Our story
by Local Energy North West Hub
Local Authority Delivery LAD Phase 2 (LAD2) is a £300m programme to fund home retrofit in England, and the Local Energy North West Hub (Hub) is delivering a £52m regional programme by March 2022.
LAD2 is funding energy-saving improvements to the homes of people throughout the North West (NW) region, aiming to tackle fuel poverty, deliver cost-effective carbon savings, support clean growth and ensure homes are thermally comfortable, efficient, and well-adapted to climate change.
The Hub has supported the creation of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) with Procure Plus Holdings (PP), providing a scaleable, compliant route to market for authorities across the NW to access goods and services. While existing frameworks for goods and materials are available, the emerging retrofit market needed a bespoke product targeted to the types of activities, products and services required. This enabled the newly created DPS to embed a social value target.
With support from PP's team, the DPS ensures excellent value for money, a managed service, and requires meaningful and quantifiable social value to be delivered. Working with the companies, sub-contractors and construction related supply chain, PP identify entry level job opportunities in the area, including apprenticeships. They then work with local community and voluntary groups to secure referrals to the positions available. PP’s model enables short courses to be offered to individuals within the community, moving people swiftly into employment. Typically for this programme, training includes carbon literacy, working at heights, asbestos awareness and health and safety certificates. Support is offered throughout the first six months of employment, identifying opportunities for candidates to undertake further training and gain trade-based qualifications (eg multi-skilled apprenticeships) to develop careers within construction. PP seeks to work with those organisations who support people from many backgrounds including; the long term unemployed; ex-offenders; BAME; NEET young people; disabled people; over 50s; people with a history of homelessness; and, people leaving the care system.
Local Authority Delivery LAD Phase 2 (LAD2) is a £300m programme to fund home retrofit in England, and the Local Energy North West Hub (Hub) is delivering a £52m regional programme by March 2022.
LAD2 is funding energy-saving improvements to the homes of people throughout the North West (NW) region, aiming to tackle fuel poverty, deliver cost-effective carbon savings, support clean growth and ensure homes are thermally comfortable, efficient, and well-adapted to climate change.
The Hub has supported the creation of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) with Procure Plus Holdings (PP), providing a scaleable, compliant route to market for authorities across the NW to access goods and services. While existing frameworks for goods and materials are available, the emerging retrofit market needed a bespoke product targeted to the types of activities, products and services required. This enabled the newly created DPS to embed a social value target.
With support from PP's team, the DPS ensures excellent value for money, a managed service, and requires meaningful and quantifiable social value to be delivered. Working with the companies, sub-contractors and construction related supply chain, PP identify entry level job opportunities in the area, including apprenticeships. They then work with local community and voluntary groups to secure referrals to the positions available. PP’s model enables short courses to be offered to individuals within the community, moving people swiftly into employment. Typically for this programme, training includes carbon literacy, working at heights, asbestos awareness and health and safety certificates. Support is offered throughout the first six months of employment, identifying opportunities for candidates to undertake further training and gain trade-based qualifications (eg multi-skilled apprenticeships) to develop careers within construction. PP seeks to work with those organisations who support people from many backgrounds including; the long term unemployed; ex-offenders; BAME; NEET young people; disabled people; over 50s; people with a history of homelessness; and, people leaving the care system.
Our advice
Being able to deliver real social value whilst also delivering an excellent procurement and management service is what has set the partnership apart, and meant the Hub has been able to deliver even more value for local communities.
Before starting any project it is useful to: make sure partners understand one another's requirements; make sure a partner has experience of managing procurements at the scale and complexity required; find a partner with the capacity to provide end-to-end support in procurement, delivery and social value.
A challenge of the programme is the one year funding cycle, but typical apprenticeships are two years in length.
Our metrics
Number of people supported in finding employment (30 are now in work).
Number of people trained in retrofit jobs (44 are now trained).
Housing retrofit supply chain growth and carbon literacy.
Number of people trained in retrofit jobs (44 are now trained).
Housing retrofit supply chain growth and carbon literacy.
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