GCI NETWORK SOLUTIONS LIMITED

Alcatel Rainbow Hub by Nasstar

Alcatel Rainbow HUB UC is a flexible, customisable Unified Communications system, that makes life easier and better for your users and your customers. Tailored to individuals, it meets the needs of all staff and it’s easy to make changes without the worry of adding or removing physical lines.

Features

• Full UCaaS Collaboration and Connectivity
• Rich Telephony Services
• Complete UC and Collaboration functionality
• Multi Device and Mobile 1st philosophy
• Easy to manage from the client interface
• Built in business continuity
• Microsoft Teams and M365 Integration
• Workflow integration
• Consistant experience on PC and Mobile Devices
• Zero Touch deployment of Alcatel deskphone sets

Benefits

• Multi Device Multi Media Communications for all users
• Full range of Telephony functions that users require
• All modern modes of communication at every user's fingertips
• Communicate on the most appropriate device from anywhere anytime
• Simple self service and self learning
• No downtime of communications
• Enhance existing Microsoft Infrastructure and applications
• Embed Communications into the heart of Business Processes
• Accelerated easy adoption of the applications
• Plug and Play deployment saves time on configuring individual handsets

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• 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 tenders@nasstar.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

553700531403013

Contact

Andrew Hasnip
03450030000
tenders@nasstar.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Applications

  Collaborative

  • Team collaboration
• Multi cloud support: No

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: Support will be delivered in English language only.
• System requirements:
  • Internet connection
  • Web Browser
  • IoS for Apple Mobile Applications
  • Android for Apple Mobile Applications
  • PC for Desktop Application
  • MAC for Apple PCs

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: Email or online ticketing support; ; Yes; ; Support response times; ; Response times are: -Priority 1 is 30 minutes (24/7) -Priority 2 is 1 hour (24/7) -Priority 3 is 3 hours (business hours only) -Priority 4 is end of next business day (business hours only)
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: EN 301 549
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes
• Support levels: Support Coverage ; Normal business Hours - Nasstar’s Core Support Hours for support/managed service coverage is Monday to Friday: 09:00 – 17:30 ; Extended support - 24 hours x 7 days - for P1 and P2 ticket; The Nasstar Service Desk will work remotely with the Customer to investigate and resolve tickets. Where Nasstar is unable to do so remotely, it may arrange for an engineer to attend the Customer Site at additional Customer cost. ; ; Response SLA’s; representation- the service levels for incident response:; • Priority 1 (P1) Initial response within 15minutes; • Priority 2 (P2) Initial response within 2hours; • Priority 3 (P3) Initial response within 24hours; • Priority 4 (P4) Initial response within 48hours; • Priority 5 (P5) Initial response within 48hours; ; Priorities; ; 1 Any critical failure of the Supported Solution affecting an entire site/business.; ; 2 A major failure of the Supported Solution. ; Where there has been a partial loss of Rainbow Hub s; 3 A failure within the Supported Solution. ; Where there has been a partial loss of Rainbow Hub services which has created an impact for multiple users. ; 4 A minor error within the Supported Solution ; 5 Calls requesting advice and information, or other Service Requests.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Starting a service with Nasstar - Nasstar provide a free proof of concept (PoC) for new customers, offering a full system with full admin with access all areas, user accounts, hunt groups, IVR, greetings, and genuine DDIs for call flow testing. Users can make outgoing calls at no cost, and loan sets are supplied as needed. This enables thorough testing and ensures the system meets requirements before launch. The PoC uses complimentary licenses from Nasstar and Alcatel, and upon approval, is swiftly converted into the production system via a license update. All PoC work transitions directly to the live environment, eliminating redundant effort. There is no specific timescale for the PoC and zero cost. All applications include up to date video training, PowerPoint and PDF training collateral is provided and onsite or remote admin, set or application training can be provided.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: After the contract end date, users can retrieve their data from Rainbow Hub, as the service will revert to an Essential “free of charge” license. This license provides complete access to all data without any billing. While calls cannot be made under the Essential license, the service may remain active for an agreed period, such as six months. All statistics, user accounts, IVRs, greeting files, and setup information will be available for viewing and downloading.
• End-of-contract process: At the conclusion of the contract, renewals may be offered with terms and durations agreed upon by both the customer and the Nasstar account manager. If a new agreement is reached, the service will continue until the next end date. If not, the system will switch to a rolling contract. The service will only cease if requested by the customer.; The Rainbow Hub contract provides each user with their selected license, SIP connectivity, a DDI, 1000 UK National call minutes (listed twice), support, and upgrades.; There are five available licenses—Phone, Business, Enterprise, Attendant, and Alarm—each with its own pricing. Upgrading from one license type to another, such as from Phone to Business, incurs additional costs.; Handsets are charged separately, with each model priced according to its features. Other peripheral devices, including analogue terminal adapters and sidecar BLF units, also involve extra charges, as does delivery.
• Documentation accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the documentation is accessible: Onboarding and Offboarding Documentation; Onboarding Documentation; All Rainbow applications are equipped with integrated video training, allowing users to stream up-to-date documentation directly within the application. This ensures that users always have access to the most current and relevant training materials. After each Sprint or Release, the application includes a "What's New" section, providing every user with detailed information about the latest features and updates. For major releases, updated administrative documentation is prepared in PDF format and distributed by Nasstar to all Rainbow administrators within customer organisations who have requested these updates.; Offboarding Process; To initiate the offboarding process, an email request should be sent to Nasstar Cease at nasstar.cease@nasstar.com. Nasstar will then manage and coordinate all necessary steps and timings to ensure a smooth transition, preventing any loss of service during the process.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: Yes
• Compatible operating systems:
  • Android
  • IOS
  • MacOS
  • Windows
  • ChromeOS
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Rainbow applications are purposefully designed to maintain consistent functionality and appearance across both PC and mobile platforms. This ensures that users transitioning from PC to mobile can easily locate controls and features for UC operations without additional effort. Such an approach enables seamless switching between devices, eliminating the need for users to reacquaint themselves with operational procedures.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• API: No
• Customisation available: No

