To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to pause one tender exercise may be regarded as misfortune; to pause two looks like carelessness.
It will perhaps come as no surprise that the AEB procurement has been put on hold; postponement of the outcome was inevitable given the restrictions imposed during purdah in the run up to the 2017 General Election. However, the use of ‘paused’ in the Bravo message issued today is unfortunate, and suggests that the AEB tender will be shelved, just like the non-levied apprenticeship tender was abandoned.
Full text of the announcement below:
In the run up to a General Election, the Education and Skills Funding Agency, along with all government departments, has to comply with a series of restrictions imposed on communication activities. The timetable for announcing procurement results for the Adult Education Budget has been paused in accordance with these restrictions. We will provide an update after the General Election.
DfE Sourcing Team