Communities First (CF) was launched in 2001 as the flagship Welsh Government Programme to tackle poverty in the most disadvantaged communities in Wales.

The current Minister for Local Government and Communities, Carl Sargeant AM, announced in November 2011 that from April 2012, CF will be a Community Focussed Tackling Poverty Programme and will support the Welsh Government’s Tackling Poverty Agenda. The delivery of improved outcomes for families living in poverty (through the new CF Outcomes Framework) will focus on three strategic aims: Prosperous Communities, Learning Communities and Healthier Communities.

The Welsh Government on behalf of the Welsh Ministers wish to let the following contracts:

Lot 1: Training and Support.

This element of the contract will provide a flexible and responsive support and training to CF clusters, in order to support the new CF programme:

— the training and support element will need to be clearly focused around enabling Clusters to achieve the aims of the new programme set out by the Welsh Government,

— the training provision will need to take account of the workforce development element to ensure that training provided directly by the programme does not duplicate other provision but addresses the specific needs of CF,

— the support will remain flexible to meet a variety of needs but will include some support for Regional Programme Boards and Community Involvement.

Lot 2: Workforce Development.

This element will ensure continued development of a framework to develop the CF workforce as well as the Welsh community development workforce more widely. This will include working with HE & FE providers to develop and sustain accredited training for the programme, ensuring that the National Occupational Standards for Community Development are implemented consistently, and maintaining an overview of the training needs of the programme.

The Welsh Assembly Government, on behalf of the Welsh Ministers, will be conducting this procurement exercise through the etenderwales portal https://etenderwales.bravosolution.co.uk Tender documents and other information must be downloaded from and returned through this portal. If you require any further assistance the BravoSolution helpdesk is available on:

email: help@bravosolution.co.uk / phone: +44 8003684850 / fax: +44 2070600480.

Full information in accessing the portal is found in Section VI.3.

Community Benefits do not apply to this contract.