback through a yearly questionnaire to key stakeholders. This will inform the annual plan of engagement which will include targets for stakeholder engagement and voluntary sector engagement. Across the life of the programme any disputes with stakeholders will be addressed through our complaints policy that is outlined in question 5.6.

[7.2] Employers Please describe in detail how you and your supply chain will actively engage with employers to develop proposals that accurately reflect local needs and describe how you will work collaboratively with employers on an ongoing basis to secure job outcomes for customers attending the Work Programme in this CPA. Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to three sides of A4.

7.2 Prospects recognises that a key component for the success of the Work Programme will be the ability to actively engage with local employers to meet their needs and secure sustained job outcomes for our customers across the CPA. Employer engagement in CPA11 will also need to take into account the higher proportion of smaller employers; greater number of part time employment opportunities; and the needs of our customer groups for flexible employment opportunities and intensive in-work support. Key challenges over the life of the contract will be the reduction in public sector employment vacancies in the region; a reduction in unskilled vacancies; and the emergence of new employer skill needs in green industries. Building on current experience Our selection of end to end delivery partners has been informed by their demonstrable track record, through current welfare to work provision, of working closely with local employers to help customers back into employment. We have also engaged with a recruitment agency, Meridian, as a specialist partner to build capacity for employer engagement across the south west. Prospects currently works with 6,000 employers of all sizes across the south west through our welfare to work programmes - a recent survey of employers across Somerset and Dorset indicated that 75% of employers who had previously worked with Prospects would work with us again to support their recruitment needs; Bournemouth and Poole College work with 1,000 employers across the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole area; Abilities work with 500 employers in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole, many of whom are small employers who use Abilities to meet their recruitment needs; Access Training work with 1,000 employers to support their recruitment needs in the south west annually; Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change work with 500 employers through their welfare to work programmes, as well as having set up thriving social enterprise businesses and accessed grants and charity funding to help a number of small businesses set up in deprived wards across Cornwall; Groundwork South West work with over 1,000 employers across the south west annually; and in Plymouth, Tomorrows People have developed key relationships with employers to support disadvantaged customers back to employment. Meeting local employer needs our approach throughout the life of the programme Prospects approach will be to build on the success of our supply chain in meeting the needs of local employers, rather than re-inventing the wheel. Our experience, and that of partners, suggests that employer engagement works successfully when it has the following characteristics: a simple one point of access for employers to meet their recruitment and advice and guidance needs; clear account management for each employer from a named (locally based) staff member; and additional support for employers when they take on a new employee these features underpin our proposed approach. Across the supply chain we will put in place an Employer Solutions Team operating locally, and covering the whole CPA, comprising Employer Solutions Team Advisers (naming conventions may differ across the supply chain) who will identify and engage with local employers to understand their needs, identify vacancies, and work with customers to help them to develop the skills and confidence to meet employer recruitment/skills needs. This approach has proved particularly effective on Prospects current welfare to work provision enabling a better understanding of employer needs locally; building our reputation as the first point of contact for local recruitment needs; and most importantly securing more job outcomes for long term workless customers. For instance for a recent Tesco store opening in Taunton Prospects employer engagement staff held a job fair for Tesco recruiters. As a result of this 15 New Deal customers had an interview and 12 found employment.

