SPECIALIST COMPUTER CENTRES PLC

IBM - Watsonx Code Assistant as a Service

IBM watsonx Code Assistant is a portfolio of
purpose-built, generative AI-assisted products that
accelerate code and content generation and
increase developer productivity, with trust,
security, and compliance at its core. It provides
models based on specific programming languages
to provide trust and efficiency for accurate code
and content generation

Features

• Ansible Playbook generation
• Real‑time code suggestions
• AI‑driven code explanations
• Model customization aligns generated code with corporate standards and policies
• Real‑time code similarity checks
• Multi‑task code generation
• Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform integration
• AI‑assisted code refactoring
• Scalable inference engine

Benefits

• Accelerate automation development by generating Ansible Playbooks instantly from prompts
• Reduce onboarding time through AI‑driven code explanations and documentation today
• Cut operational costs by automating repetitive IT tasks across environments
• Boost developer productivity using real‑time IDE suggestions and code refactoring
• Standardize scripts via model customization aligned with corporate coding policies
• Scale AI inference to handle high‑volume prompt requests without latency
• Enable multi‑cloud orchestration by generating portable Ansible automation code everywhere
• Facilitate knowledge sharing through automatically generated code documentation and summaries
• Empower teams to modernize legacy automation scripts quickly and safely

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

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

968006864591415

Contact

Warren Strain
01217667000
frameworksales@scc.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Application Development and Deployment

  AI platforms

  AI software services

  • Computer Vision AI Software Services
  • Generative AI Software Services
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
• What software services is the service an extension to: 1. Visual Studio Code plug‑in, it augments IDE; with AI‑driven code generation and explanations.; 2. Add‑on for Red Hat Ansible Automation; Platform, it enhances Ansible Lightspeed with; natural‑language Playbook creation, refactoring; and optimization. 3. Extra layer on IBM watsonx.ai; platform, leveraging foundation models for; generative code.
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: Watsonx Code Assistant is available only in select; IBM Cloud regions, so customers must provision; the service in those locations. The solution runs on; supported operating systems and IDEs, and it; supports a defined set of programming languages.; Retrieval‑augmented generation is limited to the; Standard subscription tier. Scheduled; maintenance on the cloud inference layer can; cause brief service interruptions, and support for; the cloud component follows IBM’s standard; terms.
• System requirements:
  • MacOS,Windows 11,RHEL 8,Ubuntu 20.04 or equivalent enterprise Linux
  • Visual Studio Code version 1.101 or newer
  • Node.js 22.15+ required on development environment
  • Maven 3.8.6 or later needed for build tools in CI/CD
  • Proxy settings may be required
  • Licenses for underlying Ansible Automation Platform

