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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
Delivery of Professional Development
Programme for Early Childhood Education Centre Owners/ Managers
and their teaching staff 2 April 2012 to 31 March 2013
Release Date:
1. Background
1.1 The Early Childhood Council (ECC) is a non-profit charitable trust. The
organisation is governed by an independent President and National Executive
Committee comprising childcare centre owners and managers from across the
country. The primary purpose of the ECC is to support and represent the
interests of independently owned (private and community-based) early childhood
centres in New Zealand, and to promote the provision of quality early childhood
education services.
1.2 The ECC has a history of offering full-day seminars to its membership on a
range of (mainly) management-oriented topics related to early childhood service
delivery and centre operation. Following the 2010 government Budget, the ECC
changed its approach to offer half-day, lower-cost workshops to respond to the
sector following revenue cuts in the Budget; and a more structured programme
to encourage the opportunity for members and non-members to plan their
professional development requirements for the year.
2. Functions of the Early Childhood Council
2.1 The ECC offers its members two primary benefits:
2.1.1 The provision of advice, support and information; and
2.1.2 The solicitation of the views of its membership and the representation of
those views with those who develop and implement policy affecting the
sector.
2.2 Under the “advice, support and information” function is the facilitation of
professional development programmes for our membership. The ECC has a
strong history of running successful seminars for members. In 2010, the ECC
researched its membership and launched a fresh, new programme of half-day
workshops.
2.3 Part of the plan for the future of these workshop programmes is to contract out
their organisation to “experts” in the field of programme delivery.
3. Purpose of this RFP
3.1 The ECC is inviting the submission of Proposals from parties interested in the
design and delivery of one or both of the following professional development
programmes for both member and non-member childcare centres around New
Zealand:
3.1.1 workshops aimed at meeting the needs of childhood centre
managers (and owners);
3.1.2 workshops aimed at meeting the needs of childhood centre teaching
staff
3.2 The professional development programmes are to comprise a series of half-day
(four hour) workshops
3.3 The series should present a minimum of four topics each. Topics will be
researched with the ECC membership in collaboration with the ECC following
the signing of an Agreement between the parties.
3.4 The workshops may be offered in any location around New Zealand where there
is demand; but this must include Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury
3.5 The workshops are to be offered at any time that is suitable to attendees,
including morning, afternoon and/or evening
3.6 The workshops are to be offered on any day of the week that is suitable to the
attendees
3.7 The workshops may be offered in any venue that is appropriate for the purpose,
including childcare centres willing to host a workshop that have suitable facilities
3.8 The workshops must be offered to ECC members at a price that is under
$100.00 per participant, excluding GST. Non-members of the ECC must be
offered a higher price, to be agreed beforehand with the ECC.
3.9 The contractor is to manage all aspects of the financial management of the
workshop programme for which they are contracted
3.10 The contractor will pay the ECC a portion of the net profit taken from each
workshop hosted. The size of this portion is to be proposed by the contractor in
this RFP.
3.11 The Contract is expected to begin on 2nd April 2012.
3.12 In submitting a response to this RFP the proposer accepts and agrees to be
bound by the terms and conditions outlined in this RFP.
3.13 The proposed timeframe for the Proposal process is as follows:
Deadline for submission of Proposals: Monday 16th January 2012
Selection Panel Convened: Week of 23rd
January 2012
Notification to preferred Applicant(s): Week of 30th January 2012
Contract start date: Monday 2nd
April 2012
Please note that this timeframe is indicative only and may be subject to change.
4. Enquiries
4.1 Official Liaison Person
All enquires related to this Proposal must be directed in writing to:
Peter Reynolds
Chief Executive Officer
Early Childhood Council
P O Box 5649
Suite 2, Level 2, Greenock House
39 The Terrace
Wellington.
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone 0800 742 742 option 3
5. Submission of Proposals
5.1 The deadline for submission of Proposals is 5pm 16th January 2012. Proposals
received after this time may not be considered.
5.2 Proposals must arrive at the address stated in clause 4 above; on or before the
deadline.
5.3 Proposals may be sent by mail, couriered or hand delivered to this address.
Faxed, e-mailed or electronic copies of Proposals will not be accepted (other
than those accompanying the printed proposal as required under clause 5.6(vi)
below).