All of our partners have existing staff responsible for engaging directly with employers to source placements and employment opportunities for workless customers. In Prospects current employment team, staff have a non-typical welfare to work background, often having worked in sales or recruitment previously. The experience of these staff in working closely with employers in a target-driven environment, combined with IAG training provided by Prospects has enabled us to develop a particularly effective employer facing team. The creation of an Employer Solutions Team (EST) across multiple partners in the supply chain, will be facilitated by the Prospects Ascent MI system. The Ascent MI system will provide an integrated account management system for employer relationships by being the single point of data entry for any employer engagement activities by EST Advisers, avoiding multiple approaches to the same employer and facilitating account management. Employers, through one point of access, will also be provided with a free, Ascent Jobs Board to directly access job-ready customer CVs (through intelligent search facilities), and will be able to submit vacancies online. Vacancies will also be matched to customers through their online Ascent page, and their assigned EST Adviser. We will work with Jobcentre Plus around protocols for information-sharing on job vacancies. Across the supply chain Prospects will hold regular training and development sessions for Employer Solutions Team Advisers sourced by the CPA11 Training and Development Manager (with support from the Prospects Employer Solutions Team Manager). This will build common skillsets/knowledge so that the service to employers and customers delivered by EST Advisers are of a consistently high standard across the CPA. EST Advisers will be responsible for a caseload of customers, matching them to local employer opportunities and needs. EST Advisers working for Prospects will be set targets that are monitored on a monthly basis through the Ascent MI system, including the number of employer contacts made; vacancies sourced; job-carving opportunities created; work trials sourced; work experience placements generated; customers placed into employment; and customers reaching sustainment milestones. These will be clearly linked to the Work Programme targets. Supply Chain Managers will work with partners to introduce similar performance management processes (if this is not already in place). Alongside support for employers in meeting their recruitment needs, all EST Advisers will provide comprehensive aftercare support for customers and employers. EST Advisers will work with employers to source help such as Access to Work enabling employers to make adjustments in the workplace for customers with health conditions or a disability; seek specialist support for employers through our partners such as PLUSS; work alongside disabled customers in the workplace to ease transition; and broker in-work training. An Employer Helpline (provided by our strategic partner The Listening Company) will be available to all employers employing our customers, Monday Friday 8.00 am to 23.00 pm. The Employer Helpline will provide information on employment law and be a practical source of support for employers on all workplace issues. Through the Helpline the employer will be able to request follow up support from their EST Adviser e.g. a visit to the workplace to resolve issues with the customer our experience having shown that when employers are able to contact a named Adviser to resolve issues with customers, this enables their speedy resolution. To provide additional support to employers Prospects and our partners will also arrange quarterly seminars and information sessions on a range of relevant subjects using organisations such as HMRC and Business Link particularly aimed at small and medium employers who form the majority of employers in the CPA. Working collaboratively to meet local needs throughout the programme Responsiveness to change: Throughout the duration of the programme we recognise that employers needs will change and our employer facing service will need to evolve to

reflect this. Twice yearly Prospects will survey our employer customers to establish satisfaction levels with our service and solicit key suggestions for improvements (this process will be co-ordinated by the Operations Manager Business Support). Results from these surveys will be analysed alongside the latest strategic labour market information and data from partners such as Employment and Skills Board (Prospects has a centralised, corporate Knowledge Management function). Analysis will be shared with partners through the monthly contract review process and service improvements introduced as appropriate. Consultation and responsiveness to employers: Prospects and our partners will also arrange local employer open days/events, this is an approach we have adopted on both our current New Deal and Community Task Force programme, enabling us to better meet local employer needs. For instance, as a result of open days/events we have commissioned new training such as SIA and CSCS and short focused training for customers at local colleges. Responding to new needs: Throughout the life of the contract the Prospects Employment Solutions Team Manager and Operations Manager Supply Chain will also work across the CPA to identify upcoming local regeneration or large-scale developments to meet employment needs and maximise employment opportunities for our customers. For instance, as a result of the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point near Bridgwater there will be considerable demand for labourers with CSCS cards and construction specialists. We will work with Bridgwater College to provide training and broker routes into employment opportunities with EDF and their subcontractors. We will additionally engage with large, pan regional employers to set up strategic relationships to provide employment opportunities for our customers; as well as engaging more effectively with social enterprises in the region to source sustainable employment opportunities for customers. For instance our partner ReZolve Kernow currently deliver the Cornwall Works for Social Enterprise programme that through support, mentoring, work placements and training has helped 127 unemployed people get in to employment in a Social Enterprise context over the last two and a half years. Meeting sector skills need: Across the supply chain we will extend and develop job orientated Skills Enhancement projects. These provide real life work experience and skills development opportunities in sectors of identified regional and local needs, as well as new and emerging sectors. For example in CPA11 employment remains buoyant in the retail, hospitality, food and drink, service sector and care sectors and customers will be to access Skills Enhancement projects relating to these sectors across the CPA. Over 45% of customers who gain employment on Prospects programmes do so through their work placement provider. Prospects would look to build on this through the Skills Enhancement projects. Our partner ReZolve Kernow currently lead the Environmental Skills Network, an ESF funded sectors programme that provides business support and training to the environmental goods and services sector, working with over 180 green businesses. Strategic engagement of employers: We would seek to build on these strong links by encouraging our partners to join Chambers of Commerce and trade associations. Prospects is currently a member of the Somerset Chambers of Commerce which has enabled us to develop links with a range of employers across the county, and develop working relationships to support our customers back into employment.

PART 8: CONTRACT PERFORMANCE

[8.1] Performance Job Outcomes

Using worksheet C. Outcome Volumes provided in the Pricing Proposal document, please detail your expected performance in this CPA and provide comment on how this compares to the national benchmark levels detailed at paragraph A4.18 of the Work Programme Specification. Your response must address individual customer groups separately and differentiate between job starts/outcomes and sustained job outcomes. Please note your response to this question shall not be scored but will be used to inform the evaluation of your response to question 8.1a Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two sides of A4.

