Provider Consultation - Short Breaks Consultation and Quality Assurance

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<p>HALTON BOROUGH COUNCIL SHORT BREAKS SERVICES FOR DISABLED CHILDREN PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SOFT MARKET TEST ONLY TO ASSIST THE COUNCIL WITH RESEARCH AND PREPARATION AND IS NOT A FORMAL TENDER. Halton Borough Council is currently looking at how to develop its Short Breaks offer and is testing the market to establish if there are suitable organisations that can provide quality assurance and consultation activities to meet the Scope of the Service as outlined below. Short Breaks are a vital support service for families with disabled children, and are well recognised to be a service which helps families with disabled children to lead &lsquo;ordinary lives&rsquo;. The importance of short breaks was reflected first through significant investment under the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and then through the introduction of new legislation, in particular the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011. Key elements of the Halton Short Breaks Service:- &bull; It is for children and young people up to, but not including, the age of 18 years who reside in Halton; &bull; Short Breaks activities are delivered during school holidays, after-school and during weekends, and away from the home of disabled children; &bull; Short Breaks enable disabled children to experience new activities, develop new interests and friendships with their peers, and &bull; Will enable parents to &lsquo;catch&rsquo;-up&rsquo; with every day activities Further information including the Short Breaks Statement and Service Guide can be found on Halton&rsquo;s Local Offer:- https://localoffer.haltonchildrenstrust.co.uk/halton-children-family-services/halton-short-breaks/ Scope of the Quality Assurance and Consultation Short Breaks Service &bull; To support and enable young people to participate in quality assurance and consultation activities, and make self-determined decisions that will inform the development of services and provision for disabled children &bull; To work with Halton&rsquo;s Disabled Children&rsquo;s Service to develop processes that will promote the involvement of all young people in the commissioning of services &bull; To develop a creative and flexible approach to quality assurance and consultation activities that delivers a range of engagement opportunities for children and young people and uses technology to its best effect &bull; To use and further develop the Aiming High Quality Charter Mark as developed by the Young People&rsquo;s Cabinet &bull; To work with a variety of different providers in the borough to ensure young people are involved in consultation &bull; To offer on-going support to the Young People&rsquo;s Cabinets within schools &bull; Produce information in an accessible format that demonstrates the impact of the service upon the lives of young people and their families &bull; Participate in and support young people to contribute and take part in national and regional events Please Note: This list is not exhaustive. Outcomes Include:- &bull; The Short Break will be a positive and enjoyable experience for the child &bull; Children will participate in quality assurance and consultation activities that will inform the development of services and their right to full inclusion and participation in the community &bull; Children will develop their skills and independence &bull; Children will have the opportunity to develop their social networks To achieve these outcomes the Disabled Children&rsquo;s Service is looking to put in place an arrangement for a provider to manage and deliver a quality assurance and consultation short breaks service for children residing in Halton. There is an approximate budget of &pound;35,000 per annum available for the service and information submitted should include potential numbers of children that could access the service and the number of hours of short breaks that could be delivered. It is essential that local authorities adopt a participatory approach to commissioning decisions and the information gathered will be used to consult with children, young people and families to gather their views, wishes and feelings. If your organisation is able to deliver a consultation and quality assurance service we would be interested to hear from you about your delivery ideas. The closing date for responses is Monday 30th November 2020 at 12.30pm</p> Keywords: short breaks, disability, children