5.4 Proposals should be placed in a sealed envelope and clearly marked:
“ECC PD Proposal – Commercial in Confidence”
5.5 Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:
# PROPOSAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Qualifications, Skills and Experience
1 Qualifications and related experience of the person(s) delivering the workshops
2 Evidence of proposer’s knowledge and experience of the early childhood education sector
Capability
3 Evidence from previous work that demonstrates an ability to undertake research to identify ECC members’ needs and then to design and deliver a professional development programme over a twelve month period that reflects these needs.
4 Evidence of the ability to plan and manage the logistics of setting up and running a multi-event, multi-location professional development programme
5 A draft plan for the proposed professional development programme that ensures a realistic promotional programme, logistics for booking and event management.
6 Financial proposal
5.6 Proposers are asked to submit a Proposal comprising the following documents:
i. A detailed summary of addressing Criteria numbers 2 and 3 (no longer
than one page for each criterion).
ii. A draft plan, as per Criteria numbers 4 and 5 (no longer than three
pages).
iii. A background of the key personnel highlighting relevant qualifications,
skills and experience address Assessment Criteria number 1,
including CVs.
iv. The names and contact details of two referees for the ECC to contact
v. A proposed estimated budget (exclusive of GST) showing the portion
payable to the ECC
vi. 1 x electronic version (i.e. CD, flash drive or floppy disc) of the
Proposal documentation to be compatible with Microsoft software.
5.7 The Proposal must include a signed statement (Applicant’s Declaration) and
where necessary identifying any actual or potential conflict of interest arising
from experience or affiliations of each nominated consultant.
5.8 The ECC requires that all Proposals conform to the conditions set out in this
RFP, in the format indicated above and reserves the right to reject any non-
conforming Proposal.
6. Proposal Documents
6.1 Each Applicant shall examine, or be deemed to have examined, the
requirements of this RFP and Proposal Assessment Criteria and any other
information supplied by the ECC in writing. Where the Proposal documents are
ambiguous or unclear to an Applicant, then the Applicant may at any time, up
until 12 noon 9th January 2012, contact the Chief Executive Officer.
6.2 The ECC reserves the right to change, suspend or cancel this Proposal, or the
contents of the Proposal documentation at any time prior to the full acceptance
of a Proposal. Where any change is made, the ECC shall notify all Applicants in
writing and shall alter the Proposal closing time, as it thinks fit. The ECC may
issue a Supplementary Notice, which shall be sent to all applicants and be
published on the ECC’s website and shall, upon issue, become part of the
Proposal documents.
7. Form, Content and Preparation of Proposals
7.1 Each Applicant shall provide the contact name, telephone number, e-mail and
contact address of one individual to act as one point of contact during the
Proposal process. That person may be required to answer questions which may
arise during examination of the Proposal or provide additional information if
requested by the ECC.
7.2 The Applicant’s Declaration statement is to be signed by a duly authorised
officer, for and on behalf of, the Applicant.
7.3 All pages are to be bound together in the above order to form the Applicant’s
final proposal document.
7.4 All Proposals shall be firm offers and may not be withdrawn for a period of 30
calendar days following the deadline for submission of Proposals.
7.5 The cost of preparing and submitting the Proposal shall be borne by the
Applicant.
8. The Proposal Process
8.1 During the Proposal period Applicants must not contact ECC staff directly
regarding this Proposal, except in accordance with clause 4.1 and 6.1 above.
8.2 The ECC reserves the right to clarify or request additional information from any
Applicant before accepting any Proposal and to implement additional processes
to evaluate the Proposals as we deem necessary.
8.3 The ECC reserves the right to negotiate with any one and/or all Applicants with a
discretionary view to forming multiple contracts.
8.4 The ECC reserves the right to negotiate without restriction with Applicants after
the close of Proposals on any matter contained in the Proposal, without
disclosing this to any other person.
8.5 The ECC shall have no liability for any information it provides, or for any cost or
loss to any Applicant, in the event of that this Proposal is cancelled, suspended
or changed.
8.6 Applicants may submit one proposal for each of the two programmes outlined in
clauses 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 above; or a single proposal for both programmes
combined..
8.7 The ECC reserves the right to accept or reject any, or all Proposal(s), and to
annul the Proposing process, at any time, thereby rejecting all Proposals, prior to
any contract being awarded.
