--- title: "National Advocacy and Advice Service" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION" published: "2021-10-20" --- # National Advocacy and Advice Service Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa.json) ## Summary The Department for Education in England is seeking suppliers for a National Advocacy and Advice Service aimed at supporting looked-after children, care leavers, and children at risk of entering care. The contract, valued at £834,000, will begin on 1 April 2022 and is expected to last for two years with an option to extend for one additional year. A market engagement event is scheduled for 20 October 2021, allowing interested parties to understand procurement needs and processes before the forthcoming tender. Interested organisations must register by 5pm on 18 October 2021 to participate in this event. This opportunity holds significant potential for businesses focused on children's advocacy and support services, particularly those with experience working within social care and educational contexts. Organisations that can demonstrate expertise in providing advocacy for vulnerable children, identifying service gaps, and collaborating with local authorities will be well-positioned to submit competitive bids. Both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as voluntary and community sector enterprises (VCSEs) are encouraged to engage, especially those capable of innovative service delivery methods to reach and assist eligible children and young people effectively. ## Notice The Department for Education currently funds a national advocacy and advice service (presently delivered as the Always Heard advocacy service) which ensures looked-after children, care leavers and children on the edge of care in England understand their rights to advocacy; are signposted to local advocacy services; and provided with direct 'safety net' advocacy when denied or unable to access local services. The service provides a national helpline to eligible children and young people as well as a range of support routes outside of the helpline, including via website, WhatsApp, text, email, and face to face where required. The current contract for the national advice and advocacy services ends on 31 March 2022. The purpose of this PIN is to initiate engagement with the market for the provision and procurement of the advocacy and advice service beyond the end of March. A market engagement event will take place on 20 October from 11:00 -12:30 via Microsoft Teams. All organisations wishing to attend the event should book a place via this email address: outcomes.cic@education.gov.uk by 5pm on Monday 18 October with the following information: - name of your organisation - name of attendees (maximum two) - contact details The Department is interested in organisations that have significant expertise and experience in advocacy for children and young people. We are open to different commercial arrangements, including consortia and partnerships to undertake this service. Ideally we are looking for organisations with: - Significant experience in delivering advocacy and advice to children and young people in social care and/or education sectors - Ability to identify gaps in advocacy provision nationally and barriers to accessing advocacy to help drive and inform improvements to advocacy services - Experience in working with local authorities to broker local advocacy support and support systemic change in advocacy provision - Expertise in using a wide range of methods to support and reach eligible children and young people - Understanding of child safeguarding and experience alerting children's services to safeguarding concerns We encourage organisations of any size with the necessary expertise to come to our event. We anticipate that any successful provider(s) may start to deliver in April 2022 and that delivery will be 2 + 1 years. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c36b7317-061f-4a48-815e-64397f48fdd2 | | Notice type | Planned Procurement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Not specified | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 20 Oct 2021 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 13 Dec 2021 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 31 Mar 2022 - 31 Mar 2025 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £834,000 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planned | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | South West London | | Postcode | SW1P 3BT | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West | | ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London | | Local authority | Westminster | | Electoral ward | St James's | | Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 79512000 - Call centre - 85310000 - Social work services ## Release History - 20 Oct 2021 at 14:09 - Planning - Planned Procurement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c36b7317-061f-4a48-815e-64397f48fdd2 - 7 Oct 2021 at 16:28 - Planning - Planned Procurement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c36b7317-061f-4a48-815e-64397f48fdd2 ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c36b7317-061f-4a48-815e-64397f48fdd2 20th October 2021 - Future opportunity notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/3aaa9ce9-cc6c-4852-9c52-f7dc9c43da74 n/a ## 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-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1592b32c-5107-433d-bc41-7b28fe3fc6aa.json.