Social work and related services

Tender description

The procurement is to develop a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) that will ensure quality and safe provision for Children in Care, Care Leavers, Children in Need, and Homeless 16 and 17 year olds. Individual call offs from the DPS will support young people to develop independent living skills and assist toward step down and their own accommodation. The DPS will have providers with a range of accommodation and support packages who will bid for referrals put out by the Commissioning and Placements Team. The service is required to ensure that the local authority fulfils its duty towards Looked after Children and Children who are homeless by providing sufficient local accommodation and prevent the use of Bed and Breakfast provisions for 16 – 18 year olds. There is a statutory duty to provide this provision. The procurement is to develop a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) that will ensure quality and safe provision for Children in Care, Care Leavers, Children in Need, and Homeless 16 and 17 year olds. Individual call offs from the DPS will support young people to develop independent living skills and assist toward step down and their own accommodation. The DPS will have providers with a range of accommodation and support packages who will bid for referrals put out by the Commissioning and Placements Team. The service is required to ensure that the local authority fulfils its duty towards Looked after Children and Children who are homeless by providing sufficient local accommodation and prevent the use of Bed and Breakfast provisions for 16 – 18 year olds. There is a statutory duty to provide this provision. If we do not have appropriate safe accommodation for our young people we will not be meeting the duty as a corporate parent and risk vulnerable young people being at risk of exploitation. Lot 1 specifics: Category 1.1 – Emergency and short stay: The expectation of this category is to ensure that there is emergency provision available on the same day, offering a safe environment while an assessment is undertaken for the young person and plan established. This should be a short stay assessment with a plan drawn up to move-on in the transition provision or independence if appropriate. Category 1.2 – Transition provision from Foster and Residential care: This category will be utilised for planned move into individual packages to meet the needs of children in care stepping down from foster or residential provisions and will be reviewed as part of the pathway plan for the young person and decreased as independent living is reached. Category 1.3 – Independence and move-on (inclusive of outreach support): This category will facilitate independent living packages with floating support available to ensure the young person moves on and sustains a tenancy for an assessed amount of time. This is a re-tender of an existing framework, however we now intend to procure services by way of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), which will allow more flexibility and the potential for new Providers to join during the contract period. Each individual contract will be subject to a Secondary Competition process and with new providers able to join the DPS at any point, this should enable us to secure a price for services that is competitive and reflective of the market at that time. In exceptional circumstances direct awards may be undertaken dependant on the needs of the young person. Once live, there will be the option for Nottingham City Council Nottinghamshire County Council and Derbyshire County Council to use the DPS for Secondary Competitions and Direct Awards. An EU Light Touch procurement tender exercise which is compliant with the Public Contract Regulations 2015will be undertaken to select providers for the DPS which will offer access to pre-approved DPS Providers who can be appointed using an efficient and streamlined procurement process; therefore ensuring the Councils obtain value for money whilst enabling objectives to be achieved. For clarity, this DPS is not a full DPS as defined under the Public Contract Regulations 2015, Regulation 34, but is a modified version. This is because Section 8 - Social and other specific services (the Light Touch Regime as allowed under Regulations 74 to 77) are not subject to the full regulations of the procurement procedures set out in the Regulations. All service requirements over the course of the DPS will then be tendered by way of mini-competition, allowing all organisations on the DPS at that time the opportunity to bid for the requirements at what would be a market appropriate rate at that time. In exceptional circumstances direct awards may be undertaken dependant on the needs of the young person. The procurement is to develop a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) that will ensure quality and safe provision for Children in Care, Care Leavers, Children in Need, and Homeless 16 and 17 year olds. Individual call offs from the DPS will support young people to develop independent living skills and assist toward step down and their own accommodation. The DPS will have providers with a range of accommodation and support packages who will bid for referrals put out by the Commissioning and Placements Team. The service is required to ensure that the local authority fulfils its duty towards Looked after Children and Children who are homeless by providing sufficient local accommodation and prevent the use of Bed and Breakfast provisions for 16 – 18 year olds. There is a statutory duty to provide this provision. If we do not have appropriate safe accommodation for our young people we will not be meeting the duty as a corporate parent and risk vulnerable young people being at risk of exploitation. Lot 2 specifics: Category 2.1 – Emergency provision and assessment (1-7 nights only) This category is to provide very short-term accommodation on same day referrals to allow relevant assessments to take place by the relevant teams within social services to establish a plan for move-on appropriately. The provider will be expected to work jointly with the Council to ensure work is undertaken to move the young person on. Category 2.2 – Short –term provision with support hours This category is to be available as move on from the above emergency provision into a package of individual support to exit the young person from support and accommodation into independent living. This provision should be short-term with plans in place to ensure once the young person reaches 18 years they move on. Category 2.3 – Accommodation only – up until 18 years without support hours. This category is offer of accommodation only without support to young people in receipt of Housing Benefit to allow a safe place to reside. This is a re-tender of an existing framework, however we now intend to procure services by way of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), which will allow more flexibility and the potential for new Providers to join during the contract period. Each individual contract will be subject to a Secondary Competition process and with new providers able to join the DPS at any point, this should enable us to secure a price for services that is competitive and reflective of the market at that time. In exceptional circumstances direct awards may be undertaken dependant on the needs of the young person. Once live, there will be the option for Nottingham City Council Nottinghamshire County Council and Derbyshire County Council to use the DPS for Secondary Competitions and Direct Awards. An EU Light Touch procurement tender exercise which is compliant with the Public Contract Regulations 2015will be undertaken to select providers for the DPS which will offer access to pre-approved DPS Providers who can be appointed using an efficient and streamlined procurement process; therefore ensuring the Councils obtain value for money whilst enabling objectives to be achieved. For clarity, this DPS is not a full DPS as defined under the Public Contract Regulations 2015, Regulation 34, but is a modified version. This is because Section 8 - Social and other specific services (the Light Touch Regime as allowed under Regulations 74 to 77) are not subject to the full regulations of the procurement procedures set out in the Regulations. All service requirements over the course of the DPS will then be tendered by way of mini-competition, allowing all organisations on the DPS at that time the opportunity to bid for the requirements at what would be a market appropriate rate at that time. In exceptional circumstances direct awards may be undertaken dependant on the needs of the young person.