FEW1162 - Assessment and Equipment services for people who are D/deaf, deafened and hard of hearing

Leicester City Council are direct awarding the contract to Action Deafness to provide the Assessment and Equipment service for people who are D/deaf, deafened and Hard of Hearing.\r \r A commissioning review of the service commenced in October 2021 for the Assessment and Equipment service for people who are D/deaf, deafened and Hard of Hearing. The soft market testing exercise which was published earlier in the year concluded with no expressions of interest, highlighting the limited availability of specialist providers in the marketplace for this service and attendance at the regional benchmarking group also confirms the limited supply of specialist sensory impairment providers at a regional and local level.\r \r Furthermore, Action Deafness confirmed their interest in continuing to deliver the service, though completing a tender bid would reduce capacity to deliver the service.\r \r The initial term of the contract is 36 months, with the contract commencing from 01/04/2023 to 31/03/2026, with the option to extend for a further 24 months to 31/03/2028 (60 months in total).