Scaling

• Independence of resources: All ALE services are deployed in an N+1 redundant configuration to ensure no single point of failure and sufficient computing capacity to enable traffic to be loadbalanced to the remaining servers in case of instance failures. All application requests are evenly distributed among internal and external load balancers. Databases and user-generated data all are multiple time replicated and backed up, region-wise, to ensure no possible loss. ALE adds GeoDNS mechanisms, autofailover support to cope withpossible Internet routing issues and ensure user access to the closest PoP. Rainbow’s complete production infrastructure is automated to ensure a 100% reliable and reproducible deployment.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: The following metrics are utilised to assess usage frequency and adoption across key areas:; •User status, including active, dormant, and inactive users, adoption scores and licensing levels.; •One-to-one communication formats, encompassing chat and voice/video calls.; •Group communications, Bubbles and conferences; •Telephone activity analytics, covering softphone usage, internal external calls.; •VoIP call quality assessments, including overall or user-specific MOS indices.; •Terminal usage across platforms (Windows, Mac, Android, Apple devices, etc.; •Analysis of voice traffic volumes.; •Comprehensive global call logs.; •Analytics for hunting groups.; •Attendance conversion rates.; •Number of participants per session.; •Administrative analytics dashboards.; •Webinar and host agement statistics.; •Subscription management
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request
• Resource tagging: No
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Alcatel Lucent

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: European Economic Area (EEA)
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 4.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
  • Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: No
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: The following data is available for export to CSV by both users and administrators:; • Comprehensive analytics; • Business directory data; • MAC addresses for all Alcatel devices; • Complete user list
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

