Decision details

Priority 6 of the 2020 GM Serious Violence Action Plan included a commitment to work with education settings (including primary, secondary, alternative provision, further education and pupil referral units) to keep pupils safe and reduce the likelihood of fixed term and permanent exclusions. The 12023 Greater Than Violence strategy contains multiple commitments to work across educational settings over the next decade, particularly concerning pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

In order to progress this work, the VRU needed to appoint an individual who could function at a senior level and invoke the necessary changes across the education system. As such, it appointed an independent education lead via the College of Maths. Since July 2022, the education lead has operated in a complex partnership environment, working with multiple stakeholders to identify best practice, implement strategy and effective intervention measures. The independent education lead was appointed as in order to succeed in this work, it was deemed necessary that the individual would need to have had extensive experience as a headteacher, and was both competent and fully conversant with the business landscape of
education, including matters pertaining to national and local policy, through to direct operational delivery.

Building resilience within the school community and general education
setting is vital in order to reduce the risk of young people becoming involved in violence, but also addressing the outcomes and factors when violence does occur. This work covers all elements of primary and secondary and
further education as well as other specialist education provision.

The current contract with the College of Maths is due to expire in July 2024, and we are seeking authorisation to extend it beyond July 2024 to 31st March 2025. Once clarity on VRU funding beyond this date has been clarified, the VRU will need to work with GMCA commercial services to undertake a complaint procurement exercise to commission any further education lead role.

The VRU to vary its existing contract with The College of Maths by adding a value of £49,000 to extend the current contract for the VRU’s Education Lead beyond its current end date of July 2024 to 31st March 2025. The current value of the contact is £110,400 and the total new value of the varied contract will be £159,400.