Guidance

GCF Capability and Grants, Assessment, Learning and Development - Cancellation Policy (HTML)

Updated 5 August 2024

1. Introduction

1.1. This policy applies to anyone attending any Government Commercial Function (GCF), Capability Service, i.e. courses, live facilitated events (LFE)  and/or programmes, and Assessment and Development Centres (ADCs). This includes learners and departments on centrally funded learning as well as organisations paid for learning.

1.2. GCF learning and development programmes operate both Locked Cohorts (i.e once in the cohort you cannot normally switch cohorts) and Unlocked Cohorts (i.e you can switch from one cohort to another) depending on the course you are attending.

1.3. This policy will provide clarity on the protocols, rules and conditions that determine the amendment/cancellation notice period and charging of live facilitated events.

1.4. Inadequate cancellation notice from learners leads directly to wasted and   unrecoverable public funds. This policy is in place to minimise this.

2. The GCF Learning and Development (L&D) Capability Programmes covered

2.1.. Commercial L&D (Locked Cohorts)

• Commercial Lead Development Programme
• Associate Commercial Specialist and Commercial Specialist Development Programme
• Commercial Lead Accredited Programme
• Associate Commercial Specialist and Commercial Specialist Accredited Programme

2.2. Contract Management courses specifically (Unlocked Cohorts):

• Practitioner
• Expert
• Senior Responsible Owner

2.3. Transforming Public Procurement

• Advanced Course of Deep Dives

This also covers any other GCF programme using live facilitated events (e.g. webinars).

3. Cancellation charges

3.1. Unlocked cohorts

3.1.1. If you are unable to attend an event and it is within the ‘no charge period’ indicated below, you will be able to cancel or change your booking with no charge via the self-service function on the Government Commercial College (GCC).

3.1.2. If you are unable to attend an event but it is within the ‘charge period’ indicated below, a cancellation charge will be levied on your department or organisation. You’ll need to gain approval from your department or organisation to accept the charge in order to proceed with the cancellation via the self-service function on GCC.

3.1.3. No-shows will result in a cancellation charge being levied on the department or organisation.

3.2. Locked cohorts

3.2.1. If you are unable to attend an event and have not yet attended your launch event, you will be able to cancel or change it with no charge if it falls within the ‘no charge period’ indicated below.

3.2.2. You will not be able to cancel or change an event at any point after the launch event. It is a learner’s responsibility to catch up on missed events with their cohort action learning group and charges will still apply.

3.3. The table below shows the conditions for event cancellations and the associated charges.

Product	No charge period for cancellations	Charge period for cancellations	Cost to be charged
Assessment & Development Centre; Contract Management & Commercial	20 or more working days before the Assessment Centre	Fewer than 20 working days before the Assessment Centre	£1,600 (full assessment centre department  or organisation charge
Commercial L&D; learning event	20 or more working days before the launch event only	Any time after the launch event	£150
Contract Management L&D - learning event	20 or more working days before the learning event	Fewer than 20 or more working days before the learning event	£150
Transforming Public Procurement; Advanced course of  Deep Dive Webinars (three-day intensive course)	not applicable*	There is no cost to the learner for cancellation or those that fail to attend. However, the learner organisation may receive notification of costs linked with missed events. Please see TPP - Booking T&Cs for the terms and conditions regarding booking changes*

*Transforming Public Procurement: - Advanced Course of Deep Dive Webinars

This programme is funded by HM Treasury and is free at the point of access however, unrecoverable costs are incurred for short notice cancellations.

Booking is self-service and online. Once a booking is made, the participant may change it once. Any subsequent cancellation or no-show will result in the participant being unable to book on to the course again.

4. Cancellation reporting

4.1. All chargeable cancellations of TPP, Commercial and Contract Management learning events, together with Assessment Centre bookings are part of a monthly dashboard presented to commercial directors or contract management liaison leads in central government and wider public sector organisations. Reporting on total cancellation volumes and the total costs per department or organisation is carried out.

5. Cancellation Policy Exemption

5.1. This cancellation policy does not apply to those taking the Assessment Centre as part of a recruitment campaign for the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO). A separate agreement is in place to cover recruitment. Please check with your GCO recruitment coordinator for further details.

6. Contacts for further information

6.1. Please direct all correspondence in relation to this cancellation policy to the appropriate product email address below:

6.1.1. Contract Management: cmta-team@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

6.1.2. Commercial L&D: gcfprog-bookings@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

6.1.3. Transforming Public Procurement: gcfttpp-busops@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

6.1.4. ADCs: gcfdevelopmentcentre@cabinetoffice.gov.uk