Data-in-transit protection

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

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Response Time SLA’s; The section below represent the service level objectives for incident response:; • Priority 1 (P1) Initial response within 15minutes; • Priority 2 (P2) Initial response within 2hours; Maufacturer Refund:; 50% of the Subscription Fees of the affected User Accounts charged by ALE for the last Month, if during the 3 Months period the compounded regional SLI was less than 99.9%; ; 100% of the Subscription Fees of the affected User Accounts charged by ALE for the last Month, if during the 3 Months period the compounded regional SLI was less than 99.5%; ; • Priority 3 (P3) Initial response within 24hours; • Priority 4 (P4) Initial response within 48hours; • Priority 5 (P5) Initial response within 48hours; Initial response will include the assignment of an engineer with an email and/or ticket to the customer informing them that we are aware of the issue and have started our investigations.
• Approach to resilience: Rainbow Hub is designed as a resilient, cloud‑native unified communications platform that ensures business continuity through redundancy, security, and hybrid deployment options. As a UCaaS solution, Rainbow Hub benefits from the inherent resilience of cloud architecture, including geographic redundancy, elastic scaling, and automatic failover. This reduces reliance on on‑premise hardware and helps maintain service availability during local outages.; Its hybrid cloud model strengthens resilience further by allowing organisations to integrate existing PBX systems with cloud collaboration services. This ensures telephony continuity even if cloud access is disrupted and provides fallback paths for voice services. Rainbow Hub also incorporates strong security and data‑sovereignty controls, reducing the risk of service disruption from cyberattacks or compliance issues.; Cloud PBX capabilities add another layer of resilience through distributed call routing, redundant SIP trunks, and advanced call‑management features. Collaboration tools such as messaging, video conferencing, presence, and “bubbles” are hosted in the cloud, ensuring persistent access across devices and networks.; Finally, Rainbow Hub’s managed cloud operations eliminate downtime caused by manual patching or hardware failures. Continuous updates, monitoring, and maintenance ensure the platform remains stable, secure, and available, supporting uninterrupted communication for distributed and hybrid workforces.
• Outage reporting: Public dashboard – The Rainbow Admin interface reports alarms, which users can configure and set to custom measurements.; API client – Reports outages or incidents.; email alerts – Notifies users of global outages, including pending updates, upgrades, and patching.; Rainbow Hub employs a structured and proactive notification process to keep users and administrators informed of system updates, maintenance activities, and incidents. Notifications are delivered through the Rainbow Hub management portal, with customizable settings for notification levels, and via email for users registered with the Rainbow Help Centre portal.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Admin can only access UI. through dedicated MFA enforced accounts. Access to infrastrcture requires a VPN with certificates that are renewed every 3 days and can be rejected anytime
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • 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: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: The Rainbow platform complies with rigorous, industry‑standard information security practices, including:; ; Security‑by‑design development; ISO‑27001 / SOC aligned infrastructure; OWASP‑based controls; GDPR / CCPA compliance; ANSSI CSPN certification; Strong physical, operational, and encryption controls; Continuous monitoring and high‑availability architecture; Shared responsibility for customer access and privacy controls
• 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: Nasstar operates a fully documented, ISO aligned Change Management Process that ensures all changes are risk assessed, peer reviewed, authorised, tested, traceable and auditable. The process requires documented implementation, testing and rollback steps, and mandates that customer impacting changes receive the appropriate customer approvals. Change governance is enforced by a Change Advisory Board (CAB), defined roles and responsibilities, and a centralised management system for full traceability. The process aligns with ISO27001 Annex A controls, including A.8 (Change Management), A.12 (Operations Security) and A.5 (Governance).
• Vulnerability management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: About assessment : https://www.al-enterprise.com/fr-fr/support/security-advisories; where you get your information about potential threats from : we use the french PSIRT to get notified of new vulenrabilities
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We use an IDS on top of automatic infrastructure testing. When we identify a compromise we first assess the impact. We have a 24/7 on call team managing the plaform that will react to any incident in the best timely manner and inform customer/authorities when it applies
• 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: Nasstar provides clear, structured incident communications through its Incident Management Team. Customers receive an initial notification outlining impact and the next update, followed by regular scheduled updates throughout the investigation. After service restoration, a final notification is issued and, where required, a Service Incident Report or Post‑Incident Review detailing the timeline, root cause, corrective actions and prevention measures. Processes are regularly reviewed and independently audited under ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 22301 and ISO 9001. Incidents follow SOP190: detection, logging, triage, classification, investigation, containment, root cause analysis, remediation, recovery and closure. For P1/P2 security incidents, communications are issued within 10 minutes.
• 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: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: A Free licence, features an agreed expiry date for proof of concept or other limited-time offers tailored to the customer's needs. Carrier costs carry a fair usage policy with Nasstar.
• Link to free trial: https://www.openrainbow.com/app/en/downloads

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

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 5%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 10%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 15%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 20%
• Over £5,000,001: 20%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: BSI Assurance UK Limited
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Wednesday 20 October 2021
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Nasstar's ISO/IEC 27001 certification does not define any specific exclusions. Scope is defined within the certification in terms of functional areas, geographies, etc.
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO 9001 certification: United Registrar of Systems (URS)
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Wednesday 20 October 2021
• What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover: Nasstar's ISO/9001 certification does not define any specific exclusions. Scope is defined within the certification in terms of functional areas, geographies, etc.
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: Bd3d2094-d1ed-4b6f-994c-9afc7f47a236
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: 46217802-bf0f-43e6-86e0-f63889175c01
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications:
  • NHS Digital - Data Security and Protection Toolkit 2024-2025
  • PSN connectivity service compliance certificate

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 or retained jobs on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b, 1c and 1d
    • 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
    • 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
    • Activities to cascade good practice on fair working conditions throughout the supply chain
    • 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
    • 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
    • Measures to identify, mitigate and manage modern slavery risks relating to the contract and how these will be implemented
    • 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
    • How these flow down the supply chain and are monitored Illustrative examples include reporting, site visits, audits, etc.
    • How to ensure business decisions re: price/cost, short lead times, payment timescales do not create modern slavery risks in the supply chain
    • How the supplier will work with NGOs, trade unions or other businesses to address modern slavery risk
    • 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

  • 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)
    • Activities that demonstrate a collaborative way to work with a diverse range of businesses as part of the supply chain
    • Ensuring accessibility to contracting and subcontracting opportunities for disabled business owners and employees
    • Structuring of the supply chain selection process to ensure fairness (e.g. anti-corruption) and encourages participation by a diverse range of businesses, including with regard to new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutual
    • Understanding of local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract
    • Methods for engaging with different parts of the community (including the education system and charities representing the community) and how communities come together to inform decisions, strategy and projects to leave a positive legacy for future generations
    • Measures to involve local stakeholders and/or users in design (e.g. in the design of services, systems, products or buildings)
    • Plans for positive actions with community groups.

  • 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
    • 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
    • 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

  • 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

  PDF

• 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 tenders@nasstar.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.