---
title: "Contract for hosting and managing the Peer Associate Workers (Part of Kent and Medway Designated Keyworker Programme)"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "KENT COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2023-07-12"
---

# Contract for hosting and managing the Peer Associate Workers (Part of Kent and Medway Designated Keyworker Programme)

Buyer: KENT COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234

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## Summary

The Kent County Council has awarded a contract for hosting and managing the Peer Associate Workers as part of the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System Designated Keyworker Programme. The procurement falls under the category of community health services and is valued at GBP 947,604. The tender was conducted using the selective procurement method with a tender deadline of April 24, 2023. The contract will run from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2027.

This contract offers business growth opportunities for suppliers in the social and support services sector, particularly those experienced in community health services. The Kent and Medway Designated Keyworker Programme aims to provide support to children and young people with complex needs. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations are suitable bidders. The procurement process has reached the award stage, where Involve Kent Limited has been selected as the supplier by Kent County Council.

## Notice

Kent County Council is looking to appoint a supplier, to host and manage the Peer Associate Workers who are part of the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System Designated Keyworker Programme. This procurement is for social and other services referred to in Regulations 74 of the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) and as such, the intention is to use the light touch regime, rather than the full regime described in Regulations 28 (Restricted Procedure). The Kent and Medway Designated Keyworker Programme is an NHS England-funded programme that is being implemented by Kent County Council (hereafter referred to as 'the Council') on behalf of Kent and Medway Integrated Care System. The 'Keyworking' function was developed in response to the NHS England and NHS Improvement Long Term Plan (LTP) commitment that, by 2023/24, children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both, with the most complex of needs will have a designated Keyworker, as recommended in the Lenehan Report (2017). It was designed to: * ensure that autistic and learning-disabled children and young people, aged 0-25, (hereafter referred to as 'CYP') and their families get the right support at the right time and that local services are responsive in meeting their needs in a holistic and joined up way. * prevent avoidable admission to any form of acute mental health hospital or institutional care. * where a CYP is admitted to an acute mental health hospital, ensure discharge plans are developed and in place, and that their length of stay is as brief as possible. The ethos of Keyworking is to ensure a preventative and personalised approach for each CYP and their family. The Peer Associate role is one of several keyworking functions that collaborate to help the CYP and their family to effectively navigate the system through facilitating shared and clear person/family-led formulations or stories which enable effective and enhanced interventions by addressing physical/psychological/social/other issues contributing to risks of admission or placement breakdown. There are currently six Peer Associates representing 6 staff equivalent to 5.4 WTE who provide lived experience support and advocacy to CYP and their families who are receiving complex care support from health, education, and social care. The Peer Associates are pivotal to assuring that the voices of children/young people and their families are heard within their community and wider care and support systems. This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to advise prospective providers of the Commissioners intention. It is our intention to hold a Virtual Market Engagement event via MS Team, with providers, in order to finalise the development of the service specification on Wednesday 8 February 2023 at 9:30am - 11:00am.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/025e7ed3-28de-47e1-813d-3a8b66bd0c73 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Restricted procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Jul 2023 |
| Submission deadline | 24 Apr 2023 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 11 May 2023 |
| Contract period | 30 Jun 2023 - 30 Jun 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £800,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £947,604 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | KENT COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | MAIDSTONE |
| Post town | Rochester |
| Postcode | ME14 1XQ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ4 Kent |
| ITL 3 | TLJ45 Mid Kent |
| Local authority | Maidstone |
| Electoral ward | Penenden Heath |
| Westminster constituency | Maidstone and Malling |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | INVOLVE KENT |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85323000 - Community health services

## Release History

- 12 Jul 2023 at 08:49 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/025e7ed3-28de-47e1-813d-3a8b66bd0c73
- 24 Jan 2023 at 12:58 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/97052208-3d5d-4da6-99c4-91e5c1784c88

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/025e7ed3-28de-47e1-813d-3a8b66bd0c73
  12th July 2023 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/97052208-3d5d-4da6-99c4-91e5c1784c88
  24th January 2023 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder

## Notice URLs

- http://www.kent.gov.uk

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0da2caab-4c90-41b3-9d47-d2a3d480b234.json.