Advocacy and Related Support Services

Portsmouth City Council ('the council') is inviting tenders from suitably qualified providers to provide statute mandated independent advocacy Services. The service provider will deliver Independent Advocacy Services to service-users resident in Portsmouth who find themselves involved in various processes as set out in various Acts of Parliament, notably: • Care Act 2014 • Mental Health Acts 1983/2007 • Mental Capacity Act 2005 • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) - this will change to Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) in due course The aims and purposes of the service are: • to provide good quality independent advocacy for the most vulnerable in our community • to support individuals to make decisions about their treatment, care, and support • to ensure the council fulfils its statutory obligations with regards to advocacy support outlined in the relevant legislation and statutory guidance Services to be provided comprise of: • Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) • Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) - Including IMCA in DoLS processes • Relevant Person Representative (IMCA) • Independent advocacy in respect to the Care Act 2014 Providers will need to have their own premises within the Portsmouth city limits (i.e. a premises within the PO1 to PO6 postal code areas) or relatively near to the city in order to be geographically close to the service-users requiring advocacy in the city. The initial contract term will be in effect for 3 years with the option to extend for an additional 2 years in increments to be agreed. The contract value is estimated at around £633,000.00 for the 3-year initial term of the contract and may rise to in the region of £1,055,000.00 if extended for the full two years. The services covered under the contract are health and social work services and fall under the 'light touch regime'. The Council will execute this procurement process in general accordance with the Open Procedure as set out within the Public Contract Regulations (2015). The procurement process will be undertaken in line with the following programme: - Issue FTS Contract Notice - 20th June 2023 - Issue Invitation to Tender - 20th June 2023 - ITT return deadline - 25th July 2023 at 14:00 - Standstill period - 22nd August 2023 - 31st August 2023 - Contract award - 1st September 2023 - Service Commencement - 1st December 2023 Application is via completed tender submission by the deadline stated above via the Council's e-sourcing system InTend which will be used to administrate the procurement process, the system can be accessed free of charge via the web link below: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home