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: IBM look to define and agree appropriate service levels and response times for each particular implementation based upon business need.; Services levels are defined by categorising incident types according to severity, with response times per category of severity eg. Sev 1, 2 and 3. We would typically monitor email/ticketing/telephone support 24x7, 7 days a week, categorising the incident and invoking the appropriate SLA. Sev 1/2 incidents can be prioritised for weekend responses. Sev 3 would typically attract a response during office hours (Monday to Friday 9 to 5).
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: Yes
• Web chat support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web chat support is accessible: BM Cloud includes the following major; accessibility features: Keyboard-only operation; Operations that use a screen reader IBM Cloud; uses the latest W3C Standard, WAI-ARIA 1.0 to; ensure compliance to US Section 508 External; link icon and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines; (WCAG) 2.0 External link icon. To take advantage; of accessibility features, use the latest release of; your screen reader in combination with the latest; Internet Explorer web browser that is supported by; this product. The IBM Cloud online product; documentation and the IBM Cloud user interface; framework is enabled for accessibility.
• Web chat accessibility testing: None
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Support is available 24x7. Support is provided by a ticketing system. Customer can define severity level 1-4. Basic, Advanced and Premium support options available at additional cost. Full details of support options available here: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/support
• Support available to third parties: Yes
• AI chatbot: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We provide comprehensive online documentation, tutorials, free online training courses and hundreds of tutorials and articles available on our IBM Developer portal.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: At end of contract, users extract their data from; watsonx Code Assistant through standard IBM; Cloud data-access mechanisms before service; termination. Customers retain control of all; customer-provided data, such as prompts, code; context, indexed repositories, vector-store; contents, configuration metadata, usage logs, and; custom model artifacts. Data can be exported by using the IBM Cloud console and APIs to; download stored artifacts, retrieve vector-store; indexes, export configuration settings, and collect; usage or audit logs associated with the service; instance. Customers are responsible for initiating; exports prior to contract expiration or service; deletion. Once the contract ends and the service; instance is deprovisioned, IBM follows its standard; data-retention and deletion policies, after which; remaining customer data is securely deleted and; no longer accessible. IBM does not restrict data; extraction during the active contract period, and; no proprietary formats are required. Data is; provided in standard, machine-readable formats to; support portability and compliance.
• End-of-contract process: Once the contract expires, the service instance is; decommissioned, API keys and access credentials; are revoked, and any remaining data is securely; deleted in accordance with IBM’s data-retention; and deletion policies, leaving no further access to; the service or stored information. The base; contract price includes access to the watsonx; Code Assistant API with support for standard; endpoints and programming languages, use of the; Granite base AI model for code generation, and; administrative features such as creating access; groups, managing deployment spaces, and; rotating API keys. Basic usage quotas, operational; monitoring, and plan-specific support and; documentation are also included. Additional costs; may apply for features beyond the base service including fine-tuning custom models with; organization-specific training data, enabling; Retrieval-Augmented Generation through external; vector stores such as Milvus or Elasticsearch,; exceeding included usage quotas, or selecting; premium support or specialized deployment; options like dedicated cloud regions. This ensures; predictable pricing while allowing flexibility for; advanced capabilities.
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: No
• Application to install: Yes
• Compatible operating systems:
  • MacOS
  • Windows
  • Other
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Description of service interface: Watsonx Code Assistant exposes a secure REST; API that handles all AI‑driven code operations,; including generation, explanation, unit‑test; creation, and retrieval‑augmented generation.; Clients authenticate with an IBM Cloud API key; and send JSON payloads containing; natural‑language prompts and optional code; context. The VS Code extension and Eclipse; plug‑in act as thin UI layers, forwarding user; requests to this endpoint and displaying real‑time; suggestions within the IDE. The same API can be; invoked programmatically from CI/CD pipelines,; custom tools, or other automation platforms,; enabling flexible integration. Rate‑limits, logging,; and role‑based access are governed by the; selected pricing plan for enterprise customers.
• Accessibility standards: None or don’t know
• Description of accessibility: N/A
• Accessibility testing: N/A
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Through the watsonx Code Assistant REST API,; authenticated clients can submit natural-language; prompts and optional code context to generate; code artifacts programmatically. The API returns; Ansible playbooks, task snippets, or code in; supported languages including Bash, Java,; JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript. Endpoints; also support explaining existing code, generating; inline documentation comments, and producing; unit-test scaffolds. For Standard plan users,; Retrieval-Augmented Generation can be invoked; by supplying vector-store identifiers to incorporate; indexed repository content into responses.; Additional endpoints allow clients to list available; models, query the active model version, and enable or disable similarity-check behavior for; license warnings. Usage-statistics endpoints; provide request counts and latency metrics for a; billing period.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • PDF
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Watsonx Code Assistant can be customized across; three dimensions: the AI model behaviour,; deployment and governance controls, and the; developer workflow within supported IDEs.; Customization of the AI model includes adapting; the underlying Granite model using organization specific Ansible playbooks, modules, and coding; standards so that generated outputs align with; internal practices. Additionally, license-similarity; policies can be defined to determine which opensource licenses are allowed, flagged, or blocked,; and enable RAG by connecting private vector; stores, such as Milvus or Elasticsearch, to; incorporate indexed internal repositories into; responses. Deployment options are configurable; as well, allowing organizations to choose cloud; regions for example to meet security and; compliance requirements. These customizations; are applied through a combination of; administrative and developer interfaces.; Administrators use the IBM Cloud console to; upload training data, configure similarity and RAG; settings, manage access groups, assign; deployment spaces, and rotate API keys.; Developers then personalize their experience; through IDE extensions such as Visual Studio; Code or Eclipse by enabling or disabling; supported languages, selecting model versions,; defining custom prompt personas, and controlling; real-time completion behavior. Role-based; permissions ensure that strategic governance; remains centralized while allowing individual; developers flexibility in their workflows, balancing; control with ease of use.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Watsonx Code Assistant guarantees isolation; through dedicated cloud instances, quota‑driven; Resource Units, and autoscaling. Each; organization provisions its own instance in a; specific IBM Cloud region, running in separate; containers or VMs so no compute, memory, or; storage is shared with other tenants. The; plan‑based RU allocation enforces per‑instance; rate limits; when a tenant reaches its token quota,; only that tenant is throttled while others continue; unhindered. The underlying infrastructure; automatically scales resources for each instance; independently, preventing noisy-neighbour effects.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Watsonx Code Assistant exposes built‑in; usage‑metric capabilities both through the; IBM Cloud console and via a dedicated REST‑API; endpoint. The console dashboard shows monthly token consumption, number of prompts, average; response latency and rate‑limit status for each; pricing tier (Trial, Essentials,; Standard). Programmatically, the /metrics (or; similarly named) API returns a JSON payload with; fields such; as requestCount, tokensUsed, averageLatencyMs,; and errorRate, allowing customers to integrate the; data into their own monitoring or billing; tools. These metrics are refreshed in near‑real; time and are scoped to the deployment space and; access‑group permissions of the caller.
• 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: IBM

