SOFTCAT PLC

Progress AgenticRAG

Progress Agentic RAG is a high-value SaaS solution that automatically indexes files and documents to fuel diverse use cases with Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI Agents, ensuring high-quality outputs through RAG quality metrics

Features

• Semantic AI Search & Answers

Benefits

• Find critical insights across unstructured data in seconds

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at psitq@softcat.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

311140178239472

Contact

Public Sector Tenders
01628 403403
psitq@softcat.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Application Development and Deployment

  AI platforms

  • Search and knowledge discovery

  AI life cycle

  • Data Labeling Software
  • AI Build Software
  • MLOps and Foundation Model Ops Software
  • Trustworthy AI Software

  AI software services

  • Conversational AI Software Services
  • Computer Vision AI Software Services
  • Generative AI Software Services
  • Document AI Software Services
  • Anomaly Detection AI Software Services
  • Personalize AI Software Services
  • Forecast AI Software Services
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: No
• System requirements: Accessible by web browser (Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: Regarding response times, for the "Enterprise" tier, customers receive "Private Slack Channel + Zendesk + SLA" support, For the "Pro" tier, support includes "Zendesk + SLA" 3 and The "Starter" tier is described as having "Community Support"
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: No
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Progress AgenticRAG primarily provides remote support. Onsite support is available on request through our CSM team, mainly for enterprise or complex implementations.; ; Progress AgenticRAG offers three support tiers:; Starter – Basic support for simple use cases; Pro – Enhanced support for scaling teams; Enterprise – Full support for complex, mission-critical deployments; ; All tiers include structured onboarding (45–60 days) with strong early CSM involvement. Many customers go live in under one month.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Progress Agentic RAG supports customers with a structured, guided onboarding process designed to ensure fast and effective adoption of the service.; ; Onboarding typically takes 45–60 days, though many customers go from contract to production in under one month, depending on internal readiness. Customers are encouraged to form a small implementation team, usually one technical profile and one subject-matter expert, to work closely with Progress Agentic RAG’s team.; ; During the first month, Progress Agentic RAG conducts weekly remote sessions focused on correct API implementation, data ingestion, agent configuration, and aligning the platform with specific use cases. In the second month, meetings move to a bi-weekly cadence, addressing day-to-day challenges as customers progress toward production. From the third month onward, support continues with monthly check-ins.; ; Progress Agentic RAG provides hands-on technical guidance, helping customers structure data, define RAG strategies, configure LLM outputs, and adopt best practices. While onsite training is not standard, it can be arranged for complex or enterprise engagements if required.; ; In addition, users have access to online guidance through live sessions, as well as user documentation, training pages, FAQs, and resource materials that support self-service learning and ongoing optimization.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: When your contract with Progress Agentic RAG ends, you can extract your data through the mechanisms provided by the service. Specifically, upon termination of the services and processing of your personal data, Progress Agentic RAG, acting as a Data Processor, will erase all of your personal data
• End-of-contract process: At the end of the contract, your rights to access and use the API, the Functionalities, and Progress Agentic RAG's IP immediately cease. Any licenses granted to you under these Terms also terminate. However, certain clauses, such as those related to indemnification, disclaimer of warranties, limitation of liability, and applicable law, will continue to apply.
• Documentation accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the documentation is accessible: Documentation for Progress Agentic RAG is available online via HTML web pages