8.1 Job Starts Due to the unprecedented level of customer interaction and the holistic approach of the Ascent Model, customers accessing provision will be more prepared to enter work than ever before. Customers will not be put forward for employment opportunities until their individual needs and barriers have been resolved to a point where they are able to sustain employment. Due to the approach being adopted by the Ascent Programme, Prospects expect that only 10% of all Job Starts will return to benefits (and then to Work Programme) prior to qualifying for a job outcome payment. Job Outcomes Overview - Customer Groups 1- 8 Years 1 - 7 Customer Group Prospects DWP Prospects Proposed Illustrative Proposed JO Job Starts Job Outcome Performance Performance Levels Levels 25+ 5805 4651 5224 18-24 2353 1805 2118 JSA Early Access 785 619 707 JSA Ex IB 583 284 524 ESA flow 1341 953 1207 ESA Ex IB 654 388 589 ESA Vol 2391 1836 2152 ESF IB/IS 392 352 353 Total 14,304 10,888 12,874 Increase on DWP Illustrative Job Outcome Levels 12.3% 17.3% 14.2% 84.5% 26.7% 51.8% 17.2 % 0.3% 18.2%

Prospects proposes to exceed the benchmarks in all customers groups for Job Outcomes and has significantly increased the proposed number of job outcomes for customer groups such as ESA Ex IB, ESA Flow and JSA Ex IB. Across all of the customer groups, Prospects will exceed the national benchmarks by 18.2%, which equates to an additional 1.3 job outcomes per working day for 7 years above DWP minimum requirements. In 2009, Prospects placed a customer into employment every working hour of every working day. Prospects Ascent Programme in CPA11 will place a customer into employment every 55 minutes, providing 14,304 customers into a job, with 90% achieving to a job outcome payment. Outcomes and Sustainment Details JSA 25+ Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 33.9% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 573 customers above DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 26 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 35%, rising year on year to 45% by year 5. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 54502 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 32548, an over-performance of 67.5% JSA 18-24 Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 46.6% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 313 customers above the DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 26 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 48%, rising year on year to 63% by year 5.

The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 17877 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 9832, an over-performance of 81.8% JSA Early Access Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 21.1% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 88 customers above DWP Illustrative figures into employment exceeding 13 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 21%, rising year on year to 26% by year 5. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 5950 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 4347, an over-performance of 36.9% JSA Ex IB Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 24.2% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 240 customers above DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 13 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 17%, rising year on year to 19% by year 4. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 9492 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 3464, an over-performance of 174% ESA Flow Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 22.4% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 254 customers above DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 13 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 22%, rising year on year to 30% by year 5. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 21059 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 18832, an over-performance of 11.8% ESA Ex IB Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 11.8% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 201 customers above DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 13 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 11%, rising year on year to 15% by year 4. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 9927 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 7493, an over-performance of 32.5% ESA Volunteer Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 44.4% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 316 customers above DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 13 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 45%, rising year on year to 65% by year 5. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 29841 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 27883, an over-performance of 7.0% ESF IB/IS Prospects will achieve a job outcome rate of 40.0% of referrals for this customer group across the life of the contract. This will be achieved by placing an additional 1 customer above DWP illustrative figures into employment exceeding 13 weeks. Job outcome rates for the year 1 cohort will be 44%, rising year on year to 48% by year 3. The number of sustainment 4 week blocks for this customer group will be 4195 compared to DWP illustrative figures of 3150, an over-performance of 33.2% [8.1a] Performance - Rationale

Please provide your rationale for your expected Job Outcome Performance levels, by individual customer groups as detailed in 8.1. Explain the activities and support that will be introduced to help secure the achievement of these performance levels together with any other best practice evidence to support your proposed performance. Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to four sides of A4.

