Clarifications

34. DPS Order Schedule 17 MOD Terms as found in Bid Pack 4 appears to be the incorrect document. The text within the document refers to Exit Management. Please could you provide the correct version of this Schedule? Thanks.

33. We note that the liability for each call off contract under RM6219 is £5m per annum or 150% of fees (whichever is higher), plus £10m per annum for data protection. In some lots (such as the standard off the shelf lot) there will be a high volume of small orders. How should we interpret the liability clause in this context, as we were not sure that £5m and £10m liability per booking was correct or appropriate? We assume that the liability limit is applicable to the entire annual spend per supplier?

32. Section 2.6 of the Core Terms requires that when "...the Supplier is approached by any Other Contracting Authority requesting Deliverables or substantially similar goods or services, the Supplier must tell them about this DPS Contract before accepting their order." Please could I ask how you envisage that this is to work in practice? What steps does the CCS plan to take to monitor contacts between DPS suppliers and non-DPS enquirers?

31. Reference Pricing matrix for SOTS, Standard OTS Training tab: oIs this entire tab to be completed for each Learning Category (rather than in total across entire response or at a course level)? - there is no cell in the tab to identify which Learning Category it relates to. oDoes the client recognise and accept that it is not possible to confirm a single price for a re-sit (cell D19) because each Learning Category includes multiple courses with wide ranging levels of cost for the exam element - therefore we will not be able to commit to a single price point and will, instead, have to describe approach in narrative in the text box (B20-D28) oTable 2 - Does the client recognise and accept that these cost % will be an estimate because each Learning Category contains multiple courses with different weightings of cost components and therefore this will have to be an average based on an assumed weighting of course consumption •Learning Category tab: oCan we submit multiple options in column F (i.e. Virtual, and F-2-F and hybrid) all with same price point or do we need to create individual rows for each? Many thanks

30. Could you please help with us with the requirement for Cyber Essentials certification. We have Certification for our company. We deliver all work via sub-contractors, who are typically solo trainers and coaches. They work on our cloud-based systems for everything they do and 'processing' data, but provide their own laptops and other devices. Can you confirm if the requirement for all sub-contractors is to have their own Certification, or is working on our systems sufficient. If they do require certification, is it sufficient for us to ensure that sub-contractors are certified on award of a contract?

29. Course Examples/Definitions - Please could more guidance/definition be provided regarding the types of training applicable under "Standard Off-The-Shelf Training" as this is a very broad category? If possible please could some examples be provided? E.g., would courses such as First Aid and Health & Safety courses be applicable to be procured under this route?

27. Q37 you have requested website link to quality assurance report. Please clarify your expectation of this as Quality assurance report is not usually in public domain. Thanks

26. In response to Q6. Are there any word count limits for the responses requiring free text answers in the DPSQ? You have confirmed that there is a 300 word limit per question. However the text boxes only allow 300 characters, please confirm whether it is 300 words or characters? Thanks

25. Please could you tell me where within the DPS documentation we will find the terms and conditions that will apply to the cancellation of training events booked through a contract placed via the DPS? I've had a look at the Core Terms document but can't immediately see anything about this. Thanks.

24. In the 'LTS DPS Engagement Event' slide deck there was reference to 'Managed Service' as one of types of services to be offered under this Framework. My questions are as follows; -Why was 'Managed Service' not included as a service type under this Framework? -Is there still any routes to offer this service?

23. As a training provider we have a number of training consultants we use to support the delivery of our training. They are not directly employed by us, so would you class them as 'sub-contractors' under this DPS? It would be difficult for us to provide details of their percentage contribution without knowing the awarded contracts as they each specialise in different areas.

21. We understand that the platform will be open to buyers on the 29th October, can you confirm whether the suppliers need to be 'live' and visible to suppliers by this date?

20. If we do not yet know who our subcontractors are - and do not have time now to engage them formally - are we able to continue with the response and update CCS later when we have formed an eco-system aligned to Standard Award requirements?

19. Please can you confirm if 'General' is a standalone prospectus that can be responded to without responding to any of the other 4 prospectuses? Or must suppliers respond to at least 1 of the 4 prospectuses PLUS general? Thanks

18. Are there any word count limits for the responses requiring free text answers in the DPSQ? Thank you.

17. Ap0ologies if these questions are answered within the documentation, but I can't find any reference. Both concern para 9 on the READ FIRST document. 1. Are all the Pass/Fail questions marked as such on the SQ / DPSQ, or are there any Pass/Fail questions that are not marked as such? 2. What is the minimum financial threshold assigned to this DPS? Thanks 2.

16. We have seen CQ no 8 - "Could you please clarify what is meant by 'off the shelf'? - Does it include accredited/qualifying courses and non-qualified courses? Off The Shelf' is both accredited/qualifying courses and non-qualified courses, that require little or no customisation. Any OTS course offered under RM6219 must be delivered by the training provider themselves (no subcontracting or aggregators)." It is reasonably foreseeable that there will be a demand for some OTS courses that we are not able to provide ourselves. It seems logical therefore to list a subcontractor who could cover these gaps, notwithstanding that we do not know the specifics of a course. In the light of CQ8, it seems that there is no point in listing sub-contractors because they may not provide OTS courses. Will you please clarify what the purpose of listing sub-contractors is, especially as we are required to estimate workshare and reach agreement with them on our collaboration.

15. Please can you confirm that Question 147 is Not Applicable? It doesn't refer to the steel industry.

14. Q)In Attachment 1F - Pricing matrix for SOTS, Does the column header "Subject Area" mean "Learning Category" ? Q)The response to one of the clarification questions implied that this DPS could not be used by central government, however both the Contract Notice and the PIN clearly said it would not exclude central government departments. Could you clarify the position please?

13. Please could you explain the reasoning behind Question 148 on the Selection Questionnaire? Do we need to identify subcontractors from our supply chain who have previously delivered training to organisations involved in the steel supply and production?