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• 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 CSA CCM v4.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001
• Data sanitisation type: Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation / Secure Erase

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Data export is performed through the IBM Cloud; console or via the IBM support channel. Users; then receive a dump of all stored artefacts, i.e.; prompt logs, chat history, usage‑metric reports,; and any indexed repository or documentation; vectors. The export is delivered in JSON for logs,; CSV for metrics, and database‑style dumps for; vector‑store indexes. After the export is; completed, customers can request formal deletion; of the service instance, which removes all; remaining data from the cloud environment in; accordance with IBM’s contract‑termination; procedures.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats:
  • JSON
  • Plain-text
  • SQLite
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats:
  • JSON
  • Plain-text

Data-in-transit protection

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

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: 99.95% for applications/services configured for high availability across 2 or more IBM Cloud geographic regions. 99.5% for applications/services deployed in a single geographic region. 10% credit refund if SLA is not met with necessary information to validate such a claim.
• Approach to resilience: Available on request.
• Outage reporting: Email alerts and available on a webpage at: https://cloud.ibm.com/status

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Management interfaces are protected by; IBM Cloud IAM: users must log in with; MFA‑secured credentials and are assigned to; access‑group roles (Viewer, Operator,; Administrator) that are scoped to specific service; instances and regions. All actions are recorded in; immutable audit logs. Support channels use a; separate, role‑based portal where engineers; authenticate via corporate SSO and hold a; “Support” role that limits visibility to only the; customers and services they are assigned.; Sensitive data such as logs or code snippets is; redacted unless the client grants explicit read‑only; access, and all support activity is also logged and; monitored by IBM’s SIEM
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

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: Between 6 months and 12 months

