Crescent Purchasing (CPC) Temporary and Permanent Staffing 2 Framework Overview
General Information about the Framework
This process is a re-tender of the current Temporary & Permanent Staffing Framework let by CPC and expiring in July 2026.
CPC intends to put a Framework in place for the supply of temporary and permanent staffing, across education and the wider public sector. The purpose of this Framework is to give CPC members a compliant route to market. The collective spending power of Members utilising CPC frameworks is harnessed to drive down costs, which often allows for savings delivery which our membership otherwise would be unable to achieve individually.
Some of the main challenges within institutions in relation to recruitment and retention of staff:
- Availability of suitable candidates
- Geographical limitations
- Competition from the private sector (for non-academic roles)
- Retention issues
- Government hiring gaps or freezes
- High cost of benefits (e.g. pensions)
- Limited budgets and uncertainty
- Subject-specific shortages (e.g. STEM and SEND)
- High staff turnover
- Burnout
- Compliance to public procurement regulations and law
This framework will look to assist with and alleviate the above issues by:
- Providing a set list of suppliers with the appropriate qualifications and experience in the field
- Providing extremely competitive capped rates for agency margins to ensure value for money
- Providing a compliant route to market under the Procurement Act 2023 and free guidance to CPC Members and Contracting Authorities in applying the regulations (e.g. notice requirements)
- Free temp to perm transition after 12 weeks in post (if a 4-week notice is provided) to assist with financial budgets
- Providing a wide range of purchasing options and routes to suit a variety of needs
- Suppliers clearly specifying the regional coverage areas to ensure availability of staff and reduce timeframes
Given the complexities regarding temporary and permanent staffing requirements, this Framework will look to simplify the process for Members so that purchasing is as straightforward as possible.
Lots
The Framework will be split into six Lots as follows:
- Lot 1 – Academic Roles (10 agencies to be awarded)
- Lot 2 – Non-Academic Roles (10 agencies to be awarded)
- Lot 3 – Executive & Leadership Roles (10 agencies to be awarded)
- Lot 4 – Master Vendor (5 agencies to be awarded)
- Lot 5 – Neutral Vendor (5 agencies to be awarded)
- Lot 6 – Vendor Management System (3 agencies to be awarded)
Roles by Lot
Lot 1 – Academic Roles
Academic staff in schools and colleges are education professionals responsible for delivering high-quality teaching, supporting student development, and contributing to the academic standards of the institution. They play a central role in creating effective learning environments that promote academic achievement, personal growth, and progression. For example, Teachers, Learning Support Staff, Lecturers, Professors.
Lot 2 – Non-Academic Roles
There are a variety of areas and roles within these for non-academic roles. Some are education specific whilst other are generic and can be for any public sector organisation. For example, Cleaners, Receptionists, Chef’s, Security Personnel, Bus Drivers, Administrators, Finance Officers, HR Officers, Marketing Executives, Office Managers, Finance Managers, Catering Managers etc.
Lot 3 – Executive & Leadership Roles
These roles can be both within higher education and within alternative public sector organisations.
For example, Head of Department/Year, Headteacher, Deputy, Head of Faculty, VP, HR Director, Dean, Chancellor, COO, Trustee, Director of Finance etc.
Lot 4 – Master Vendor
Lot 5 – Neutral Vendor
Lot 6 – Vendor Management System (VMS)
Suppliers applying for this Lot must have a proprietary technology system. Suppliers will not be able to bid for a place on this Lot with a third party, bought-in or white labelled product. Technology suppliers should be able to demonstrate Cyber Essentials Plus or equivalent security compliance.
The contract duration is for 3 years with the option to extend for a further period of 12 months (3+1)
Critical Timescales
At this stage of the bid, you need to pay particular attention to the deadlines for asking clarification questions and submission:
- Preliminary Market Engagement Notice Published – Tuesday 25th November 2025
- Tender publication – Monday 13th April 2026
- Last date for clarifications – Friday 1st May 2026
- Tender returns – 17:00 Friday 15th May 2026
- Evaluation of tender responses – Monday 18th May 2026 – Friday 12th June 2026
- Provide suppliers with Assessment Summaries & Publish Contract Award Notice – Friday 12th June 2026
- Mandatory standstill period – Monday 15th June 2026 – Thursday 25th June 2026
- Implementation Meetings – W/c 29th June 6th July 13th July 2026
- Framework start date – Monday 20th July 2026
Framework Fee
A Framework Fee of 0.5% is required for all business placed under this Framework by CPC Educational Member Institutions and Local Authorities when procuring on behalf of Educational Establishments. Suppliers should note that the raising of prices in their tender to cover the marketing premium charge is not permissible as the contract management service offered by the CPC outweighs the value of any such marketing premium.
A Framework Fee of 1.0% is required for all business placed under this Framework by any Wider Public Sector (WPS) organisations via Crescent Services.
