Domestic Abuse - Non Accommodation Based Support Services

The Council currently has three separate contracts for the provision of domestic abuse services in the town for refuge, family support services, training for GPs plus a grant allocation for outreach support/drop-in. However moving forward it has been agreed that budgets across all service areas will be pooled to enable a holistic commissioning approach and joint re-tender for domestic abuse services.

In light of the Council's financial situation the budget for the procurement of domestic abuse services has been reviewed and options for future commissioning within a reduced budget in this area have been agreed. In line with the Community Safety Partnership's Domestic Abuse Strategy 2015-18 and benchmarking data comparing levels of provision in Reading with other areas, it is proposed that there will be a shift in focus and funding away from support within refuges and towards non-accommodation-based preventative and outreach support.

Two new contracts will be procured for all domestic abuse services with start dates of the 1st October 2017, one to provide support in Reading based refuges (conducted as a separate procurement), and one to provide all non-accommodation based support for people perpetrating or experiencing domestic abuse. This tender relates to the non-accommodation based support contract.

The successful bidder will be offering services to domestic abuse victims, survivors, their families, perpetrators of domestic abuse and services that work with these client groups. All the services will be community based and will compliment refuge provision provided under a separate contract.

This service will be offering services to those experiencing domestic abuse, their families, perpetrators of domestic abuse and services that work with these client groups. All the services will be community based.

The service will be available to all tenure types (except outreach support to those in Reading Borough Council funded refuges, unless with the prior agreement of the commissioners). This will include but not limited, social housing, private rented, owner occupier, family and friends and bed and breakfast.

Some bed and breakfasts maybe outside of the borough and in these cases it is expected that the services will still be available to these individuals and families until it is clear that the household will not return to the borough. At this point the casework should be handed over to the relevant support service in the local area.

Additional information: Organisations interested in expressing an interest in this procurement should download the procurement documents which are available on the Council`s e-tendering system at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/readingbc/aspx/Home and complete as instructed. The Portal is free of charge - to register please follow the supplier registration guidance which is available on the Portal.

Please note: you must register your interest via the Council`s e-tendering portal if you intend to submit a tender. Interested parties must log onto the Council`s e-tendering portal at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/readingbc, to express an interest and download the procurement documents.

All communications regarding this procurement exercise will be conducted through the Council`s e-tendering portal including requests for clarifications or general enquiries. The procurement documents will be available for download up until the closing time and date for tender submissions, it is the organisation`s responsibility to ensure that they download the documents in ample time to ensure that they can be completed and returned electronically, along with supporting documents, prior to the closing time and date stipulated.

Before completing the tender, potential providers/suppliers should ensure that the e-mail address that has been used to register their organisation will be checked regularly as the Council`s e-tendering system will generate automatic notifications to this e-mail address when there are updates, changes or messages sent relating to the project. Potential bidders should also check that their organisation`s details are correct and kept up to date. Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : No