Social work and related services

Tender description

Supervised Child Contact is a statutory service (under Schedule 2 Children Act 1989) which places a duty on local authorities to enable Children in Need (CIN) and Looked after Children (LAC), to maintain contact with parents, birth families, and siblings. The service must deliver a detailed recording of all contact sessions, which contributes to the assessments undertaken by local authority social workers to support of care proceedings for individual children. All contact sessions must be actively managed to ensure they are delivered safely, and in a way that identifies and mitigates safeguarding risks in relation to both the children and adults. Premises shall not be provided by the Council and are a key aspect of the successful providers delivering these services within the City of Coventry. This procurement is for social care services which are considered Light Touch Regime (LTR) services under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, as specified in Schedule 3 of the Regulations (‘Regulations’). The process will follow the ‘open’ procedure, all details found within the ITT found at www.csw-jets.co.uk It is proposed that Coventry City Council will commission new contracting arrangements with a single provider. Existing experience proves that this option is feasible and deliverable and that having one provider deliver the service provides a more commercially attractive option to the provider market. Furthermore, creating a strategic long term agreement with a single provider will drive consistency, support prudent relationships, and ensure that long term outcomes and deliverables are actively managed. Due to the value and risk of the procurement, plus previous contract/service experience of attempting to deliver it internally, we believe this to be the most proportionate method for tendering and contracting. Premises shall not be provided by the Council and are a key aspect of the successful providers delivering these services within the City of Coventry. Consideration of this must be demonstrated within your response to the ITT. The initial term of the contract will be for the period of 5 years from commencement but may be extended, by mutual agreement up to 2 years, with an expiry date of no later than 31 January 2028. The services will be subject to review and the results of those reviews will inform the Council’s decision whether to offer any extension. Tenderers are advised to seek their own professional advice on the application of Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/246) (TUPE).