Registration & Accessing the Documents
CPC will be using the MultiQuote e-Tendering platform to carry out this tender. In order to express your interest in this tender and obtain the tender documents, please register or log in at: https://suppliers.multiquote.com/Page/Login.aspx If you have any issues when using MultiQuote, please contact Elcom Ltd on 020 3920 8054 or email support@elcom.com
Clarification Questions
Any clarification questions must be asked by 1st May 2026. Questions asked after this deadline will not be answered. Questions must be asked through the portal as this is the only way that the CPC will communicate with bidders. Please be aware that any questions you ask, together with the answers provided will be published to all bidders. You should therefore avoid putting information into any questions that you ask that identifies you to other bidders who will also have access to the clarification questions and answers.
Criteria
To qualify for this framework, the tender specifies that you must meet ALL of the following mandatory requirements:
- Completed Central Digital Platform (CDP).
- Meet all the requirements in the specification
- Have one of the following memberships/accreditations and submit a copy the certificate at tender submission date
- REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation)
- Standards in Recruitment (SiR)
- APSCo (Association of Professional Staffing Companies)
- International Education Accreditation Council (IEAC)
- Meet financial risk criteria – Suppliers must achieve a minimum Creditsafe risk score of 30 (Moderate Risk) or above to pass this requirement. Where a supplier’s score falls below the threshold, CPC reserves the right to: request further information (e.g. parent company guarantee, performance bond, bank letter of support, or other financial assurances); or determine that the supplier does not meet the financial standing requirements and exclude the supplier from further participation.
- Have the following insurances in place prior to the contract start date
- Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance = £10,000,000.
- Public Liability Insurance = £5,000,000.
- Professional Indemnity Insurance = £5,000,000.
- Data Protection/Cyber Liability = £2,000,000.
- Provide 3 referees.
- Provide 1000 word answer that details previous experience of working in education and the wider public sector with case study provision.
Documents
You must complete and return the following documents as detailed throughout the ITT document. When saving documents prior to uploading for submission, do not change formatting, add password protection, add watermarks or embed any documents / images. Files must be saved in the same application they were supplied i.e. Word or Excel.
- Appendix 1 – PSQ – signed
- Appendix 2 – Appendix 2 – Framework Conditions of Contract – signed
- Appendix 3 – Call off Conditions of Contract -signed
- Appendix 4 – Supplier Entry Form
- Appendix 5 – Pricing Schedule – completed for the Lots for which you wish to apply
- Appendix 6 – Quality Response Document – completed for the Lots for which you wish to apply
- Appendix 8 – Confidential Information Declaration
- Appendix 9 – Supplier Code of Conduct – signed
- Section 9 of the ITT- Geographical Coverage
- Section 11 of the ITT– Form of Tender and Declaration of Bona Fide Tender
- PDF from the Central Digital Platform (Appendix 1 Question 6)
- Accreditation Certificate/s (Question 19 in Appendix 1)
Please Note:
You should NOT upload attachments that have not been asked for by CPC. Also do NOT cross reference your answers to other questions as each question is independently assessed.
Questions, Scoring and Weightings
Pricing
- Agency Margin – Lot 1 – 35%
- Agency Margin – Lot 2 – 35%
- Agency Margin – Lot 3- 35%
- Master Vendor – Lot 4 – 35%
- Neutral Vendor – Lot 5 – 35%
- VMS – Lot 6 – 35%
- Qualitative Pricing – 10%
- Temporary to Permanent – 5%
- Permanent Staffing – 10%
Quality
- Member requirements – 5%
- Safeguarding and experience – 15%
- Lot specific questions – 10%
- Social Value & Carbon Reduction – 10%
BRUNTON BID WRITING SERVICES & PRICING
We are offering two service options for this tender:
1. TO OUTSOURCE THE FULL BID where we complete all of the questions on your behalf and upload all of the required documentation to the portal ready for your review and submission. Lots 1-3 only:
- For one lot – £11,400
- For two lots – £12,350
- For three lots – £13,300
- Price on application for Lots 4-6
2. THE CONSULTANCY AND REVIEW SERVICE which includes:
- A full review of all of the documentation relating to the bid (so we know the documents inside out and will be well positioned to give advice).
- Ongoing review of the “clarification” questions and answers as they are published.
- An initial consultation call to discuss what needs to be done (in particular the approach required for each of the qualitative questions).
- Unlimited telephone and email support throughout the bid period (until the submission deadline).
- Maximum of 2 reviews of your draft responses to the qualitative questions (using track changes and comments in Microsoft Word format) to maximise available scores. PLEASE NOTE this service does not include us rewriting the technical answers within your submission. This is an advice and review service. If you need full bid writing support, we recommend the full outsource service specified above.
- A review of all documents to be uploaded to the portal to ensure they have been completed fully and correctly.
- A full review of the portal (once you have uploaded your bid) to ensure it is complete and compliant and that all attachments have been uploaded correctly.
- For one lot – £6,900
- For two lots – £7,350
- For three lots – £7,800
- Price on application for Lots 4-6
All pricing is subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.