Official UK procurement notice
IA2880 Children & Young People’s Advocacy Independent Visitors, Mediation & Advice Service
Authority: Staffordshire County Council (Local council)·Consortium: 7 public authorities
What is being bought3 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionStaffordshire County Council are looking to procure services for the Provision of Children & Young Peoples (CYP) Advocacy Independent Visitors, Mediation & Advice Service. The service is broken down into 3 lots with staggered start dates as follows
Lot 1: Children and Young People’s Advocacy and Children in Care Independent Visitor Service
1 April 2023 – 31 March 2026 (extension 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028).
Lot 2: Mediation and Disagreement Resolution Service for Children and Young People aged 0 to 25 years with SEND and their Parents/ Carers .
1 July 2023 – 31 March 2026 (extension 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028).
Lot 3 Advice and Mediation for Fostering Families
1 October 2023 – 31 March 2026 (extension 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028).
- Recurrence: The initial contract is until 31 March 2026 plus an extension to extend for up to 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028. In the event the Agreement is extended the extension shall be on the same Terms and Conditions as the original Agreement period and will ultimately be at the County Council's sole discretion.
CPV: Guidance and counselling services · Health and social work services · Welfare services for children and young people
Lots and requirements (3)Procurement structure
3 lots · all with a published value (£1,391,000 together)Lot #1Children & Young People’s Advocacy & Children in Care Independent Visitor ServiceRenewalPublished value£812,000
Staffordshire County Council are seeking the provision of a Children & Young Person’s Advocacy Service, a Statutory Independent Visitors Service for Children in Care, Independent Persons for Secure Accommodation Reviews, Appropriate Adults for Independent Age Assessments of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children & Young People and a Parenting Advocacy Service.
The Council’s overall aim of the Service is to fulfil their statutory requirements with respect to the availability of independent Advocates to a high standard and improve outcomes for Children & Young People in receipt of the Service. The Provider will do this by ensuring the views of Children & Young People are well represented and where required, they are provided with appropriate Advocacy.
The Service will also be required to:
Deliver an Independent Visitor programme for Children in Care and Young People.
Arrange for an Independent Person to attend Secure Accommodation Reviews as and when required.
Arrange for an Appropriate Adults for Independent Age Assessments of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children & Young People.
Deliver a Parenting Advocacy Service for adults who are aged over 25 years of age and have assessed Special Education Needs and Disability or have had a cognitive/capacity assessment that has deemed that the individual lacks the capacity to Advocate for themselves.
Lot #2Mediation and Disagreement Resolution Service for Children and Young People aged 0 to 25 years with SEND and their Parents & Carers .RenewalPublished value£361,000
The procurement is for two distinct statutory Services that are required by Staffordshire County Council and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board in relation to the provision of Independent Disagreement Resolution Services for SEND and Independent Mediation Services for Education Health and Care (EHC) Assessments and Reviews.
Independent Disagreement Resolution Services will put in place arrangements for manging disagreements across special educational provision, and health and care provision in relation to EHC Plans.
A Mediation Service will offer independent Mediation to Parents & Young People and will provide an opportunity to resolve issues linked to requests for an Education, Health and Care Assessment and the outcome of Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plans Assessments /&Reviews prior to Parents & Young People lodging an appeal via the First-Tier Tribunal.
Lot #3Advice and Mediation for Fostering FamiliesRenewalPublished value£218,000
Staffordshire County Council (lead authority), Herefordshire Council, Shropshire Council, Stoke-On-Trent City Council and Telford & Wrekin Borough Council (together ‘the Partner Local Authorities) are working in collaboration to jointly procure a contract for an Advice and Mediation Service for Fostering Families.
The Service is required to ensure that Foster Carers are well supported in carrying out their role as a Foster Carer and ensuring the early resolution of issues.
Advice Service
Delivering Advice and information to both approved and Prospective Foster Carers, on a wide range of issues which may affect the Foster Carer role and providing Advice and information to Partner Local Authorities where required.
Mediation
Mediation is defined as the attempt to settle a dispute through a neutral third party. Mediation is a structured process that allows people to negotiate the issues with a hands-on approach.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
Yes · The initial contract is until 31 March 2026 plus an extension to
extend for up to 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028.
In the event the Agreement is extended the extension shall be on the same Terms and
Conditions as the original Agreement period and will ultimately be at the County Council's
sole discretion.
- First published
- 4 Jul 2022, 14:16 BST
- Last source update
- 31 Aug 2022, 07:19 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 5 Oct 2022 – …
- Authority reference
DN1395- FTS notice number
2022/S 000-024219- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-034d9fFind a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
The Contracting Authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period (or 15
days where non electronic or fax methods are used) at the point that an award decision
notice is communicated to tenderers.
The award decision process will specify the criteria for the award of the contract/framework
agreement, the
reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages, the name and
score of the
successful tender(s), and will specify when the standstill period is expected to end or the
date before which the
Contracting Authority will not conclude the contract / framework agreement.
If an appeal regarding the award of a contract / framework agreement has not been
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successfully resolved, the
Public Contracts Regulations 2015 provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or
are at risk of a
breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Any such action must be brought promptly (generally within 3 months). The Court may order
the setting aside of
the award decision or may order the Contracting Authority to amend any document and may
award damages.
If an agreement has been entered into the Court may make a declaration of ineffectiveness
or may order that
the duration of any relevant specific contract be shortened and additionally may award
damages.
The time limit for seeking such a declaration is generally 30 days from notification of the
award (either by award
decision notification or contract award notice depending upon the circumstances) or
otherwise 6 month
Publisher note: For the avoidance of doubt this is not a Call for Competition, this is to initiate a Market Engagement and is a Prior Indicative Notice. Staffordshire County Council are looking to commission and procure services for the Provision of Children & Young Peoples (CYP) Advocacy Independent Visiting Service, Mediation and Advice. Staffordshire County Council would like to invite providers to join a market warming event on Monday 25 July 2022 at 2.00pm - 3.30pm to share the vision for the Children and Young People's Advocacy, Independent Visiting, Mediation & Advice Service. Providers will also be informed of the procurement process and timeline. To book a place, please contact: Ellie Cross, Commissioning Officer - Early Help & Communities Email: ellie.cross@staffordshire.gov.uk When booking, please include • Company name • Name of person(s) attending • Contact information for each person, including email address Please also register an account on our E Tendering system, Proactis at https://www.proactisplaza.com/ against the category 85000000 (Health and Social Work Services). This will automatically alert you to any new updates and information relevant to this opportunity when it becomes live.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 5 Oct 2022, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 90 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 5 Oct 2022, 12:30 BST
Timeline
31 Aug 2022 → 1 Apr 2023 · 5 dates- Notice published31 Aug 2022, 07:19 BST
- Next notice expected1 Sept 2022, 00:00 BST
- Submission deadline5 Oct 2022, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened5 Oct 2022, 12:30 BST
- Contract starts1 Apr 2023, 00:00 BST
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 31 Aug 2022- Published value updated to £1,391,00031 Aug 2022, 07:19 BSTwas £1,117,000
- Status changed to active31 Aug 2022, 07:19 BST
- Procurement method changed31 Aug 2022, 07:19 BST
- Deadline published: 5 Oct 2022, 12:00 BST31 Aug 2022, 07:19 BST
- Buyer details updated31 Aug 2022, 07:19 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
6 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Herefordshire CouncilContracting authority
- Shropshire CouncilContracting authority
- Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent ICBContracting authority
- Stoke-On-Trent City CouncilContracting authority
- Telford & Wrekin Borough CouncilContracting authority
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Staffordshire County CounciReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.