Soft Market Test - Workforce Development and Training Packages

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A SOFT MARKET TEST ONLY TO ASSIST THE COUNCIL WITH RESEARCH AND PREPARATION AND IS NOT A FORMAL TENDER.
THIS MAY LEAD TO A PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Halton Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council are currently considering options for commissioning a package of workforce development and training for practitioners and are testing the market to establish if there are suitable organisations that can provide this service. It is possible that other local authorities in the region may also wish to commission this service.
Brief Summary of Service Specification
Halton and Warrington Borough Councils are in the process of further developing and implementing an integrated multi-agency approach to supporting children, young people, families and vulnerable adults across the continuum from Early Intervention to statutory safeguarding services. It is a whole-system approach with the overarching outcome of providing the right support at the right time for all individuals, preventing as far as possible the escalation of difficulties and providing an appropriate response at the earliest opportunity.
The package of workforce development and training comprises:
1. Training for practitioners across all agencies who are working with children, young people, families and vulnerable adults:
Training is required in a range of tools to underpin evidence-based practice at the level of Early Intervention. These tools will equip practitioners to provide effective and appropriate support for children, young people, families and vulnerable adults, with the objective of preventing escalation to specialist provision or enabling de-escalation from specialist provision to universal services.

2. Training for practitioners across all agencies who are working with children, young people and their families:
Training is required in a toolkit that will enable practitioners to gather the ‘voice of the child’ so that the views, wishes and feelings of all children and young people, including babies, contribute to the service provision supporting them and are central to the planning and delivery of provision to and for them.

3. Training for practitioners across all agencies who are working with children, young people, families and vulnerable adults:
Training is required in analysing information from a broad range of agencies and using this analysis to identify the current needs of children, young people, families and vulnerable adults. The training will lead on to utilising this analysis to develop and implement skills in SMART planning.

4. Training for a small pool of managers across all agencies who will be supervising practitioners from other professional disciplines:
Training is required for managers of multi-agency teams who will be supervising and supporting practitioners from other professional disciplines. The training will include the provision of a supervision and management matrix to ensure consistency and quality assurance.

5. Training for a small group of practitioners across all agencies in parenting needs assessment and analysis:
Training is required to enable practitioners to support families struggling with their children’s behaviour through the provision of appropriate strategies and advice drawn from recognised and accredited evidence-based parenting programmes.

Suppliers’ Information
Suppliers are asked to provide information about their organisation, so as to assist the Councils with their research and preparation. Please provide information about your organisation / members of your organisation where applicable, as follows:
? Skills and experience in delivering workforce development and training
? Experience in delivery over time to large numbers of practitioners
? Experience in delivering training to a multi-agency, cross-sector audience
? Qualifications and accreditation where appropriate and/or required
? Knowledge and experience of Early Intervention and Safeguarding contexts
? Ability to provide the tools, toolkits and matrices specified in the summary of the service specification

The closing date for responses is 8 January 2016
Selected organisations may be invited to meet with the Commissioning department to provide visibility and understanding of delivering this service.

Should you have any queries please ask these via The Chest Question and Answer section: www.the-chest.org.uk Due to the holidays responses to any queries will not be given until w/c 4th January 2016.
This process is intended to inform Councils’ understanding of the market and is not part of a formal procurement process. Should the Councils decide to proceed, a formal procurement process may follow at a later date. Any responses received will not prejudice any involvement in a future procurement process and will not include or preclude any organisation from participating in any future procurement process. All information provided as part of this exercise will be provided to all parties involved in any future procurement exercise. Local Authorities are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and cannot guarantee that information received will remain confidential.