Short Breaks Commissioning

Staffordshire County Council (The Council) is seeking to appoint a range of providers who are able to provide meaningful, effective and innovative Community Based Short Break Opportunities for parents and carers of children and young people with Special Education Needs and/or disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25 years. The Council is proposing to appoint providers through the establishment of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS).

Providers may apply to join the DPS at any time during its life and any provider who achieves the scoring thresholds defined in the PQQ will be appointed to the DPS. The Council will undertake its first evaluation of PQQs after 1st December 2015 for providers to be placed on the DPS.

Thereafter, any applications received will be evaluated as they arrive. It is anticipated that the first 'call off' opportunity will be published in mid-December 2015.

The next call-off is unlikely to occur until December 2016. Full details of the anticipated process are contained within the PQQ and the tender documents.

The Council is committed to ensuring there is a fair and equitable distribution of a broad range of Community Based Short Break Opportunities across Staffordshire in its entirety, thus providing all parents and carers of children and young people with SEND the opportunity to access a meaningful Short Break opportunity. The DPS contract between the Provider and the Council for the provision of Community Based Short Break Opportunities will be initially 24 months in length, with two further optional 12 month extension periods, subject to the provision of available funding and the strategic priorities of the Council.