The Ministry of Justice is seeking to establish the Prison Education Dynamic Purchasing System (PEDPS) to provide a broad range of prison education, Information, Advice and Guidance
Services and resettlement services. The PEDPS seeks to provide Governors with a flexible commissioning route for short to medium term needs up to one year, one-off requirements and
Services that support and complement the core educational offer in prisons. In particular, the Authority wants to access innovative approaches to custody education that deliver against the
Needs of specific cohorts of offenders and education and training that contributes to employment and/or wider rehabilitative outcomes.
Connected to this is a desire to attract a broad range of suppliers to be part of the PEDPS, including, but not limited to, SMEs, further education colleges and higher education institutions,
Specialist training providers and third sector organisations. It is this breadth of suppliers and expertise that will enable Governors to commission the right services for their establishment
And prisoners — reacting to changing needs in local labour markets and the prison population.
Bar a small number of restrictions it will be up to Governors to decide what education services they commission from the PEDPS. It is expected that PEDPS will be used most commonly for
The commissioning of services where a specialist provider is best placed to achieve the outcomes desired (whether they be vocational or rehabilitative) and where the prison needs to react
To short term or changing needs (such as the changing vocational needs for an open prison supporting prisoners to work on 'temporary license' or release). The core common curriculum
of English, maths, ICT and ESoL will not be available through the PEDPS.
The scope of the PEDPS includes information, advice and guidance (IAG) services. IAG services are those delivered to support individuals in their choice of career, learning, work and life
Goals. Prison library services are not within the scope of the PEDPS.
The PEDPS has 5 Geographical Areas and 17 Service Categories. The estimated spend for the first 6 years of the PEDPS is 210 000 000 GBP (35 million GBP per year).
To provide transparency for the market, the Authority is going to allow private providers operating prisons to access the PEDPS. Additionally, the youth custodial estate, which includes
Youth Offenders Institute (YOIs), Secure Children's Home (SCHs) and Secure Training Centres (STCs), may also at a later date act as authorised buyers under the PEDPS, enabling them to purchase services from PEDPS suppliers.