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards:
  • CSA CSM version 4.0
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: SSAE‑18 / ISAE 3402
• Information security policies and processes: IBM watsonx Code Assistant is delivered on the; IBM Cloud platform, which operates under a; comprehensive set of information‑security policies; aligned with industry‑recognised standards such; as CSA CCM v4.0 and SSAE‑18/ISAE 3402. Core; policies enforce data‑in‑transit protection with; TLS 1.2 + (mTLS for internal service‑to‑service calls) and data‑at‑rest encryption on all storage; media, offering IBM‑managed keys or; customer‑managed BYOK for full key‑lifecycle; control. Access is governed by role‑based; permissions, audit‑log generation, and continuous; vulnerability‑scanning; incident‑response,; change‑management, and backup‑recovery; procedures are defined in IBM’s Cloud Security; Operations framework and executed daily.; Governance resides with IBM’s Central Security; Office, led by the Chief Information Security; Officer (CISO), who reports to senior executive; leadership and the board. The service‑specific; security team reports into the CISO’s office,; ensuring a clear chain of accountability. Policy; compliance is verified through automated; monitoring, periodic internal audits, and external; assessments; findings feed into executive security; dashboards and board‑level security reports. This; structured reporting and rigorous enforcement; guarantee that security policies are consistently; applied, monitored, and escalated, providing; customers with confidence that their data and; workloads are protected throughout the service; lifecycle.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Service components are recorded in a centralized; configuration-management database and versioncontrolled in IBM Git-based repositories. Builds; flow through an automated CI/CD pipeline that; produces immutable artefacts, stores them in a; signed repository, and logs a software bill of; materials. Changes trigger a security-impact; assessment covering encryption, access controls,; and dependencies, reviewed by a Change; Advisory Board before deployment. Deployment; events are logged for compliance. Postdeployment, automated regression and; vulnerability scans run continuously, with; deviations generating remediation tickets to; maintain traceability and security assurance.
• Vulnerability management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: IBM follows a continuous; vulnerability‑management lifecycle aligned with; CSA CCM v4.0 and SSAE‑18/ISAE 3402.; Automated scanners probe runtime containers,; APIs, model libraries and vector‑store connectors; daily, pulling CVE data from NIST NVD,; IBM X‑Force and major vendor advisories. Each; finding triggers a risk‑based assessment that; evaluates data‑in‑transit encryption,; key‑management impact and service; dependencies, reviewed by a Change Advisory; Board. Approved fixes are built into CI/CD; artefacts, signed, and rolled out via automated; pipelines within 48 hours for critical severity and; 5‑7 days for lower tiers. All actions are logged for; audit and reported to the CISO, ensuring; compliance and resilience
• Protective monitoring type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: IBM uses continuous protective monitoring; through IBM Cloud’s centralised logging and SIEM; (QRadar). All service components generate immutable logs that are streamed to the SIEM,; where real‑time analytics flag anomalous traffic,; credential misuse, or unexpected container; behavior as potential compromises. When an alert; is raised, an automated workflow creates a ticket,; notifies the service‑specific security team, and; initiates a predefined incident‑response playbook; that isolates the affected instance, collects; forensic data, and applies temporary; mitigations. Critical incidents are triaged; within 15 minutes and resolved or escalated to full; remediation within 4 hours; lower‑severity alerts; follow a 24‑hour response window
• 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: IBM maintains and follows incident response policies aligned with NIST guidelines for computer security incident handling, and will comply with; data breach notification requirements under applicable law. IBM investigates security incidents, including unauthorised access or use of content or the Cloud Service, of which IBM becomes aware, and, if warranted, define and execute an appropriate response plan. IBM promptly notifies Client upon determining that a security incident known or reasonably suspected by IBM to affect Client has occurred. IBM provides Client with reasonably requested information about such security incident, status of applicable remediation, restoration activities performed or directed by IBM.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

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: It provides full access to the core AI‑driven; capabilities, i.e. code generation, explanations,; documentation, and unit‑test creation via; VS Code/Eclipse extensions, plus an API key and; sandbox quota. It excludes RAG, enterprise SLAs,; custom model fine‑tuning, and unlimited requests.; The trial lasts 90 days (30‑day evaluation) for; testing purposes.
• Link to free trial: https://dataplatform.cloud.ibm.com/registration/ste pone?context=wca&apps=wca,cos&regions=ussouth&uucid=0e2742f903313c90&utm

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: 0.5%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 1%
• Over £5,000,001: 1.5%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: LRQA
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Wednesday 4 June 2025
• 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: LRQA
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Wednesday 4 June 2025
• 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: Barclaycard Data Security Manager
• PCI DSS accreditation date: Wednesday 10 September 2025
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: We are a Level 4 Merchant
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: B024f203-b84e-46e3-ba3f-19eb3e745a92
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: Bddbbac0-18ca-426d-a809-f8d75d0666b0
• Other security certifications: No

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
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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)
    • Activities that demonstrate a collaborative way to work with a diverse range of businesses as part of the supply chain
    • Advertising of supply chain opportunities openly and to ensure they are accessible to a diverse range of businesses, including advertising all subcontracting opportunities on Contracts Finder
    • 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.
    • Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training
    • Measures to engage users and communities and build relationships to increase community integration build trust and influence how the contract is delivered
    • Plans to respond flexibly and adapt approaches to community engagement and initiatives
    • 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
    • Collaborating with anchor institutions and community groups to make facilities available for education, training or community events

  • 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)
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • 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
    • 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
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • 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
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach 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

  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 frameworksales@scc.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.