Commissioning Statutory Advocacy Service for Adults and Children 2017

Purpose of the advert
The purpose of this Advert is to:
• inform the market of a prospective opportunity to develop an advocacy service for adults and children who either live in North Somerset or are living out of county but North Somerset Council has a responsibility for them;
• scope the market to understand if it is a competitive market and identify the best way forward;
• invite interested organisations to meet with Officers to talk about proposals and solutions. The new service will be required within the next 12 months and the Provider would need to have an office location in North Somerset by the commencement date of the service.
North Somerset Council is taking the implementation of the Care Act 2014 as an opportunity to explore the potential for a new single advocacy service delivered through a single contract across North Somerset. This will replace the current individual advocacy contracts which are held with various providers. The provider may wish to develop partnership or subcontracting arrangements across North Somerset. North Somerset Council wishes to engage with relevant providers who will have suitable skills and experience to deliver the following Statutory Advocacy under the Care Act.
Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)
Independent mental capacity advocates who are available to represent people who lack capacity to make decisions about serious medical treatment, the provision of or change of accommodation, where there are no relatives or friends to act on their behalf.
Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHA)
Independent mental health advocates aim is to enable residents to participate in decisions about their care and treatment.
NHS Complaints Advocates (IHCA)
Providing support to people wishing to make a complaint about services from the NHS.
Independent Advocacy (ICCA)
Provide independent advocacy to eligible residents from the first point of contact with the local authority through to any subsequent stage of the assessment, planning, care review, safeguarding enquiry or safeguarding adult review.
What happens next
Organisations interested in expressing an interest should make contact through The Portal, Supplying the South West.
We would welcome interest from both locally established Advocacy Organisations as well as Organisations currently located outside of North Somerset who are interested in developing a service within the North Somerset geographical area.
Expressions of interest should be made by no later than Tuesday 29th August 2017.
Submitting an expression of interest is not a guarantee of Contract award. This stage of the process is to scope the market to see if it is competitive and to inform whether a tender procedure will be required to select a Provider for this service.