Health and social work services

Tender description

This is the first refresh tender opportunity for suitably qualified providers to bid to join an existing contractual arrangement for the delivery of residential and independent fostering agency services for children and young people aged 0 — 18 years. The arrangement is known as Approved Provider Panel Agreement (APPA) and has an initial term of 3 years with an option to extend for a further 5 years (2 years +2 years +1 year), unless otherwise terminated in line with the conditions of contract. The APPA has been established under the Light Touch Regime (LTR); the procurement rules applicable to the procurement of health, social and other services listed at Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This offers the flexibility to admit additional providers to increase capacity. The services under the APPA have been categorised into Lot 1: Residential Child Care Provision [sub-lots: standard and specialist]; and Lot 2: Independent Fostering Agency Provision [sub-lots: standard, specialist and emergency]. Applicants have the option to bid for services in Lot 1, Lot 2 or both. The tender opportunity is open to providers in England: rated ‘Good or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, Providers in Scotland: rated ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the Scottish Care Inspectorate, Providers in Wales: registered with the Wales Care Inspectorate and Providers in Northern Ireland registered with the Northern Ireland Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (NIRQIA). The APPA will be accessed initially by the London Boroughs of Bexley, Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark and Sutton. In time, the APPA may be accessed by the London Boroughs of Bromley, Richmond, Wandsworth and Kingston. Residential Child Care Provision have been categorised into: (a) standard provision [standard placements] (b) specialist provision [disabilities placements, solo placements]. Age bands for pricing are Under 1, 1- 4 years, 5-9 years, 10-15 years and 16-18 years. The tender opportunity is open to Providers in England: rated ‘Good or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, Providers in Scotland: rated ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the Scottish Care Inspectorate, Providers in Wales: registered with the Wales Care Inspectorate and Providers in Northern Ireland registered with the Northern Ireland Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (NIRQIA). The Council may periodically re-open the APPA to admit new providers as approved providers. Where the Council decides to reopen the APPA it shall do so on the basis of the selection criteria as outlined in the Council’s original ITT. Independent Fostering Agency Provision has been subcategorised into: (a) standard provision (b) specialist provision [disabilities placements, parent and child placements, solo placements, remand placements] (c) emergency provision. Age bands for pricing are Under 1, 1- 4 years, 5-9 years, 10-15 years and 16-18 years. The tender opportunity is open to Providers in England: rated ‘Good or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, Providers in Scotland: rated ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the Scottish Care Inspectorate, Providers in Wales: registered with the Wales Care Inspectorate and Providers in Northern Ireland registered with the Northern Ireland Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (NIRQIA). The Council may periodically re-open the APPA to admit new providers as Approved Providers. Where theCouncil decides to reopen the APPA it shall do so on the basis of the selection criteria as outlined in theCouncil’s original ITT.