8.1a Prospects and our supply chain partners have substantial experience of helping disadvantaged customers into work across the CPA, and as a result of this, an in-depth knowledge of the challenges faced by disadvantaged workless groups in their locale and local labour markets. The Supply Chain has placed over 30,000 customers into work over the last 10 years. At an overarching level Prospects Ascent Programme and management framework, has the following key characteristics and innovations that make us confident of delivering our job outcome and sustainment performance offer: More flexible support: Through our strategic partner The Listening Company (TLC) we will provide helpline support for our customers, as well as employers from trained advisers between 8.00-23.00 Monday to Friday providing additional, flexible support for our customers More time on programme: Evidence suggests that longer programmes deliver better outcomes. For instance our 26 week programmes achieve on average 50% higher job outcomes than 13 week programmes since there is more time to address barriers to employment More opportunities for customers to develop skills linked to labour market need: Skills Enhancement Projects will be designed to provide customers with the direct experience and skills needed in key employment sectors such as retail (Somerset); renewable energy (Devon and Cornwall) and catering (Dorset) More 1:1 time: 1:1 time with a dedicated Adviser has proven effectiveness in welfare to work programmes customers on the Ascent programme will have tailored 1:1 contact with their Ascent Cohort Adviser (ACA), at minimum fortnightly intervals, as well as having a dedicated Employer Solutions Team Adviser (ESTA) at the appropriate point in their programme. The Ascent Programme will resist the narrow focus on job-search until the customer is at a point in their journey to progress to employment More real personalisation: Too many current/predecessor welfare to work programmes adopt a one size fits all approach or even label or RAG customers on referral to predetermine their journey. Ascent offers a genuinely personalised approach with an infinite combination of interventions, which will form a unique customer journey More specialist support: Prospects has built a comprehensive supply chain of specialist partners that covers the CPA, including support for specific disadvantaged customer groups such as those with disabilities and health related problems More accountability: The Ascent MI system will enable comprehensive monitoring of customers, so that no customer gets lost or falls behind, More employer engagement: Employer Solutions Team (EST) Advisers will operate across the supply chain creating and sourcing employment opportunities for customers, building on the extensive links Prospects and our partners have in place already. Currently, Prospects and our partners work with in excess of 10,000 employers across the CPA. To support our performance offer we anticipate our Employer Solutions Team Advisers who each be tasked with providing a minimum of 35 job opportunities per month for customers. More in-work support: At present, around half of people who leave benefit return to it within six months. In-work support is relatively underdeveloped on welfare to work programmes and Ascent aims to address this. As a minimum the Ascent Programme will offer weekly in-work contact for the first month from a TLC Adviser, followed by fortnightly contact until week 26 and then once a month alternating between the TLC and a local Adviser throughout the sustainment period. This is intended to trouble shoot problems (referring issues to the customers Adviser when appropriate) and provide work-related support. In addition to this each customer and their employer will have access to online support and helpline support. Customers will also be able to attend Ascent Workshops

available to all customers for a year to help maintain contact and support. This minimum offer, will be combined with personalised support for all customers and their employer from their ESTA throughout the sustainment period our experience suggesting that where this point of contact (who knows both the employer and customer) is available, issues that arise in the workplace between the employer and customer, a frequent case of the customer dropping out of work, can be mediated and resolved. We are confident that this robust approach to in-work support will support a step change in sustainment. The structure of the Ascent model is presupposed on customers progressing to employment when they are ready to sustain this outcome. Our assumption is that once a customer has progressed to employment, 90% will sustain in one of more periods of employment to the minimum period required to achieve a job outcome. The following provides further evidence and a rationale for our performance offer, by each target group. 18-24 JSA Evidence of Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 46.6%): Our offer for this group reflects the strong current performance of Prospects and our partners. Bournemouth and Poole, on a yearly basis consistently helps over 45% of customers from this group into work across CPA11 (including Community Task Force (CTF) in Devon and Cornwall and New Deal in Somerset); Westward Pathfinder are achieving 33% and 30% employment outcomes on the Young Persons Guarantee Work Focussed Training and Routes into Work programmes respectively; Abilities are currently achieving 37% job entry on their 18-24 New Deal programmes. For this target group, the number of second and third generation unemployed is growing lack of positive influences will be addressed through community events and positive mentors (Heroes to Inspire) and new positive experiences (Aspiration consequence & rewards), whilst lack of work experience/inwork skills will be addressed through Skills Enhancement projects. Low skills and in-work training for this group will be critical to supporting them into sustained employment and we have commissioned this through our partners Triangle Fusion (apprenticeships) and Ufi (on-learning and skills training). With 1 in 10 graduates being unable to secure employment within 12 months the EST team will focus on providing this customer sub group with Work Trials which match their qualifications. For the overall customer group, experience has suggested that in-work support to both the employer and customer needs to be particularly targeted in the early weeks, enabling quick interventions where there is danger of employment drop out. Experience from our CTF programme (where we have set up a Facebook site) also demonstrates how effective online support is for this group. 25+ JSA - Evidence of Performance Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 33.9%): Prospects has exceeded the national average job entry rate for this customer group on our New Deal provision consistently helping over 25% of customers into work. On our Programme Centres programmes for unemployed customers in Dorset, 45% progressed to employment (the average customer was aged 42). Abilities achieve between 49% and 39% of customers from this group progressing to employment and Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change delivery of Cornwall Works Plus in Mid Cornwall deliver 60% of customers into jobs. The Ascent Programme will provide interventions which tackle the challenges of this particular customer group, including Ascent workshops (using CBT techniques), life checks and support through our specialist partners. In CPA11 customers aged over 50+ are the largest long term unemployed age group. Often upskilling or re-skilling are important for this group, which will be available through our partnership with Ufi. Our ESTAs will also work with 50+ positive employers, such as Asda, B&Q, Sainsburys. Prospects SEESAM project for unemployed 50+ customer gave customers the tools to become self employed and was highly successful with over 80% of customers achieving sustained self employment over 6 months. To recognise the potential of self-employment, particularly amongst this cohort, our specialist partner Gloucestershire Enterprise Ltd will deliver this support.