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Desktop: Provides the full experience, including advanced configuration, detailed monitoring, and complete management of knowledge bases and RAG pipelines. Best suited for setup, administration, and in-depth analysis.; ; Mobile: Optimized for accessibility and lighter interactions. Account access and basic usage are supported, but complex configurations and detailed management are limited due to screen size. Embedded widgets can be used seamlessly within mobile applications.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Description of service interface: Progress Agentic RAG provides a flexible, API-first service interface that can be embedded anywhere or used to build fully custom user interfaces. Customers may use Progress Agentic RAG’s ready-made search and chat UI or integrate directly via APIs.; ; The interface is built around RAG-as-a-Service, enabling end-to-end agentic AI systems without infrastructure overhead. A key differentiator is Progress Agentic RAG’s focus on the retrieval layer, allowing customers to configure retrieval strategies such as contextual expansion using neighboring paragraphs for higher answer accuracy.; ; Progress Agentic RAG also offers domain-specific entity extraction APIs, supporting advanced, industry-tailored insights for both developers and no-code teams.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Accessibility testing: None
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: The Progress Agentic RAG API enables developers to embed AI-powered search, retrieval, and generative answers into their own applications. Users can ingest and transform unstructured content such as documents, URLs, text, images, and videos into searchable knowledge. The API supports building custom user interfaces or embedding configurable widgets for search and chat. Developers can activate generative answers with citations, define retrieval strategies, create retrieval agents, and integrate with multiple production LLMs, including custom prompts and system prompts. Advanced AI capabilities include entity detection, structured data extraction, and knowledge graph creation. Users can also manage API keys via the Progress Agentic RAG dashboard and deploy solutions across cloud, hybrid, or on-premise environments.; ; Users may not use the API for illegal, harmful, or IP-infringing activities, damage or disrupt the API or its infrastructure, upload malicious software, or bypass security and content protections. Screen scraping, data mining, or automated extraction is prohibited without a written license. Users cannot reverse engineer, decompile, manipulate, or modify Progress Agentic RAG’s software or intellectual property, nor misrepresent ownership of uploaded content. Access is restricted to authorized users of legal age, and the API must only be used for its intended purposes under the agreed terms.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: What can be customized; Users can tailor RAG pipelines end to end, including data ingestion, chunking, anonymization, retrieval strategies, and context size. They can choose embedding models and LLMs, configure prompts and system behavior, and enable advanced AI capabilities such as generative search, summarization, classification, and entity detection. The AI search/chat widget is fully customizable in features, styling, tone of voice, and agent behavior, and can be white-labeled or rebuilt entirely. Deployment options (cloud, hybrid, on-prem) and data storage via Progress Agentic RAGDB are also configurable.; ; How users can customize; Customization is done via the Progress Agentic RAG no-code dashboard for uploading data, configuring agents, defining RAG strategies, and styling widgets. Developers can use APIs and SDKs (JS/TS) to build custom pipelines, interfaces, and agentic workflows. Widget customization ranges from presets and CSS styling to full custom builds using Progress Agentic RAG components or external frameworks.; ; Who can customize; No-code teams & business users via the dashboard; Developers via APIs, SDKs, and CLI tools; Product teams embedding white-label AI features; Enterprise teams requiring advanced customization, on-prem deployments, and dedicated support

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Progress Agentic RAG ensures consistent performance at scale through robust infrastructure and smart resource management. Progress Agentic RAGDB provides fast, scalable RAG-as-a-service, allowing demand to increase without impacting existing users. Quality is continuously monitored with REMi, which evaluates answer relevance and pipeline performance to maintain accuracy under load. Our architecture balances cost efficiency with scalability, reducing the expense of operating LLM-powered systems. Continuous updates and improvements keep the platform resilient and reliable. As a fully managed RAG service, Progress Agentic RAG simplifies integration, supports diverse data formats and languages, and delivers high-quality retrieval and grounded responses—even as usage grows.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Progress Agentic RAG offers comprehensive metrics to monitor system usage and answer quality across its AI and data confidence features. Activity logs show what was sent to the system and which models were used, helping teams track operations and resource consumption. Quality metrics—evaluated by an LLM—measure answer relevance, context relevance, and groundedness to ensure reliable and trustworthy outputs. These metrics are visualized in dashboards that display performance evolution over time, including average, minimum, and maximum scores. Users can also verify the original data sources behind answers, providing transparency, traceability, and confidence in RAG pipeline performance and overall system health.
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Progress

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: In-house destruction process
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure
  • Data Erasure
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation / Secure Erase

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Progress AgenticRAG allows users to export their data primarily in Apache Arrow format, enabling easy reuse for analytics and machine-learning workflows. Exported Arrow files can be loaded directly as HuggingFace or TensorFlow datasets, supporting downstream tasks such as model training and classification.; ; Exports can include comprehensive data streams covering resources, metadata, classifications, paragraphs, images, detected entities, and question-answer pairs, making it suitable for building applications on top of Progress Agentic RAGDB. Rich metadata (e.g., authors, publication dates, source URLs) can also be included.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats:
  • PDFs, Word documents (.doc, .docx), Excel files (.xls), text files
  • HTMLs, and sitemaps
  • Videos and audio files
  • Images

