INVITATION TO TENDER Tender for the provision of Educational Resources for the Balmacara Crofting Education Programme for the National Trust for Scotland
INDEX This Invitation to Tender (ITT) comprises 3 parts: Part 1: Introduction outlines the scope and requirements of this ITT. Part 2: Supplier Information details the information required by the National Trust for Scotland to evaluate potential partners. Part 3: Responding to this ITT details the timetable for submission of the tender, evaluation and contract award.
Part 1: Introduction SUMMARY The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) invites companies to tender to develop a suite of educational resources for the Balmacara Crofting Education Programme The programme is scheduled to commence in May/June 2016 although a phase delivery of resources will be negotiated full delivery must be achieved by August 2016. INTRODUCTION The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is a conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland s natural and cultural heritage for future generations to enjoy. The Balmacara Estate is one of the properties in the charity s portfolio and has been managed by the NTS since 1946 to conserve its landscape, archaeological sites, historic buildings, wildlife and other cultural and natural heritage features and to provide public benefit through both access and conservation. The Trust at Balmacara has been working for over fifteen years to help promote crofting and to actively, and directly, encourage the continuation of traditional crofting agriculture on this 2,550 hectare estate, 75% of which is under crofting tenure. It is an area of great scenic beauty but is also designated as a Fragile Area due to its small community and limited services. The main reason for supporting crofting is our belief that the landscape and associated cultural and natural heritage features are largely derived from and dependent upon the activities of the resident crofting community, past, present and future. This cultural landscape is truly unique and features an intricate mosaic of moorland, woodland, small villages and oases of greener croft land, all set against a stunning backdrop of the Inner Sound and unspoilt coastline and islands. The crofting agricultural activity is absolutely key to maintaining the balance in the landscape and supports a strong cultural tradition, including the Gaelic language, song and music, and a wide diversity of plant, mammal, bird and insect species. Against this background the Trust started its crofting support work by establishing eight new crofts at Balmacara Square as part of the 1.7 million Balmacara Square Restoration Project in 1999-2000. These were the first new crofts to be created in over 80 years according to the Crofters Commission, and paved the way for new legislation from the Scottish Parliament to make this process simpler. This was followed by the Traditional Croft Management Scheme (TCMS) which was introduced in 2006 to provide direct financial support to crofters undertaking traditional crofting agricultural activities, and we intend to continue this support into the future. In 2013 the Trust established its Balmacara Crofting Education Project at Plockton High School in conjunction with the school and the West Highland College (UHI). The aim of this project is to provide the next generation with a good practical foundation in crofting skills and such a course did not exist in the Lochalsh area although an SQA accredited course did exist at Lionacleit in Benbecula. The course is designed to take two years to complete with students gaining a Level 5 National Certificate in Crofting an SQA recognised qualification. The Trust secured funding to develop and deliver the course for five years and the first students were registered with the college in June 2013. The course operated successfully for two years but with ongoing changes in the National Curriculum the attractiveness of the course waned and there were no student applications for the 2015/16 academic year. As a result a review was carried out and it has been decided to move away from the accredited SQA course to a more work experience based option. The new system will involve a one-day per month session on a local croft doing a range of activities pertinent to the normal seasonal work of a crofter. Occasional trips to other locations will be arranged for specific activities, e.g. drystone walling, dairy/cheese production, visiting the local mart/sales, etc. It is expected that the new programme will commence in mid-late May and run for the academic year. Funding is secure for the programme to run for five years from 2016. As part of the development of the SQA course the Trust developed a course website The Crofting Year which has not been maintained due to pressure of time. The website sets out the scope of the old course and its structure and units. The Trust also invested in the development of a Scheme of Work for the course and this includes many relevant educational resources that will be used for the new programme. However, the nature of the resources was designed more for classroom sessions backed-up by practical work in the field. With the new programme it is intended that there will be very little, if any classroom work, so we are looking to develop a new
suite of resources that are more suited to use in the field, are more interactive and visual. It is anticipated that the website will also be updated to reflect the changes to the programme and the new resources will be added as a download option so we will require the new resources to be optimised for the website as well and hard copies. A separate contract will be set up for the website upgrade but contractors are invited to express interest in this work as well if they have the appropriate expertise and experience. Further information: The National Trust for Scotland www.nts.org.uk/about Balmacara Estate - http://www.nts.org.uk/property/balmacara-estate-woodland-walks/ The Crofting Year website - www.croftingyear.org.uk Nature of the Educational Resources The exact nature of the educational resources has yet to be decided and it is expected that the successful contractor will engage in a discussion/development process with the NTS Balmacara staff and Head Office Learning Services Team to agree the scope and design concepts for the resources. Once that is agreed the contractor will be responsible for developing designs for a set of discrete resources likely to include, but not necessarily restricted to the following topics: 1. Livestock 2. Crops 3. Infrastructure 4. Additional (eg. History & Legislation, Regulation, Conservation/Environment, Business) Project Outputs The following outputs are expected from this project: 1. Agreed scope and design concept for the project 2. One set of educational resources for at least 20 topics (to be agreed) in digital form to allow for local printing and lamination and easy updating 3. One set of website optimised educational resources as per output 2 above 4. All on-line resources to take into account a need for Bi-lingual (Gaelic) content. 5. Hard copy educational resource pack for participants. Design and quantity to be agreed, possibly pocket-size guides. 6. Develop an award system for the course work. Eg. John Muir and Duke of Edinburgh Awards might be a good model to consider. Also Archaeology Scotland currently piloting a Heritage Hero Award system. SELECTION CRITERIA GUIDELINES The following are the main criteria against which tender submissions will be judged: Expertise and experience in delivering high quality educational resources for pupils S3-S6. Evidence of innovation and design in the proposal Evidence of capabilities in relation to integrating with existing systems Availability of resources to carry out the project in the timeframe required Value for money
Part 2: Supplier Information General This section provides the information required by the Trust in order for a chosen Trust Partner to be selected. Please answer each question in the tables and provide details in the Response column. Expand the table rows as required. Company Background Please supply a company profile illustrating, but not limited to, the following criteria: Requirement Response Score a. Full trading name, address and contact detail b. Ownership c. Financial strength, turnover etc d. Public Liability Insurance details e. Number of years established f. Examples of current customers together with reference contacts g. Evidence of ability and willingness to invest in whatever is necessary to meet the needs of the Trust h. Standard terms and conditions (attach copy) SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT Please provide details of an SLA that you would be prepared to work to (must include Key Performance Indicators that can be measured).
COST SUMMARY SHEET Please indicate your cost summary details here broken down by each element of your proposal. The prices that you quote should take account of your preferred solution and SLA: The costs should be broken down as follows and as detailed in the specification. Scope & specification Design Development Provision of Master Copies (Digital version) Website Optimisation Breakdown of charges for out-of-scope work Travel & subsistence TRUST PARTNER SOLUTIONS Please supply details of any alternative proposals with additional Cost Summary Sheets. Part 3 Responding to this Invitation to Tender Timetable Proposal Deadline Any response to this ITT needs to be received by the Trust by 5pm 4 th April, 2016 Please submit all proposals by email only with subject heading Tender: Education Project to: Iain Turnbull: iturnbull@nts.org.uk National Trust for Scotland Lochalsh House Balmacara Kyle of Lochalsh Ross-shire IV40 8DN 01599-566325 07713 786295