---
title: "Provision of Independent Mobility Assessor Services"
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ORKNEY ISLANDS COUNCIL"
published: "2018-09-10"
---

# Provision of Independent Mobility Assessor Services

Buyer: ORKNEY ISLANDS COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447

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## Summary

The Orkney Islands Council is currently overseeing a public procurement opportunity titled "Provision of Independent Mobility Assessor Services," situated in Kirkwall, UK. This contract falls within the services industry, focusing on the provision of assessments related to the Blue Badge scheme, which aids severely disabled individuals. The procurement is in the active stage, having completed the award process. Bids were accepted until 24 August 2018, when the bid opening occurred, and the contract was awarded on 4 September 2018. The estimated contract value is £3,000 and it is classified under the open procurement method.

This procurement presents significant growth opportunities for businesses in the health service and medical assessment sectors, particularly for SMEs with expertise in mobility assessments or related healthcare services. Companies eligible to compete must demonstrate professional qualifications in line with local authority requirements, ensuring they can conduct independent assessments effectively. The ongoing nature of this contract implies that Orkney Islands Council will seek to tender again three months prior to the end of the current contract period, providing further avenues for interested suppliers.

## Notice

As from 1 September 2012 the final stage of the Blue Badge assessment can only be undertaken by an Independent Mobility Assessor and it is the element of the assessment which Orkney Islands Council (the "Council") is commissioning. The assessment will build on Council Occupational Therapy (OT) staff. Where OT staff feel that they cannot make a decision on the eligibility of the applicant applying under the "unable to walk" or "virtually unable to walk" permanent and temporary criteria, they will pass the application form to an Independent Mobility Assessor to assess the applicant. An Independent Mobility Assessor is defined in legislation as a person recognised by the local authority as holding a professional qualification, the obtaining of which involved the assessor being trained in the assessment of a person's ability to walk; and having the expertise necessary to assess on behalf of the local authority, the ability of the applicant to walk.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The blue badge scheme in Scotland ("the scheme") gives a concession to severely disabled people to park where particular restrictions may otherwise apply. The scheme plays an important role in helping severely disabled people access jobs, shops and other services. There are currently over 270,000 Blue Badge holders in Scotland, many of whom say that they would be unable to travel without certainty that they will be able to park close to where they need to be. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that this vital scheme continues to provide accessible parking for those in most need. Since 1 January 2012, the Government has made a number of improvements to the scheme. One of these improvements was the introduction of the use of mandatory independent mobility assessments to assess eligibility for those "unable to walk" or "virtually unable to walk" on 1 September 2012. In line with this change the Scottish Government has provided funding, through the annual settlement to local authorities from 1 April 2012, to allow local authorities to undertake assessments in stage 2 and 3 of the Blue Badge assessment process model. As from 1 September 2012 the final stage of the Blue Badge assessment can only be undertaken by an Independent Mobility Assessor and it is the element of the assessment which Orkney Islands Council (the "Council") is commissioning. The assessment will build on Council Occupational Therapy (OT) staff. Where OT staff feel that they cannot make a decision on the eligibility of the applicant applying under the "unable to walk" or "virtually unable to walk" permanent and temporary criteria, they will pass the application form to an Independent Mobility Assessor to assess the applicant. An Independent Mobility Assessor is defined in legislation as a person recognised by the local authority as holding a professional qualification, the obtaining of which involved the assessor being trained in the assessment of a person's ability to walk; and having the expertise necessary to assess on behalf of the local authority, the ability of the applicant to walk. The assessor should never have been employed or engaged as a provider of medical services to the applicant where "medical services" includes all forms of medical treatment and investigations to establish whether the treatment is needed but does not include an assessment conducted to establish whether the applicant is eligible for services provided by a local authority (including the provision of a disabled persons badge); and is not, in the opinion of the local authority, precluded by any reason of personal or commercial relationship with the applicant from providing an independent assessment of the applicants ability to walk.

Renewal: 12 month extension at the sole discretion of the Council

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=SEP330756 |
| Notice type | PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 10 Sep 2018 |
| Submission deadline | 24 Aug 2018 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 4 Sep 2018 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Orkney Islands Council will go out to tender again 3 months prior to the end of the contract period. |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £3,000 |
| Lots value | £3,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £48 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ORKNEY ISLANDS COUNCIL |
| Locality | KIRKWALL |
| Post town | Kirkwall |
| Postcode | KW15 1NY |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM2 Highlands and Islands |
| ITL 3 | TLM20 Highlands and Islands |
| Local authority | Orkney Islands |
| Electoral ward | Kirkwall East |
| Westminster constituency | Orkney and Shetland |
| Delivery location | TLM65 Orkney Islands |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | ORKNEY PHYSIOTHERAPY |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services
- 98 - Other community, social and personal services

### Codes

- 85142100 - Physiotherapy services
- 98330000 - Physical well-being services

## Release History

- 10 Sep 2018 at 00:00 - Award - PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=SEP330756
- 2 Aug 2018 at 00:00 - Tender - PCS Notice - Website Contract Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG326914

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/NoticeDownload/DownloadDocument.aspx?id=AUG326914&idx=1
  2nd August 2018 - Invitation to Quote
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG326914
  Provision of Independent Mobility Assessor Services - As from 1 September 2012 the final stage of the Blue Badge assessment can only be undertaken by an Independent Mobility Assessor and it is the element of the assessment which Orkney Islands Council (the "Council") is commissioning. The assessment will build on Council Occupational Therapy (OT) staff. Where OT staff feel that they cannot make a decision on the eligibility of the applicant applying under the "unable to walk" or "virtually unable to walk" permanent and temporary criteria, they will pass the application form to an Independent Mobility Assessor to assess the applicant. An Independent Mobility Assessor is defined in legislation as a person recognised by the local authority as holding a professional qualification, the obtaining of which involved the assessor being trained in the assessment of a person's ability to walk; and having the expertise necessary to assess on behalf of the local authority, the ability of the applicant to walk.
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=SEP330756
  Provision of Independent Mobility Assessor Services - As from 1 September 2012 the final stage of the Blue Badge assessment can only be undertaken by an Independent Mobility Assessor and it is the element of the assessment which Orkney Islands Council (the "Council") is commissioning. The assessment will build on Council Occupational Therapy (OT) staff. Where OT staff feel that they cannot make a decision on the eligibility of the applicant applying under the "unable to walk" or "virtually unable to walk" permanent and temporary criteria, they will pass the application form to an Independent Mobility Assessor to assess the applicant. An Independent Mobility Assessor is defined in legislation as a person recognised by the local authority as holding a professional qualification, the obtaining of which involved the assessor being trained in the assessment of a person's ability to walk; and having the expertise necessary to assess on behalf of the local authority, the ability of the applicant to walk.

## Notice URLs

- http://
- http://www.orkney.gov.uk
- http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447

## 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-r6ebe6-0000552447. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000552447.json.