ESCC - ME Approved List for The Provision of Independent Providers of Foster Care Services

East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council (Participating Authorities) is inviting Independent Foster Care Agencies to apply to join a new hybrid framework/DPS Light Touch Regime 'Approved List' for the purchase of foster care placements as required.

Agencies wishing to be considered will be able to demonstrate effective business models, and that the latest Ofsted inspection for the relevant Registered Office(s) be an overall quality rating of good or outstanding.

Agencies will have an ability to provide family placements within a 20-mile radius of each council, with appropriate local support mechanisms for foster carers. They should be able to provide any or all of the placement categories below for both able bodied and disabled children aged 0 - 18 years (0 - 19 years for children with a disability) including sibling groups: Emergency and short-term placements. Permanent placements. Respite placements. Remand placements. Mother/parent and baby assessment placements. Specialist placements for disabled children.

The number of Looked After children by East Sussex County Council as at the 1 November 2022 was 633 of these 94 children were placed with independent fostering agencies (IFA). In Brighton and Hove Council these figures at the same date were 377 Looked After children of these 56 were placed with IFA's

The Approved List Agreement will be with East Sussex County Council (The Lead Authority) and will be for an initial four (4) year period to commence on the 1 April 2023 until the 31 March 2027. There will be an option for the Lead Authority to extend the Framework Agreement for a further period of 2 years to a potential maximum term of 6 years.

The Participating Authorities cannot and does not commit to or guarantee a stated volume of placements under this Framework.

East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council will commence using this Approved List from the 1 April 2023. West Sussex County Council may commence using this Approved List at later date to be determined in the initial period.

Additional information: The Council`s full requirements and details of how to tender for this opportunity are available by clicking the Express Interest button. The deadline for tender submission is (time) on (day & date) 2021

How to obtain the Tender Documents Interested parties should register their interest in the project via the In-Tend website https://in-tendhost.co.uk/sesharedservices/aspx/Tenders/Current. The Tender documents can be accessed when logged into In-Tend by selecting 'View Details' on the relevant tender advert and clicking the 'Express Interest' tab. Once in the tender there are five tabs, namely 'Tender', 'ITT - documents', 'Correspondence', 'Clarifications' and 'History'.

Select the 2nd tab (ITT - documents) where you will find useful information under 'Tender Details'. Continue to scroll down to the heading 'Tender Documents Received' where you will be able to view / download the documents. Please download all the documents and read very carefully.

Opting In and Opting Out Please note you are required to 'Opt In' before you can access the 'My tender Return' to start populating your response.

The 'Opt Out' functionality will also be available throughout the duration of the tender process. Opting out will give you the option of declaring you no longer want to receive any further communication in relation to this tender along with the opportunity of providing comments and feedback for this decision.

You can choose to 'Opt In' at any time during the tender process if you initially decided to 'Opt Out'.

Further Guidance In addition, guidance on how to participate in a tender, download and upload documents / returns and if required, register your company (free of charge) can be found on the In-tend site under the 'Help' or 'Information for Suppliers' buttons.

Receiving Notification Emails To ensure you receive email alerts and notifications from our system, please add the email domain `@in-tendorganiser.co.uk` to your Safe Senders list.

Is a Recurrent Procurement Type? : Yes