JSA Early Access Evidence of Performance Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 21.1%): This group will be quite polarised including young people who are NEET aged 18; and those with a long record of unemployment (repeaters), and early referrals from multiply disadvantaged groups. Prospects delivers to similar groups, for instance, on our current CTF programme aimed at some of the hardest to help unemployed group aged 18-24 achieve a 45% job entry rate; and New Deal 25+. We see the core of the Ascent Programme as supporting this group into employment, for instance, positive role models; new positive experiences; and Skills Enhancement projects. The Ascent Workshops will include specialist sessions for ex-offenders and other disadvantaged groups, to provide an open and non-judgemental forum. Prospects will also provide a relocation package for customers who will benefit from seeking work away from their local area due to reputation or discrimination. Our approach will be bolstered through the availability of support from our specialist partners. For instance our partner the Princes Trust, supported 3,000+ disadvantage young people in the South West last year, of which, 80% moved into EET. Other specialist partners will include Shelter (housing) Avon & Somerset Probation Trust and Dorset Probation Trust (offenders) and innovative social enterprise projects through organisations such as ReZolve. More intensive in-employment support will be provided to this this group through their ESTA. JSA Ex IB Evidence of Performance Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 11.8 %): This is a challenging group, of whom many will have genuine work restricting disabilities or illnesses and will have been workless for a long period of time. This will be a relatively new group to welfare to work delivery. At present we are starting to see a growing number of customers from this group on our welfare to work programmes in the West of England and Somerset who with additional support are progressing to employment. Entrenched beliefs and outdated skills will be particular issues for this customer group the Ascent Programme will address these issues through Ascent Workshops, Well Being Groups, Skills Enhancement Projects, skills training and Achievement Projects. When customers reach work readiness ESTAs will work with them and potential employers to smooth the journey into the workplace, including helping to broker Access to Work support for employers. Throughout the customer journey they will also be able to access specialist support from our partners St Loyes and Pluss who have an exceptional record in helping customers with disabilities and health conditions back to sustained employment. ESA Volunteers Evidence of Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 44.4%): ESA Volunteers will include those unlikely to be fit for work in the short term and contribution based volunteers. Our assumption is that given these groups are volunteers they will be motivated to address their barriers and move nearer to the labour market, even if they are not, due to illness or disability, able to enter the labour market. Our performance offer is based on a Deprived Area Fund contract in Melcombe Regis aimed at a similar (IB) customer group where out of 100 customers, 55 progressed to employment. For this group our Well Being Groups and Ascent Workshops (underpinned by CBT) will provide a strong offer for customers complemented by potential activity such as slivers of time, which will give customers the opportunities to develop their work facing skills as they become more ready to engage in work related activity and the labour market. ESTAs will work employers to source appropriate vacancies and work with both the customer and employer in the workplace to intensively support the customer in employment, reflecting the supported approach adopted by Prospects on our Work Choice subcontracted provision where we support 63% of customers in the workplace. ESA Flow Evidence of Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 22.4%): This group is

