Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are anticipating that the commissioning process for the People and Skills investment priority of the Core UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will 
be carried out through its Flexible Procurement System (FPS).
It is unlikely that the FPS will open again for applications before the start of UKSPF People and Skills commissioning activity. Therefore, if your organisation is interested in bidding as a lead provider for any future UKSPF People and Skills opportunities, please ensure that you apply to the FPS via The Chest before the deadline: 27 February 2023 at 12pm.
GMCA will be holding Drop-In Sessions to provide further information about applying for the FPS on 31 January, 2 February and 8 February 2023. These sessions will not focus on the content of individual submissions (i.e., organisations are not told how to respond), but instead mean that the FPS team can spend time providing answers about the application process. At the last opening, some smaller organisations and VCSEs found it helpful to talk through their thought process around applying.
To sign up for any of the Drop-In sessions, organisations can email [email protected] with their chosen date and a few time slots that work, and they will be sent a 10-minute MS Teams invitation. There are initially 3 days of Drop-In sessions planned however, if demand is high more dates will be added before the submission deadline.
In addition to the planned Drop-In sessions, GMCA have also held a number of engagement sessions (listed below) which have been recorded and can be watched on YouTube:
Information Session – This session gave a comprehensive overview of what the FPS is and what it has been designed to do. The session covered what activity the framework has been used for to date, and the upcoming opportunities. The session spoke about why organisations should apply for the FPS, which included looking at their eligibility to bid for EWS procured activity, and to give them oversight of the commissioning activity in GM.
Application Workshop – This event gave an overview of the FPS and spoke about the minimum standards required to join the framework. A large proportion of the event involved a step-by-step walkthrough of the SSQ Response Document – the part of the application that must be passed to join. This meant that the session gave a good amount of detail to each section and spoke about what is expected from responses.
Back to Basics Workshop – This event was aimed at organisations who have never applied to the FPS before, and who might be smaller in size, which includes VCSEs. The event recapped some of the topics covered in previous events to give context plus information on who is suitable to be on the FPS. The event also discussed that providers who have a track record in, or capability of, delivering work and skills-based programmes to GM residents, and who are interested in being a lead provider for contracted delivery are exactly who we are looking for.