Interpreting & Communication Services for People who are d/Deaf and Deafblind (September 2019)
Main contract details
Kent County Council (the Council) is the largest county council in England covering an area of 3,500 square kilometres. It has an annual expenditure of over £900m on goods and services and a population of 1.3m. The Council provides a wide range of personal and strategic services on behalf of its residents, operating in partnership with 12 district councils, 7 clinical commissioning groups and 289 parish/town councils.
The Opportunity
The Council has set up a Framework for Interpreting and Communication Services for People who are d/Deaf and Deafblind to allow the Council to buy communication services from a list of approved providers who meet a certain set of minimum standards. The framework commenced on 17th June 2019 and will run until 16th June 2023. The framework opens every two months for new tender applications.
services which will be commissioned under the Framework will fall into one of the following disciplines. Applicants may apply to join the Framework within one of more of these disciplines (please download the Invitation to Tender for a list of the sub-lotting structure):
Lot 1 – Face-to-face Interpreting Services (Verbal)
Lot 2 – Face-to-face Interpreting Services (Non-Verbal)
Lot 3 – Transcription
Lot 4 – Lip Speakers
Lot 5 – Speech to Text Reporters
Lot 6 – Deaf Relay
Lot 7 – Translation
Lot 8 – Video Interpreting Services
Lot 9 – Other Sign Language Interpreting from an International Range of Languages
Lot 10 – Trainee Interpreters
Lot 11 – Out of Hours Agency
Expression of Interest and Tender Process
Expressions of Interest will only be accepted via the Kent Business Portal. In order to submit your interest in this opportunity, please select the 'Login and Express an Interest' button located at the bottom of this page. Note: If you have not registered on the portal before, in order to successfully submit your interest you will first need to register for an account. After registration is complete and you have received your login details, you should return to the advert for the opportunity and express your interest. Once you have expressed an interest, you will be emailed an invitation to submit a tender.
Tenders must be received by 12 noon on the 14th October 2019.
The anticipated tendering schedule is as follows:
Invitation to Tender opens – 13/09/2019
Last date for clarification questions – 04/10/2019
Invitation to tender closes – 14/10/2019, 12 noon
Evaluation – week commencing 14/10/2019
Anticipated contract start date – 18/11/2019
Questions and Communication
Please direct all questions and communications through the Kent Business Portal via the Discussion facility.
Drop-In Sessions
This tender is being run electronically using the Kent Business Portal. Should you need any help using the Kent Business Portal to complete the tender the following drop-in sessions will be held:
Date Time Venue
Tuesday 1st October 2019 10:00 – 13:00 County Hall, Maidstone
Friday 4th October 2019 14:00 – 16:30 Westgate Library
Please email katherine.clark@kent.gov.uk to book a time at any of the sessions.
Tendering Schedule
This Framework contract will be opened for applications from new entrants every two months.
Key dates
Expression of interest window
From 13/09/2019 10:00 to 14/10/2019 12:00
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Contact details
Maidstone
Kent
ME14 1XQ
United Kingdom