Temporary staff providers urged to bid for council framework

Date added: 03/04/2012

Suppliers of temporary staff are being offered the chance to join a large-scale framework agreement to provide services to Birmingham City Council.

The ‘temporary agency worker framework agreements’ are set to determine which companies will supply agency workers to the council from August 2012. Other councils and public sector organisations in the region will also be able to use the framework agreements.

Recruitment, HR and temporary staffing agencies are all being encouraged to apply now and ensure the completed pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) is submitted before the Tuesday 24 April deadline to make sure they don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Local companies can apply to tender for any – or all – of nine job category areas:

•    Administration
•    Catering and Cleaning
•    Construction, Property and Engineering
•    Education (supply teachers, classroom assistants and nursery officers)
•    Housing Management
•    Industrial
•    Leisure and Culture
•    Professional (accountancy, legal and procurement)
•    Social Care (qualified and unqualified).

Once agreed, the temporary agency worker framework agreements will run for up to four years.

"The framework agreements are being driven by the need for all councils to achieve greater efficiency savings,” explained Charlie Short from Birmingham City Council. "However, there are big advantages for local companies too. As well as the obvious benefit of doing business with the council, the successful applicants will have proved their credentials and will be recognised as an approved service provider. We want to see as many Birmingham businesses as possible submitting high quality applications now because the next opportunity may not be until 2016.”

To apply to tender, companies should visit Birmingham City Council’s tendering portal  and submit the relevant details to register as a bidder. Interested companies will then receive login details for downloading the pre-qualification questionnaire.

The deadline for returning the completed questionnaire is 12 noon on Tuesday 24 April 2012.

Further details can be found on the Temporary Agency Worker Framework Agreements opportunity listing. For more information, contact Charlie Short on 0121 464 0099 or – for any queries between Tuesday 10 April and Friday 13 April – contact Debbie Husler on 0121 303 0017.