Norfolk Community Mental Health Outreach and Support Service

Norfolk County Council is issuing this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice to inform the market of its intention to procure a new Norfolk-wide Community Mental Health Outreach and Support Service for adults with mental health needs. The Council is seeking to commission a county-wide service ( which may be divided into lots) that provides flexible, person-centred support to enable people to maintain their independence, improve wellbeing, build resilience, and strengthen connections within their local communities.

The service will support individuals with mental health needs through a recovery-focused and strengths-based approach, helping to prevent escalation of need, reduce social isolation, and promote sustainable independence. The service is expected to operate across the whole of Norfolk and we will be seeking markets feedback on the approach to division of lots.

The service will work in the unregulated space and deliver accessible and responsive support across urban, rural and coastal communities. The provider will be expected to work collaboratively with Adult Social Care, health partners, housing providers, voluntary and community sector organisations, and other key stakeholders to support positive outcomes for Norfolk residents.

Commissioning the Community outreach services separately from mental health supported living is a change to the current model which is combined. The Council intends to publish the procurement documents in Spring 2027.

The supported living requirement will be a Call-Off from an existing framework. Please note that the contract length has been included in the notice as 4 years plus a further 2 plus 2 years.

Contract length has not yet been fully agreed and providers will be asked for their feedback on this. The value in this notice is for the total 8 year contract length and does not include any uplifts set by the Council.