---
title: "IA2880 Children & Young People's Advocacy Independent Visitors, Mediation & Advice Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-039657"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-039657"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-039657.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-039657.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2023-01-10"
---

# IA2880 Children & Young People's Advocacy Independent Visitors, Mediation & Advice Service

Buyer: STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-039657

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## Summary

Staffordshire County Council has completed a procurement process for the provision of Children & Young People's Advocacy Independent Visitors, Mediation & Advice Service. The service is segmented into three lots with staggered start dates ranging from April to October 2023, with possible extensions until March 2028. The services cover a range of support areas for children and young people, fostering families, and individuals with special needs. The procurement method used was an open procedure, and the contracting organisations include the Staffordshire County Council and several partner local authorities.

This tender presents opportunities for businesses involved in health and social work services, welfare services for children and young people, as well as guidance and counselling services. Companies providing advocacy, mediation, and advice services to vulnerable groups, such as children in care, families in need of fostering support, and individuals with special educational needs, would be well-suited to compete. The Staffordshire County Council, as the buying organisation, has awarded contracts to Change Grow Live Services, Global Mediation Limited, and The Fostering Network across the three lots, signifying potential growth prospects for successful suppliers in expanding their service offerings within the relevant industry category.

## Notice

Staffordshire County Council are looking to procure services for the Provision of Children & Young Peoples (CYP) Advocacy Independent Visitors, Mediation & Advice Service. The service is broken down into 3 lots with staggered start dates as follows Lot 1: Children and Young People's Advocacy and Children in Care Independent Visitor Service 1 April 2023 - 31 March 2026 (extension 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028). Lot 2: Mediation and Disagreement Resolution Service for Children and Young People aged 0 to 25 years with SEND and their Parents/ Carers . 1 July 2023 - 31 March 2026 (extension 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028). Lot 3 Advice and Mediation for Fostering Families 1 October 2023 - 31 March 2026 (extension 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028).

### Lot Information

Lot 1: Children & Young People's Advocacy & Children in Care Independent Visitor Service

Staffordshire County Council are seeking the provision of a Children & Young Person's Advocacy Service, a Statutory Independent Visitors Service for Children in Care, Independent Persons for Secure Accommodation Reviews, Appropriate Adults for Independent Age Assessments of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children & Young People and a Parenting Advocacy Service. The Council's overall aim of the Service is to fulfil their statutory requirements with respect to the availability of independent Advocates to a high standard and improve outcomes for Children & Young People in receipt of the Service. The Provider will do this by ensuring the views of Children & Young People are well represented and where required, they are provided with appropriate Advocacy. The Service will also be required to: Deliver an Independent Visitor programme for Children in Care and Young People. Arrange for an Independent Person to attend Secure Accommodation Reviews as and when required. Arrange for an Appropriate Adults for Independent Age Assessments of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children & Young People. Deliver a Parenting Advocacy Service for adults who are aged over 25 years of age and have assessed Special Education Needs and Disability or have had a cognitive/capacity assessment that has deemed that the individual lacks the capacity to Advocate for themselves.

Options: The initial contract is for 36 months until 31 March 2026 plus an extension to extend for up to 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028. In the event the Agreement is extended the extension shall be on the same Terms and Conditions as the original Agreement period and will ultimately be at the County Council's sole discretion.

Lot 2: Mediation and Disagreement Resolution Service for Children and Young People aged 0 to 25 years with SEND and their Parents & Carers

The procurement is for two distinct statutory Services that are required by Staffordshire County Council and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board in relation to the provision of Independent Disagreement Resolution Services for SEND and Independent Mediation Services for Education Health and Care (EHC) Assessments and Reviews. Independent Disagreement Resolution Services will put in place arrangements for manging disagreements across special educational provision, and health and care provision in relation to EHC Plans. A Mediation Service will offer independent Mediation to Parents & Young People and will provide an opportunity to resolve issues linked to requests for an Education, Health and Care Assessment and the outcome of Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plans Assessments /&Reviews prior to Parents & Young People lodging an appeal via the First-Tier Tribunal.

Options: The initial contract is for 33 months until 31 March 2026 plus an extension to extend for up to 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028. In the event the Agreement is extended the extension shall be on the same Terms and Conditions as the original Agreement period and will ultimately be at the County Council's sole discretion.

Lot 3 Advice and Mediation for Fostering Families

Staffordshire County Council (lead authority), Herefordshire Council, Shropshire Council, Stoke-On-Trent City Council and Telford & Wrekin Borough Council (together 'the Partner Local Authorities) are working in collaboration to jointly procure a contract for an Advice and Mediation Service for Fostering Families. The Service is required to ensure that Foster Carers are well supported in carrying out their role as a Foster Carer and ensuring the early resolution of issues. Advice Service Delivering Advice and information to both approved and Prospective Foster Carers, on a wide range of issues which may affect the Foster Carer role and providing Advice and information to Partner Local Authorities where required. Mediation Mediation is defined as the attempt to settle a dispute through a neutral third party. Mediation is a structured process that allows people to negotiate the issues with a hands-on approach.

Options: The initial contract is for 30 months until 31 March 2026 plus an extension to extend for up to 2 x 12 months until 31 March 2028. In the event the Agreement is extended the extension shall be on the same Terms and Conditions as the original Agreement period and will ultimately be at the County Council's sole discretion.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000725-2023 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large, SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 10 Jan 2023 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 12 Dec 2022 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,391,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Additional buyers | HEREFORDSHIRE COUNCIL; SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL; STAFFORDSHIRE & STOKE-ON-TRENT ICB; STOKE-ON-TRENT CITY COUNCIL; TELFORD & WREKIN BOROUGH COUNCIL |
| Locality | STAFFORD |
| Post town | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Postcode | ST16 2DH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG2 Shropshire and Staffordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLG24 Staffordshire CC |
| Local authority | Stafford |
| Electoral ward | Forebridge |
| Westminster constituency | Stafford |
| Delivery location | TLG West Midlands (England), TLG2 Shropshire and Staffordshire, TLG24 Staffordshire CC |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 3 |
| Supplier names | CHANGE GROW LIVE SERVICES; GLOBAL MEDIATION; THE FOSTERING NETWORK |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services
- 85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people
- 85312300 - Guidance and counselling services

## Release History

- 10 Jan 2023 at 16:41 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000725-2023

## Notice URLs

- http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/
- http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Homepage
- http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/business/procurement/homepage
- https://shropshire.gov.uk/
- https://staffsstoke.icb.nhs.uk/
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:018167-2022:TEXT:EN:HTML
- https://www.stoke.gov.uk/
- https://www.telford.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-h6vhtk-039657. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-039657.json.