Market Engagement Event – Brent Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS)

Brent Council intends to commission a comprehensive Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS) for young families in the Borough hosted within Brent Best Start Family Hubs. The service aligns with national ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ guidance released in 2025.

The primary aim of the service is to support families with parent-infant relationship concerns and mild to moderate perinatal mental health needs.

The provider will be responsible for

• Planning for how the parents and family can support their own wellbeing and that of their infant.
• Assessment of the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the mother and infant, with specific attention to the mother-infant relationship and provision of interventions or referral needed to address any problems identified.
• Assessment of family functioning and the impact of this on the mother-infant relationship.
• Delivery of short-term interventions that are outcome focused.
• Ongoing monitoring of maternal mental health as well as infant mental health.
• Linking in with peer support service and signposting families.
• Building and maintaining collaborative pathways with Brent Children’s Social Care, Health Visiting, CAHMS and safeguarding services
• Working with other providers to develop a diversity of service provision which meets the identified needs of diverse communities using the service in Brent.
• Working in co-operation with other types of service to ensure that the pathway to support is more coherent and better co-ordinated.

A market engagement event has also been scheduled on Wednesday 2nd September 2026 between 1pm - 3pm. If your organisation is interest in attending, please express an interest in the opportunity on the London Tenders Portal. You will then receive a message from the Council requesting further details on how to register for the event.

The Council wishes to engage with organisations that have demonstrable experience in delivering perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships services, including with fathers and co-parents.

The provider will be expected to

• Deliver an equitable service across Best Start Family Hubs in Brent.
• Be embedded within Brent’s mental health service pathway with established referral pathways, governance arrangements and access to wider specialist services
• Provide a specialist parent-infant mental health service reaching across Brent, embedded within established governance, supervision, clinical oversight and quality assurance frameworks, and have direct access to Local CAMHS and perinatal mental health teams
• This service should be:

o led by a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist.

o delivering specialist evidence-based, trauma-informed and attachment-focused parent–infant relationship assessment and intervention (including parent-infant psychotherapy) for the most vulnerable babies and parent-infant relationships.

o comprising highly skilled mental health clinicians (e.g. meeting Level 3 requirements of the Association of Infant Mental Health-UK, Infant Mental Health Competency Framework).

• Have a strong understanding of Brent’s population needs, local networks and early years’ service landscape, and strongly integrate working with Health Visiting and Social Care teams.
• Demonstrate compliance with safeguarding, clinical governance, information governance and quality assurance requirements.
• Provide qualified practitioners to lead the service and ensure those delivering the service maintain relevant competencies and continuing professional development.
• Operate effective data collection, reporting and performance monitoring systems.
• Attend quarterly contract monitoring meetings and submit regular KPI reports ahead of quarterly meetings.
• Maintain effective risk management processes and participate in audits and quality assurance reviews.
• Ensure clear communication with parents, commissioners and partner organisations.
• Manage a robust follow-up system
• Demonstrate the ability to meet equality duties, reduce health inequalities and provide accessible information for families whose first language is not English or who have additional communication needs.

This market engagement exercise is intended to inform the procurement approach and service design. It does not constitute the commencement of a procurement process or a commitment by Brent Council to award a contract.