a likely to have had a shorter time on workless benefit than groups 4 and 7, but will either have limited capability for work (three month prognosis) or limited capability for workrelated activity (Support Group). The Ascent Programme will help with Well Being Groups enabling customers to adjust their lifestyle to improve their health, fitness and personal circumstances, enabling them to manage their key barriers more effectively. For customers in the work related activity group interventions will be tailored to help prepare them for being actively ready to progress to job-seeking. This group are likely to require additional support from our key partners. Partners we have engaged to work with ESA/IB customers include St Loyes who focus on helping people with disabilities and health conditions. Over the past 4 years 49% of the people they helped found work and over 50% sustained their job during this period. Into work support will be critical for this group to help sustainment, with ESTAs working closely with employers in the workplace. ESA Ex-IB Evidence of Achievability (Overall Job Outcome Rate 11.8%): This group will, overall, be the hardest to help, more likely to have had a long period of worklessness and either a limited capability for work (three month prognosis) or limited capability for work-related activity (Support Group). The Ascent Programme will help these customers with Well Being Groups enabling customers to adjust their lifestyle to improve their health, fitness and personal circumstances and manage key barriers more effectively. For customers in the work related activity group interventions will be tailored to help prepare them for being actively ready to progress to job-seeking. Specialist support will be critical for this cohort our partners such as Pluss have a particularly strong track record of supporting customers with acute disabilities back to employment, and working with them in the workplace. To support this Pluss adopted a bio-psycho-social model which involves building customers confidence to enter employment; facilitating adjustments; and working closely with the employer and colleagues in the workplace to provide a supportive environment for the individual . Incapacity Benefit/Income Support Customers (ESF) Evidence of Achievability(Overall Job Outcome Rate 46.6%): The majority of Income Support customers will be carers or lone parents, with some customers who are on IB. All of our partners have experience of working with these target groups. Our assumption is that given these groups are volunteers they will be more motivated to address their barriers and move nearer to the labour market, even if they are not, due to illness or disability, able to enter the labour market. Prospects track record of delivering to similar groups evidences the achievability of this target. For instance, Prospects co-piloted the Parents into Work programme, focusing on assisting lone parents into work, the programme achieved a 51% positive outcome rate with a job entry rate of 26%. Prospects currently deliver Launch Pad (LP) in Somerset, which works with Lone Parents, Prospects have achieved a 40% job outcome rate with LP customers. The flexibility of the Ascent programme in terms of interventions that build confidence and engagement with the community e.g. Ascent Workshops (combining CBT techniques), Achievement Projects and community events will be designed to re-engage this group, build skills, aspirations and transferrable skills. ESTAs will work to source part time and flexible opportunities, including slivers of time opportunities to re-engage customers with the labour market; as well as helping customers to put in place childcare and caring arrangements in place locally to meet these needs.

PART 9:

IMPLEMENTATION

NOTE: MINIMUM SCORE APPLIES TO ALL QUESTIONS WITHIN THIS SECTION. BIDS SCORING 2 OR LESS ON ANY QUESTION WITHIN THIS SECTION WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE COMPETITION. PLEASE NOTE SCORES ATTAINED IN THIS SECTION MAY ALSO BE USED IN A TIE-BREAK SITUATION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

[9.1] Implementation Plan Please provide: an Implementation Plan for the Work Programme in this CPA clearly stating the date on which you are proposing to commence delivery of the service. The plan, which must be in the form of a Gantt chart (insert as Annex 6), must include the key activities required to put provision into place by the service commencement date. It must include key milestones, timescales for activities including start and end dates and who is responsible for each activity including the expected start date for delivery. It will also show the critical path and interdependencies.

A narrative to expand on the implementation plan which must identify and address all the key risks, including the impact of winning multiple Work Programme contracts and how these shall be mitigated.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two sides of A4. Note: Format requirement and page limit does not apply to the Gantt chart which you must insert as Annex 6.

9.19.1 Prospects has extensive experience in large contract start up and we have based our detailed implementation plan on this experience. Central to successful implementation will be the transition team of senior operations and functional managers co-ordinated by the Company Development Manager (CDM) who will report to the Lead Operations Director. The CDM will assign key milestone responsibilities and ensure that transition adheres to the critical path timelines, implementing remedial action to address slippage. Our implementation plan is enclosed showing critical path activities which we have used to populate the interdependencies chart in annex 6. The chart clearly shows that on-time delivery is dependent on the implementation of our MI system, the finalisation of contract details with subcontractors, the assignment of staff under TUPE and any other recruitment requirements, implantation and auditing on all quality areas (i.e. policies, procedures, premises), in-depth understanding of the Ascent Programme by subcontractors and Prospects delivery staff and adherence to DWP security requirements across all areas of delivery. As a result of this timeline analysis we have chosen Monday 18th July as go live date. We have split the Key Milestones into main areas corresponding with individual responsibilities: Pre ITT Submission; Post ITT Submission; DWP ITT actions; Transition Planning; Supply Chain; HR including TUPE; Prospects delivery units (Finance; Quality; Marketing and Communications); Service Development (The Listening Company MI, engagement, tracking and in-work support) and Security Plan. Key risks are detailed in Annex 6 as part of the implementation plan (Implementation Risk Register) with specific risks noted against the key milestones. We are very aware of the challenge of implementing more than one CPA and we have mitigated this risk by assigning separate transition teams for each area which will include CPA assigned Lead Operations Directors, Company Development Managers, HR Business Partners and specialist managers. Requirements including information security management, financial systems, quality manuals, CBT-adviser training and development of procedures for equality, quality assessment and marketing will provide opportunities for economies of scale and/or shared intelligence. Detailed below are the most critical implementation milestones, risks and remedies: Post tender negotiations (PTN) with DWP completed and contract signed 11 to 18 April 2011: PTN phase will be completed by Prospects ODs and contract ratified by Finance Director and Executive Chair. This period will include Post Contract Award Briefing with key DWP/JCP staff. Supply Chain finalised 18 April to 18 July 2011: Finalisation of subcontractor negotiations and contracts signed by 4 May 2011 (led by Operations Director). TUPE allocations will be agreed following HR Business Partner (HRBP) Managers assessment and agreement with current providers (see HR/TUPE below) - we will provide support for any subcontractor requiring it. Operations Manager - Performance will deliver a walkthrough of the Ascent Programme to subcontractors and specialist providers. Subcontractor staff training needs analysis, quality checks (including premises and provision of quality manual), subcontractor staff recruitment and intensive training support will be implemented for supply chain staff. Our Information Security Manager (ISM) with the quality team will assess delivery/MI systems and provide support/remedial actions to ensure subcontractor delivery meets DWP security requirements. Key risk: Subcontractor pulls out of delivery prior to contract start. Mitigation: Prospects has selected subcontractors with the capacity and capability to

