Children and Young People's Advocacy and Befriending (Independent Visitor) Service

Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council (the Councils) are seeking tenders from sufficiently experienced and qualified organisations for the provision of a Children and Young People's Advocacy and Befriending (Independent Visitor) Service. The Councils aim to jointly re-commission a Children and Young People's Advocacy and Befriending (Independent Visitor) service having previously commissioned separate services for each individual local authority. The Councils are seeking to secure Best Value through leveraging this joint approach to commissioning and procuring a joint service for Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County children and young people. The service will deliver the following: A. Advocates who independently support Children in Care, Children in Need, children and young people subject to Child Protection plans, Children in Clayfield's Secure Children's Home, Homeless 16- and 17-year-olds and Care Leavers. B. Befrienders (Independent Visitors) to support Children in Care. C. Independent Persons to sit on Secure Accommodation Review Panels for Children in Care. Nottinghamshire County Council are seeking to secure possible additional funding for the service from 2026/27 onwards and should additional resources become available, enhanced services may be added to the contract as explained in the service specification and tender documents. The contract duration will be for 3 years with a possible extension of 2 years at both Councils discretion. The total contract value is estimated to be a maximum of £1,793,000 over the total length of the contract, including any potential extensions and any possible additional funding. The core approved budget for year one is a maximum of £336,200, paid on both a block and an activity basis as detailed in the tender documents. The anticipated contract start date will be 1 April 2025. This contract will be let under the Light Touch Regime of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. Application documents can be downloaded from www.eastmidstenders.org The closing date for receipt of completed Application Forms is 12 noon, 20 November 2024.