Provision of Advocacy Services

TENDER FOR ADVOCACY SERVICES Wokingham Borough Council is inviting expressions of interest for the provision of • Independent Mental Health Act Advocacy • Independent National Health Service Complaints Advocacy • Care Act Advocacy • Spot purchased Advocacy Those wishing to express an interest should have demonstrable evidence of: • Experience of providing any of the above advocacy services • The ability to meet the statutory requirements of each service • Experience of working with the groups likely to benefit from these services • Understanding of the value of advocacy for users and potential users of the services • Ability to work flexibly to deliver the services especially where demand may be variable • Robust recruitment process to ensure advocacy is provided by high quality well trained staff • Internal monitoring and continuous improvement process to ensure and sustain a high quality service Tender evaluation will also take into account feedback from referees and stakeholders within Wokingham Borough Council where applicable. Specific statutory requirements are • Independent Mental Health Act Advocacy under S.130A of the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended 2007), as required under s.43 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 • Independent National Health Service Complaints Advocacy under section 223A of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, as required under s.185 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 • Care Act Advocacy to support people through the relevant assessment, support planning and safeguarding procedures, as required under s.67 and s.68 of the Care Act In addition the successful provider will be expected to deliver time limited advocacy for other purposes.

The Service will be delivered under a three year contract, held with Wokingham Borough Council, with the opportunity of a year on year extension for a further two years, subject to satisfactory performance, funding availability and mutual agreement of the parties. The service contract is expected to commence on 1st April 2016.

The Council intends to award the contract based on the most economically advantageous tender. The award criteria that will be used, ranked in order of significance are: Price - 50% Method Statement - 35% Presentation - 15% The Council reserves the right not to accept the lowest, or any tender, submitted.

All completed Questionnaires and proposals to be received no later than 12:00pm on 7th December 2015. Responses received after this time will be disregarded.