CO0430A Placement Sufficiency · UK public procurement notice

OVERVIEW

Children’s Placement Sufficiency continues to be a growing challenge across the country, and this is no different for Essex. There is growing demand for the provision of care for children and young people with complex needs. This makes securing the right care placement, in the right place, at the right time, to deliver the best outcomes, a big challenge.

Coupled with this, the Council is experiencing budgetary challenges, particularly in relation to expenditure on placements for children and young people in care, where a combination of increasing demand and challenging market conditions make the context even more difficult.

In order to address this the Council has transformational plans underway and now, as part of those plans, wants to source a readymade evidenced based tool and/or approach, that will enable us to deepen our understanding of the complexities we face in terms of drivers and demand, aligning with our resolve to respond better to the needs of children and young people in our care, whilst at the same time addressing the increasing costs, through careful planning and securing of appropriate care through robust operational practice. This should be through a tried and tested, robust process.

In the first instance we want to secure a pilot period with a provider who has a track record of delivering a solution in the form of a tool/approach that will deliver the results and changes we want to deliver. There will be a focus on one cohort of children and young people in care, in one geographical area, in order to test the model in the Essex context.

In this present instance, the Customer is issuing this Invitation to Tender as a Further Competition under Lot 4C Social Care (Children) of ESPO Framework 664_21.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the procurement are to secure a partner that can offer an evidenced based solution, tool or approach, with proven track record, that enables the council to tackle the challenges of demand, cost drivers, placement sufficiency and better outcomes for children and young people.

DURATION

The Contract will be established for an initial period of 6 months. The Contract is intended to start on 01st August 2024 or as otherwise agreed.

The Contract term for this agreement with be 12 months. This will include a provisional 6-month project to deliver the requirements. Additional time has been allocated in order to mitigate any slippage in the project timescales.

With appropriate notice the Authority may terminate the Agreement on any of the following Authority Break Point Dates:

• Completion of the 6-month project milestones.