expand their delivery footprint if required should a subcontractor withdraw. We maintain strategic alliances with large scale, successful providers of employability programmes and we have a range of additional providers if necessary. In addition Prospects has the flexibility to expand our direct delivery either permanently or as an interim action. Prospects staff and subcontractor training 6 July to 8 August 2011: 5-week comprehensive training programme and manual will be delivered to our staff/managers and subcontractors management, delivery and administrative staff. Training will cover the delivery model, security, the DWP Code of Practice, administrative requirements, innovations and ICT systems. This will include CBT-based adviser training. Prospects will select and train PRaP co-ordinators, advising DWP of names. Key risk: Training on the Ascent Programme not implemented in time for go live. Mitigation: Training programme currently under development and will be finalised during April. CBT training for advisers has been delivered to over 100 advisers. The Training and Development Manager will be responsible for implementing training across the CPA and will work closely with our staff and subcontractors to ensure sufficient training is provided prior to go live. HR including TUPE April 18 July 2011: A dedicated HRBP manager experienced in TUPE will work with the CPA OD and CDM to oversee staff transfers and HR. The HRBP will be the central contact for TUPE transfers to the supply chain and will provide advice to organisations with little or no experience. Following receipt of the final list of providers with staff TUPE rights the HRBP will assess TUPE-ing staff and allocate accordingly to Prospects and subcontractors. Following the completion of TUPE allocation recruitment for any remaining vacancies can be implemented. Key risk: Allocation of staff from existing contractors not agreed results in issues and liabilities for staff and problems delivering the contract. Mitigation: We will agree a joined-up approach with existing contractors to agree allocation process. Prospects team has extensive experience of challenging appropriately and agreeing way forward. The HRBP will be working on TUPE transfer full time and will be focused on TUPE agreements. The Listening Company (TLC) (MI, engagement, tracking, and in-work support) 11 April to 29 August: TLC are providing Prospects with an MI system and call centre with experienced advisers trained to deliver key aspects of the Ascent Programme. Our implementation plan includes TLC key milestones split into contracting, implementation, people, resourcing, training, processes, technology, telephony and networking, development, QA & testing, transition and service go live. Key risk: Failure to implement secure management information system on time. Mitigation: Extensive assessment of TLCs delivery expertise and track record demonstrated their commitment to delivery of high quality contact centre services and development of epiCentre (email, phone, internet) which has an established track record on a range of public sector projects. Detailed timelines have been provided by TLC who are working closely with the ISM. Security Plan implementation critical date: submission of completed Security Plan before 20 June (20 working days before go live): Prospects ISM is on target to complete security audits/actions. Our selected subcontractors have completed draft security plans enabling the ISM to assess gaps and draft plans to remedy following contract award. Key risk: Information systems and procedures fail to meet DWP security standards and contract cannot go live. Mitigation: All systems will be built according to and reviewed against DWP standards prior to contract start. Action plan implemented to achieve ISO 27001 and ISO 27002 and appropriate staff trained in the use of PRaP. 9.2 Contingency Arrangements

Please describe: how your proposals for delivery of services within this CPA will be put in place without adversely affecting your organisations or your Sub-contractors ability to deliver existing and recently won contracts as well as other contracts you are bidding for.

in detail your contingency plan for maintaining the entire scope of your proposal within your bid should members of your supply chain withdraw prior to commencement of delivery of this contract.

Insert your response in the pre-set, shaded space of the following pages. Your response MUST be limited to two sides of A4.

