Special education services

Tender description

This notice is to alert suitably qualified bidders who can provide a Independent Review Mechanism Service (IRM). The IRM provides an objective, independent route for reviewing decisions made by children's social care providers. It is the only national route for prospective adopters, foster carers, and adult adoptees to request a full review of the decisions made about them by their agency or local authority. The current contract to deliver IRM expires on 31 March 2021. Subject to budgetary/funding confirmation it is our intention to secure a new contract from 1 April 2021. Prior to this we will seek to publish a tender opportunity. The IRM provides an objective, independent route for reviewing decisions made by children's social care providers. It is the only national route for prospective adopters, foster carers, and adult adoptees to request a full review of the decisions made about them by their agency or local authority. They can apply to the IRM to have their case heard by an independent panel of children's services experts. The service is provided for in Regulations and represents an important means of support, and a form of advocacy for this group of people. The majority of applications to the IRM come from foster carers who have been deemed no longer suitable to foster. An IRM caseworker examines the applicant’s case in detail, and requests written evidence from their local authority/agency as necessary and from any other source. The IRM then organises a panel of social workers and others with direct or relevant experience of children’s social care and are independent of the parties concerned, to review the case. During the panel, the panellists hear from both the applicant and their local authority or agency. The IRM panellists decide whether they agree with the agency’s original decision or not, and then make their recommendation to that agency. The agency may or may not decide to change their original qualifying determination, based on what the IRM recommend. The IRM is provided for under contract by the Department for Education, however, there is a regulatory duty for the LA or agency involved in the case to contribute to the cost of the panel (a flat fee charged per case). The IRM was introduced in 2005 through secondary legislation, under Sections 9 and 12 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The 2009 Regulations expanded the original remit to provide a similar service to prospective and existing foster carers who are deemed unsuitable to foster; and to adult adoptees wishing to review historic decisions made about accessing their birth records. The 2009 Regulations stipulate in detail how the panels should be run, for example, the timeframe in which an application must be submitted following the receipt of a qualifying decision, the number of panellists, the qualifications and experience of the panellists; and that the IRM must recover some costs from the local authority involved. It also sets out that case work to gather information about the circumstances of the decision can be undertaken but does not determine the process or timings for doing so. Over the past 3 years, the IRM has, on average, reviewed just over 100 cases per year, with the vast majority of these being cases brought by foster carer. In the year to March 2020, 94 % of applications came from foster carers. The volume of work has remained constant for the past 3 years and is likely to remain so. The current contract to deliver IRM expires on 31 March 2021. Subject to budgetary/funding confirmation it is our intention to secure a new contract from 1 April 2021. Prior to this we will seek to publish a tender opportunity. We see this new contract as an opportunity to reposition the IRM service, restating its importance as a route for advocacy and representation for the people who need it. We want to see the IRM’s reputation enhanced, resulting in an increased level of engagement by agencies in the IRM process and their role within that. We see real value in the thematic insight that can be identified through the IRM’s work and, going forwards, will use the data and information from the IRM to drive local and national improvements. The new service will be adaptable to the changing environment resulting from the Covid pandemic and responsive to the varying needs of both applicants and service providers