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Progress Agentic RAG targets high service availability and offers a 99.5% SLA commitment. Although the referenced text does not outline specific compensation or refund policies in the event of an SLA breach, it notes that the API and related services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. This indicates that while Progress Agentic RAG strives to maintain consistent uptime, the terms of service may limit customer remedies if availability falls below the stated target.
• Approach to resilience: Progress Agentic RAG ensures service resilience through robust architectural choices, flexible deployment models, and strong security controls. Customers can select from three deployment options based on their resilience and governance needs. Progress Agentic RAG Cloud provides a fully managed environment hosted in Europe or the USA, offering seamless setup and high availability. Progress Agentic RAG Hybrid separates storage and processing, allowing customer data to reside locally in a self-managed Progress Agentic RAGDB instance while indexing and AI inference run in Progress Agentic RAG’s cloud—balancing control and performance. Full On-Premise deployment places all components, including Progress Agentic RAGDB and generative models, entirely within the customer’s infrastructure for maximum control and security.; ; Data is encrypted in transit using SSL and at rest using AES-256. Each tenant’s data is isolated in dedicated buckets and shards, ensuring separation between customers. Managed OAuth supports secure third-party integrations, while auto-scaling maintains consistent performance under varying workloads. Progress Agentic RAG also offers a 99.5% SLA target to support reliability expectations.; ; For Progress Agentic RAG Cloud, resilience extends to underlying data center infrastructure from reputable cloud providers, leveraging geographic redundancy across Europe and the U.S., redundant networking, and strong physical security.
• Outage reporting: Progress Agentic RAG reports outages through several channels to keep its users informed. These channels include:; ; Email Alerts: Customers receive direct email notifications regarding any service disruptions.; Public Dashboard: A public dashboard is available for users to check the status of the service.; API Status: While the documentation extensively covers API functionalities and limitations, it doesn't explicitly mention a direct API endpoint for real-time outage reporting. However, the API is the primary integration point for many customers.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Progress Agentic RAG enforces strong access restrictions across its management interfaces and support channels to protect data and ensure compliance. Access Control Lists (ACLs) enable granular permissions, adapting to organizational roles. Security groups and labels allow fine-grained control so only authorized users can retrieve specific data. These controls are stored as metadata and can be combined with AND/OR filters. Progress Agentic RAG also integrates with enterprise identity providers, mapping existing group IDs and using middleware to manage authentication. Most importantly, Progress Agentic RAG performs security checks during retrieval, preventing unauthorized data from leaving the database
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards:
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR Compliance
• Information security policies and processes: Progress Agentic RAG follows strict information security policies designed to protect data privacy, integrity, and confidentiality. The platform is compliant with major industry standards, including ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II, and adheres fully to GDPR and European data protection regulations. Customer data is encrypted in transit using SSL and encrypted at rest with AES-256, and each Progress Agentic RAGDB instance is encrypted to safeguard multi-tenant environments. Progress Agentic RAG enforces granular access control through Access Control Lists (ACLs), ensuring authorization rules from source systems remain intact after indexing. Security assertions are embedded as metadata within the database, and checks are applied during retrieval to prevent unauthorized access.; ; Progress Agentic RAG does not use customer data or prompts to train AI models; any information shared for evaluation supports product improvement only and is not used for model retraining or shared externally. Flexible deployment options—including cloud, hybrid, and full on-premise—allow organizations to meet data sovereignty and governance requirements. Continuous updates, audits, and certifications help maintain compliance and system resilience.; ; Although the text does not fully detail the internal reporting structure, certifications like ISO 27001 imply an established security management framework overseen by dedicated personnel.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: Progress Agentic RAG’s approach to configuration and change management ensures efficient, secure, and continuously improving RAG services. The platform tracks all components across their lifecycle—from acquisition to deletion—using automated processes that promote accuracy, compliance, and security. Data is ingested, enriched, indexed, and made searchable, with updates and refinements applied regularly to maintain performance. Its fully modular RAG architecture allows organizations to swap embeddings, retrieval strategies, or LLMs as newer or more suitable options emerge, ensuring long-term adaptability.
• Vulnerability management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Progress Agentic RAG’s vulnerability management process proactively identifies, evaluates, and mitigates risks to maintain secure and compliant RAG services. We achieve this by continuously monitoring our IT landscape to avoid blind spots and detect potential threats early. Although specific patch deployment times are not detailed, Progress Agentic RAG’s commitment to continuous operation and updates reflects a proactive approach to applying fixes and enhancements. Threat intelligence is gathered through internal monitoring, adherence to SOC2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 standards, and secure Azure infrastructure.
• Protective monitoring type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Progress Agentic RAG protects data through layered monitoring and swift incident response. We continuously scan for vulnerabilities, monitor access logs, verify data integrity, and use anomaly detection to flag unusual behavior. LLM security agents help identify prompt injection or harmful content, supported by automated labeling for sensitive data. When a compromise is suspected, alerts are triaged, affected systems contained, root causes investigated, and vulnerabilities remediated before recovery and review. Response aims to begin within minutes to hours, and controllers are notified without undue delay of any personal data breach. This approach ensures rapid detection, mitigation, and continuous improvement.
• Incident management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v4.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Progress Agentic RAG uses pre-defined processes and automation to manage common events, including data access, lifecycle management, indexing, and ACL-based access control. Continuous updates and a 24/7 SLA indicate structured maintenance and escalation procedures. Users can report incidents through community Slack, private customer Slack/Teams channels, or contact forms. Although a formal ticketing system is not specified, direct communication enables rapid reporting and response. Incident handling is supported by fast SLA-driven resolution, structured onboarding and review meetings, and real-time collaboration with technical teams. Stored interactions—prompts, context, and answers—enable analysis, root-cause identification, and quality assessment for post-incident reporting and improvement.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: Yes

