Court Appointed Intermediary Services - Framework Re-Opening

This notice relates to the re-opening of framework agreements originally awarded following a procurement exercise conducted under the light tough regime, following a process similar to the open procedure.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is inviting tenders for the provision of Court Appointed Intermediary Services (CAIS), to support vulnerable defendants in the criminal jurisdiction and vulnerable parties and witnesses in the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions. These services will be provided in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and tribunals in Scotland.

Intermediaries facilitate impartial communication to enable complete, coherent and accurate communication between vulnerable people and the courts/tribunals. Intermediaries may be instructed to provide an assessment of a person's communication needs, and provide recommendations on measures that could be put in place by the court to support vulnerable people, young people, children and other individuals who may need assistance during court proceedings. The intermediary may also be required to attend hearings to provide such assistance and support.

For the avoidance of doubt, the MoJ is only seeking tenders in relation to intermediary services that currently fall outside the remit of the MoJ Witness Intermediary Scheme (MoJ WIS). All requests for intermediary support for witnesses in criminal cases will continue to be managed via the MoJ WIS.

Additional information: The MoJ invites tenders for Court Appointed Intermediary Services to support two existing framework agreements: the Managed & Approved Service Provider framework (MASP), and the Approved Service Provider framework (ASP).

The MASP framework seeks providers with the ability to manage multiple simultaneous bookings, and the capability to recruit, train and manage intermediaries to support a range of vulnerabilities, for deployment nationally.

The ASP framework seeks experienced and qualified intermediaries to support bookings on demand.

There is no limit to the number of service providers awarded a place on either framework, however a service provider may not hold a place on both the MASP and ASP frameworks simultaneously.

The MoJ is managing this procurement in accordance with its general obligations under UK law and specifically in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCRs) and the Light Touch Regime contained within Regulations 74 to 77.

The framework agreements are dynamic frameworks and a hybrid of a framework agreement and dynamic purchasing system. As such, the framework agreements will be re-opened at six month intervals for the admission of new service providers who qualify against the selection and award criteria outlined in the procurement documents.

This is the second re-opening of the frameworks, following their introduction in April 2022.