9.2 Delivery of service without adversely affecting other contracts Prospects and our supply chain subcontractors are confident that we can implement the Work Programme across CPA11 without adversely affecting existing and recently won contracts. Prospects and our key subcontractors have the resources to implement our proposal using existing infrastructure for premises, managers and staff. The Work Programme has synergy with much of the work currently delivered and links with employers, services supporting customers with criminal records, projects and placements which we will be able to utilise for the Work Programme. We have mature relationships at strategic and local level with partners, stakeholders and employers and knowledge of the sub-regions within CPA11 (including labour market, demographics, geography, and key players) which we can utilise to implement this new service efficiently and effectively. We see this as a major strength of our offer. As part of our decision to bid for three CPAs we assessed our structure financially and operationally to ensure that we have the capacity to implement more than one CPA and have discussed this at length with DWP in the Delivery Capacity Clarification Process. In Annex 6, our implementation plan includes a detailed risk register showing contingencies to meet multiple deployments including: Full financial assessment of ability to meet financial demands of one or more contract agreements in place to access additional funding if required Cohort of Company Development Managers involved in co-ordination of new contracts each CPA will have a Company Development Manager who will report to the CPA Operations Director Additional staff to support rollout identified from existing contracts which are likely to see reductions/run-down due to Local Authority funding cuts e.g. Connexions directors and senior managers with appropriate project management and implementation experience Resource-intensive transition staff will be the Information Security Manager and HR Business Partners. HR Business Partners have already nominally been allocated to the three CPA areas and we are currently recruiting additional staff support for our Information Security Manager; work on three CPAs may confer economies of scale Economies of scale for some elements of transition management e.g. the work of our Performance Management and Quality Assurance Unit Finance and Legal Services if we are awarded more than one contract Prospects has a tranche of experienced senior managers with experience of implementing new contracts who will be assigned to Work Programme contracts for the duration of the transition. Contingencies to ensure subcontractors have the ability to deliver including: Detailed negotiations including the assessment by Prospects and the subcontractor about multiple contract delivery Prospects has a reserve list of possible subcontractors who have completed initial quality assessment and would be interested in delivery Limited use of potential prime contractors in supply chains so that subcontractors are not stretched by delivering a prime contact Volume allocation risk assessed pre bid submission to ensure capacity of selected subcontractors. Our businesses structures and those of our supply chain partners are geared to managing contracts across the region and managing multi-site businesses. Implantation planning has been developed based on the possibility of winning more than one contract - the distinct transition teams will meet following award to cross-reference

start dates and duplication (separate transition teams will be assigned to each contract). Contingency plan for maintaining entire scope of proposal In order to mitigate against the withdrawal of any key members of our supply chain we instigated a robust selection process which included: financial assessment with suitable cash flows to meet volumes; evaluation of their capacity to deliver - what other contracts they are delivering; which contracts they are tendering for; capability track record; systems and processes in place to meet outputs and quality levels required and premises/outreach locations to support the geographic requirement. In the event of a subcontractor withdrawing or having to withdraw from the supply chain because of unexpected issues e.g. loss of premises, failure to install sufficiently robust security systems, Prospects will: Revisit the initial list of potential subcontractors who expressed an interest in working with Prospects in CPA11. Subcontractors were shortlisted against criteria including contract area coverage (location of delivery venues), current delivery and potential delivery commitments to other contracts being tendered for, performance against contractual outcomes, DWP League Table, previous experience of working with the customer group and Ofsted inspection grades Identify an appropriate replacement subcontractor in the area required who can offer all the services needed to ensure our proposal has not been weakened by the withdrawal of the original subcontractor Commence discussion with proposed subcontractor immediately and complete negotiations Advise DWP Implementation Team and local Contract Manager of changes. Prospects has experience of acting swiftly, sourcing and putting in place new supply chain partners when proposed partners have withdrawn prior to commencement e.g. a major subcontractor had to withdraw one week prior to commencement of CTF Devon & Cornwall contract. Prospects instigated the action described above and reallocated delivery to a new and an existing supply chain partner. Full scope of the CTF contract was delivered across the contracting area from day one. Contingency strategy includes the ability for Prospects to take over direct delivery which we have successfully done. In the West of England, Prospects undertook Programme Centre delivery when the incumbent provider closed down overnight. Prospects was able to support JCP/DWP by undertaking delivery with 10 days working notice. This included sourcing and procuring premises and resources, employment of staff of previous provider to undertake delivery, staff induction and training and notification to all customers of changing delivery venue and provider. Prospects would utilise this option if there was not a suitable alternative subcontractor or to fill a time-gap should the newly selected provider need more time to set up. Our contingency strategy includes working closely with preferred suppliers following submission of tender, keeping them involved up to date with progress. On notification of contract award Prospects will work with each supply chain partner to ensure key milestones are achieved and any potential problems are addressed as soon as they arise. The Operations Director and Company Development Manager will lead on these activities. This was undertaken for CTF Devon and Cornwall; it ensured that Prospects and our supply chain partners met the contract start date of 30 January 2010 with only eight weeks notification of contract award.