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v4.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Progress Agentic RAG (PARAG) offers a 14-day free trial with access to core RAG capabilities, ingestion, citations, embeddings, and community support. Some advanced features and data limits apply, but customers can request temporary removal of restrictions or extensions to evaluate the platform more thoroughly.
• Link to free trial: https://rag.progress.cloud/user/login [rag.progress.cloud]

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 0%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 0%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 0%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 0%
• Over £5,000,001: 0%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: NQA
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Monday 8 April 2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO 9001 certification: NQA
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Monday 8 April 2024
• What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: SecurityMetrics
• PCI DSS accreditation date: Friday 10 January 2025
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: N/A
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: E9fd5f85-7cd1-4ff2-aba9-6f9f5f225b1b
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: 181966c9-f0aa-42ed-9271-d1b111bdf43b
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: Security Standards dependant on the vendor solution

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

    • New apprenticeships on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b
    • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
    • Plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important workplace issues to address
    • Ensuring new workers are informed of their right to join a trade union
    • Monitoring of employee engagement rates (by protected characteristic) and, where necessary, the development of actions to ensure all voices are heard across the diversity of the workforce
    • Employment contracts that reflect actual hours worked; steps taken to ensure employees understand their contracts and have the ability to review and adjust them if actual hours regularly exceed contracted hours
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
    • Offer a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers, ideally equivalent to statutory adoption pay and leave
    • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
    • Monitoring and reporting of gender and ethnicity pay gaps and plans to address them where necessary
    • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
    • Plans for an appropriate income replacement policy for staff who are required to spend time away from work to care for a sick dependent or close relative
    • Understanding of in-work progression issues affecting the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
    • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Volunteering opportunities for staff
    • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
    • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
    • Means of influencing staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders with respect to modern slavery risks relating to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Understanding of employment and relevant skills issues, and of the education and training issues relating to the contract. Illustrative examples: demographics, skills shortages, new opportunities in high growth sectors, geographic/local community and skills/employment challenges
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering
    • Delivery of apprenticeships, supported internships and T Level industry placement opportunities (Level 2, 3 and 4+) in relation to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 3: Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains: Support economic growth through enabling resilient businesses, opportunities for small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises

    • Understanding of the types of businesses in the market and the level of participation by new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Activities to identify opportunities to open up sub-contracts under the prime contract to a diverse range of businesses, including new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Plans for engaging a diverse range of businesses in engagement activities prior to appointing subcontractors (including activities prior to award of the main contract and during the contract term)
    • Ensuring accessibility to contracting and subcontracting opportunities for disabled business owners and employees
    • Support for community-led initiatives relevant to the contract. Illustrative examples: improving transport links; reducing loneliness; helping with English language proficiency; and facilitating social mixing among people with different backgrounds

  • Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower: To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

    Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

    • Understanding of opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement
    • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Understanding of employment and skills issues, and of the skills and employment shortages of high growth sectors relating to the contract
    • Creation of employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment, such as prison leavers, care leavers and/or who are located in deprived areas, and for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors
    • Delivery of training schemes and programmes to address any identified skills gaps and under-representation in the workforce for the contract (e.g. prison leavers, care leavers, kinship carers, disabled people)
    • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Collection of the views and expertise of disabled people and their representative organisations on successfully supporting disabled employees or applicants
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
    • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
    • Offering a range of quality opportunities with routes of progression if appropriate, e.g. T Level industry placements, students supported into higher level apprenticeships.
    • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
    • Other measures to provide equality of opportunity for disabled people and those with health conditions into employment, including becoming a Disability Confident employer and inclusion of supported businesses in the contract supply chain
    • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce
    • Inclusive and accessible development practices, including guidance for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

    • Understanding of the issues affecting the development of new skills by target cohort
    • Understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to entry and training schemes for the target cohort(s) related to the contract workforce
    • Other measures to offer development opportunities for the target cohort(s) in the contract workforce
    • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
    • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
    • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit the target cohort

  • Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future: That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

    • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
    • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
    • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at psitq@softcat.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.