9. Acceptance of Proposals
9.1 Any Proposal will not necessarily be accepted.
9.2 Each Applicant shall be notified in writing of the acceptance or rejection of its
Proposal as soon as practicable. No Proposal shall be deemed to be accepted
unless and until the Applicant has been notified by the ECC in writing.
9.3 Nothing contained or implied in this invitation to Proposal shall oblige the ECC to
discuss, justify or give reasons for any of its decisions or actions relating to this
Proposal process or any individual Proposal.
10. Confidentiality
10.1 Applicants should mark their proposals “Commercial - In Confidence” if they wish
to protect specific information. The ECC will treat all Proposals in the strictest
confidence.
11. Subject to Contract
11.1 Following the Proposal evaluations, the preferred proposer will be contacted and
invited to enter into negotiations with a view to entering into a Contract with the
ECC. Such an invitation is not a formal contract offer.
11.2 2 Proposals are submitted on the basis that no binding legal relations with the
ECC are created unless and until a formal written contract is signed by both the
ECC and the successful Applicant.
11.3 3 The acceptance by the ECC of any Proposal, whether with or without
negotiation, or the negotiation with an unsuccessful Applicant, shall not create
binding legal relations between the ECC and the party whose Proposal has been
accepted or which is negotiating with the ECC.
11.4 The draft Contract is attached to this document as Appendix 1 for information.
12. Evaluation Criteria
12.1 Proposals will be evaluated by an Assessment Panel, convened by the ECC,
with a focus on the criteria outlined in the Proposal Assessment Criteria.
12.2 The assessment panel intends informing all applicants of its decision on the
preferred proposer by close of business Friday 17th February 2012.
Decisions will be communicated in writing.
12.3 The ECC, and/or other representatives of the assessment panel may seek
further information from proposers, wish to discuss a proposal with the applicant
and/or wish to negotiate changes to a proposal.
12.4 An interview/presentation may be required prior to final selection. Proposers will
be given notification of the Panel’s decision to conduct interviews/presentation
shortly before the interview/presentation date.
12.5 The ECC reserves its absolute discretion in the evaluation and selection
process.
13. Contract Negotiations
13.1 Once decisions are communicated, contract negotiations will commence with the
successful proposer. It is the ECC’s intention to see these concluded as swiftly
as possible, with the process completed by Friday 17th February 2012.
Proposers should note that until both parties have signed a written agreement,
the agreement is an arrangement in principle only.
14. Workshops outside the Agreement
14.1 The ECC may offer its members and/or non-members the opportunity to attend
seminars or workshops that are arranged by the ECC and offered outside of the
Professional Development Contract agreed with the successful applicant.
14.2 Such seminars and/or workshops will not reflect the same topics agreed with the
contractee.
14.3 The ECC anticipates that such seminars/workshops are likely to occur in
response to significant policy issues arising within the sector, and where
consulting with the ECC membership or wider sector is appropriate. One-off
seminars/workshops may also be arranged by the ECC on topics outside of
those specified in the contract, in response to significant member demand.
14.4 Where demand from the ECC membership for an additional workshop occurs,
the ECC agrees to consult with the contractee with a view to the contractee
adding the workshop to their agreement.
APPLICANT’S DECLARATION
(to be completed by authorised contracting officer/contract signatory)
In submitting this Proposal I make the following declarations:
I confirm that I have read, understood and agree to be bound by this RFP.
I agree that the ECC may contact all nominated referees, and at the ECC’s
discretion, carry out reference checks in relation to any previous work which has
been undertaken and that all references and reports obtained by the ECC will be
confidential to the ECC.
I confirm that in submitting this information I am not aware of any situation or issue
that would conflict with the interests of the ECC. Where an actual, potential or
perceived conflict of interest does arise I undertake to report it to the ECC
immediately.
I confirm that I have read and understood the standard Preferred Supplier Agreement
template attached to this RFP. If successful, I agree to sign an Agreement on these
terms.
I have personally completed this Proposal Statement on behalf of my
organisation/company and declare that the above particulars provided in my proposal
are true and correct. I understand that should I be successful then falsification of
information, supply of misleading information or the suppression of material
information will be grounds for the termination of the contract.
Signed for and on behalf of the Applicant by an authorised contracting officer /
contract signatory
Signature:
Full name:
Position:
Date:
Appendix 1: DRAFT AGREEMENT
