Provision of an Information Advice and Support Service

Due to the approaching expiry of an existing contract the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham is advertising to seek tenders from suitably experienced and qualified organisations for the provision of an Information Advice and Support Service. The contract is expected to run for a period of three (3) years commencing in October 2017 and may be extended for a further one (1) year subject to funding and performance (at the sole discretion of the Council).

The award of the contract will be based on the most economically advantageous tender. Our vision in the re-tender of this service is to work in partnership with an appropriately experienced contractor to sustain, and develop further, a high quality, impartial support and advice service for the Parents/carers, children and young people who may have special educational needs (SEN), from birth to 25 years of age living within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

The service will be compliant with the SEND Code of Practice in addition to the Children and Families Act 2014. The service will be impartial and confidential.

The core areas of this service will be: • Providing advice and support on SEN, health and social care to parents and carers and children and young people 0 - 25 years of age • Advising parents/carers, children and young people on SEN law and related law on disability • Information on the local offer • Advice regarding the EHC plan • Help when things go wrong including resolving disagreements, providing support to manging informal advocacy, appeals, exclusions, complaints on matters relating to SEN and making formal mediation referrals where required. Interested parties will be sent a tender application pack that will include full details of the service and the tendering process.

The tender application pack is only available electronically but responses are required in hard copy and electronic format (excluding email) together with all relevant accompanying documentation. Please note any USB sent to the Council may be encrypted by the Council to protect against viruses. To ensure any electronic responses can be processed please ensure they are not encrypted.