It’s no secret that there is a candidate shortage across the education sector. It has been widely reported, in the media, that schools and academies face a severe staffing crisis.
The need for temporary staff has never been greater. At Affinity Workforce Solutions (AWS), we believe it is the perfect opportunity for Multi-Academy Trusts to take a different approach to their temporary staffing recruitment by working with a managed service provider.
CCS Framework
Multi-Academy Trusts can partner with a managed service provider through the Crown Commercial Services’ (CCS) ‘Deals for School’ Framework. The framework aims to improve the recruitment of temporary staff through streamlining the recruitment process and making significant cost savings.
AWS, a provider of the framework and a pioneer of the new approach to temporary recruitment, partners with small, medium and large Multi-Academy Trusts to provide teaching and non-teaching temporary staff. Currently, a fifth of all framework spend is through AWS. The provider partners with 10 Multi-Academy Trusts under the Lot 2 CCS Framework and each has made significant cost savings.
Successes
Northern Education Trust (NET) launched its agreement with AWS in January 2021. As part of the managed service pay rates were standardised throughout the Trust. AWS was able to increase the standardised pay rates for workers, whilst reducing agency mark-up and overall costs for the trust, attracting a higher calibre of staff whilst saving more than £113,00 on temporary staffing during the first quarter.
As part of the service, Trusts use a vendor management system that streamlines the recruitment process, reduces the administrative burden and provides management data to support strategic decision-making.
Alex Champion, Operations Director at Affinity Workforce Solutions, said: “As a supplier on the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) ‘Deal for Schools’ Frameworks, here at Affinity Workforce Solutions we support its ambition to transform the landscape of education supply with a transparent and ethical approach.
“We believe recruiting temporary staff through a managed service is a ground-breaking, transparent way of operating, with supply staff being paid more and academies charged substantially less.”
