Health and social work services

Tender description

Services included under this contract are those required to meet the accommodation and support needs of: — care leavers under the Children Act 1989, — young people presenting as homeless and needing accommodation as a result of Southwark judgement, (16-17 year olds) including homelessness prevention, — separated children (formally known as unaccompanied asylum seeking children), — young offenders who require remand placements, — young people who require support after the age of 18 in line with the Staying Put agenda, — other groups of young people, aged 16 and above who may require provision under this service as and when they meet newly identified or defined local authority or national thresholds. The services included in this contract will be mainly unregulated (e.g. by Ofsted or the Care Quality Commission). However they will need to meet the pre-qualification requirements of the procuring Authority and any contract and quality requirements set out by the Commissioning Authorities. Explanation of current framework and agreement. Torbay Council is 1 of the participating authorities of the Children’s Peninsula Commissioning and Procurement Partnership; with Devon, Plymouth and Somerset. The Partnership commissions and procures a range of children’s placement provisions including independent sector fostering, children’s residential homes, and day and residential school placements through the Peninsula Framework. The Framework also includes semi-supported accommodation specifically for young people aged 16 and over who are in and leaving care, but still require support to move on to independence. This provision is locally known as “16+ provision”. The current Peninsula 16+ Framework has been in place since 1.4.2013 and has opened to new entrants and provision 8 times since then. The Framework contract was extended from 1.4.2017 to 31.3.2018 and then further extended to end in March 2019. The contract is an open framework for privately run semi supported accommodation provision sited in the following geographical areas: Cornwall, Plymouth, Devon, Torbay, Somerset, Banes, Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Dorset. The current Framework contract is held by Devon County Council on behalf of itself, Plymouth and Torbay. Devon CC has chosen to procure its own 16+ supported provision separately to commence when the Framework contract ends. Plymouth and Torbay have decided to jointly procure their own 16+ framework however in doing so wish to tailor the requirements to achieve a better fit to the increasingly complex needs of the young people who are in our care and who will be stepping down to independent living in the future. This will require time to engage and consult with the provider market, young people and other stakeholders to learn what has worked well and not so well about the present framework provision. We also wish to ensure that the development of any new contract and specification is compliant with Ofsted’s views and guidance about what can and cannot be provided in this type of provision. In order therefore to ensure continuity of 16+ provision after 31.3.2019, Torbay and Plymouth propose to re-procure the current Framework providers for a further 12 months to 31.3.2020, with an option to extend for a further 12 months if necessary. If it is necessary to extend the new Framework beyond 31.3.2020 then we will issue an entry point to allow new providers to join the Framework, in accordance with procurement regulations.