UK SBS Student Loan Company capability, capacity and culture: a strategic review to support post-election planning.

*** This tender requirement was abandoned prior to a Contract award decision. *** The Student Loans Company (SLC) is crucial for students and universities alike, delivering its services across all four of the Devolved UK Administrations. It has a critical role supporting around 1.6 million student finance applications a year; paying out £6.5 billion in maintenance loans and grants and £6 billion to higher and further education providers; and managing a nationally significant Income Contingent Repayment loan book with a value of £62 million.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, as sponsor department and majority shareholder in the Company, wants to ensure that the SLC has the capacity and capability to provide the strong leadership needed to meet the challenges it faces, and that the wider organisation has a culture where talented people can thrive. To this end, BIS is commissioning an independent strategic review to support the SLC in maintaining its current service and enabling it further to manage future asks.

The primary objective of this project is to establish whether the SLC has the capability and capacity to deliver its current portfolio of activities and to manage its major digital and IT programme to reshape its business for the future. However, it should also offer views on whether the wider organisation has a culture where talented people can thrive, and insight on any capability, capacity or cultural gaps within the organisation.

Where possible, practical recommendations should be offered for overcoming these issues. Additional information: UK Shared Business Services eSourcing As part of the strategic alliance between UK Shared Business Services Ltd (UK SBS) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), UK SBS can use the CCS eSourcing Suite for future procurements.

If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link 'Register for CCS eSourcing'. Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.

Once you have registered on the eSourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. Your email must clearly state: the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for; the name of the registered Bidder; and the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.

Crown Commercial Service will process the email and then enable the Bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite. The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done.

The Sourcing documents can then be accessed on the eSourcing Suite at: https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk using the instructions detailed in the Specification documents within Contracts Finder. As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event.

Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information. For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service Helpdesk : Telephone: 0345 010 3503 Training documents to support Bidders utilise Emptoris CCS eSourcing are available in the Contracts Finder Tender documents section.