Workforce Solutions 2

Summary

This framework agreement gives all public sector organisations access to hire temporary and permanent workers. It also includes a range of other recruitment and talent acquisition services, meeting public sector needs. It is a closed framework, let under the Procurement Act 2023. 

Description

RM6416 Workforce Solutions 2 will replace RM6288 Workforce Solutions, also known as Public Sector Resourcing (PSR). It will give public sector customers a single, straightforward way to hire temporary and permanent staff and access to vendor neutral supply chains. It will also ensure they have clear oversight and confidence in their workforce data. This agreement will not cover clinical roles.

Benefits 

  • managed hiring services for temporary and permanent staff
  • neutral vendor suppliers bringing in new, niche and novel supply chains
  • one central hub for all workforce data across every program
  • long-term contracts to easily access managed hiring services
  • direct support from the GCA contract management team 

Product types

Lot 1: Contingent Labour and Associated Services

This will be a single supplier lot that includes:

  • resource augmentation 
  • re-deployment assistance of temporary staffing
  • strategic workforce planning
  • IR35 compliance 

Lot 2: Recruitment Process Outsourcing and Permanent Recruitment 

This will be a single supplier lot. It will take a modular approach, with flexible options including: 

  • fixed term contracts
  • CV sifting
  • recruit, train, deploy, re-deploy
  • re-skilling assessments
  • psychometric testing
  • executive and non-executive recruitment
  • talent and market mapping
  • reserve lists and talent pools
  • executive development and coaching.  
  • strategic workforce planning 

Lot 3: Vendor Neutral Resources and Services

This will establish a maximum of 3 neutral vendors who will cultivate supply chains for niche, innovative uses of resources and services. They will run a procurement service within their supply chain covering:

  • resource augmentation
  • recruit train deploy
  • statements of work
  • consultancy  

This will focus on auditable, reportable use and IR35 assurance. Call-offs will need to be awarded with competition. 

Customer engagement

The GCA team leading on this agreement are working in close collaboration with the Workforce Category Plan. This is a Government Commercial Organisation (GCO) initiative. 

We will engage with key stakeholders through this route. Customers who would like to receive updates or register an interest in evaluating can register using this form.

If you have specific questions or feedback you would like to share with the team, please email psr@gca.gov.uk.

Supplier engagement

You can secure a short 1:1 with the commercial team through this booking page. If you are new to the public sector, before booking, please watch this introductory session presented by GCA’s SME champions.

You can register an interest as well as agree to having your details shared if you would like to form a consortium. We will use this list of suppliers if we need feedback within a short timescale.

APSCo UK and APSCo OutSource have kindly agreed to facilitate our pre-market engagement sessions. This will include several round tables. Information about upcoming sessions will be shared on this webpage. These will take place in January 2027.

There is a lot of support available for suppliers. If you are new to public sector procurement, we recommend reading GCA’s supplier specific articles, which demystify complex procurement areas. You can join the GCA Supplier Community to engage more closely with GCA.

Download our PA23 session presentation to see a brief overview of some practical changes to the procurement process as part of the Procurement Act 2023.

Important links

All procurement notices Read procurement notices
Pipeline notice Read pipeline notice
Preliminary market engagement notice Read preliminary market engagement notice  
Planned procurement notice Not available 
Contract notice in Find a Tender (FTS) Not available 
Tender documents Not available 

Timeline

Due to the complex nature of the procurement and services, we are building in a 12-18 month implementation period, as well as a 12 month customer transition period, while the existing agreement is still live. This implementation and transition period will begin after the framework award. 

Activity Estimated dates
Pre-market engagement 2026-2027
Drafting of procurement documentation March 2027
Publication of Find a Tender (FTS) notice November 2027
Framework award February 2029