MOJ Administration of Mediation Voucher Services

This is a for information notice of an Opportunity for a procurement for The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for Administration Services for the Mediation Voucher Scheme. The contract is expected to run between June 2023 and March 2025 inclusive.

The MoJ is responsible for the court procedures in private family law, and supports non-adversarial, out-of-court methods of dispute resolution, where deemed safe and appropriate. The Family Mediation Council (FMC) are an independent body and are responsible for accrediting family mediators in England and Wales. This responsibility is described in full in Family Procedure Rules, which can be accessed at www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family. Eligibility for the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme (the Scheme) is determined during a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM), which must be carried out by an FMC authorised mediator. Irrespective of parties' financial status, the Scheme is open to all (other than with safety concerns).

The MoJ is procuring a Supplier to administer the family mediation scheme to parents who are separating and other carers of children who have been deemed safe and eligible for the Scheme during a Mediation Assessment Information Meeting. The Supplier will be responsible for the administration of the Scheme (not the mediations themselves), which will be separately carried out by suitable FMC authorised mediators in the required quantities, with the skills and knowledge to deliver this specification.

At a high level the Supplier will be responsible for ensuring:

Valid assurance that vouchers are distributed by only FMC accredited mediators, or, if in circumstances agreed by the FMC, Family Mediation Standards Board and the MoJ, suitable mediators working towards accreditation. This will require the design and delivery of a suitable end-to-end process and working with the FMC and MOJ to ensure all potentially eligible mediators are aware of the scheme and how it is operated.

Prompt assurance of payment of legitimate voucher fund requests from mediators.

Monitoring and evaluation of the service as per the detailed requirement included with the Invitation to Tender;

Raw Mediator and participant survey result data for referral to MoJ analytical team; Reports on the deliverables and Management Information to the MoJ; A robust complaints process for any issues that arise; and

Appropriate safeguarding of public money.

This list is not exhaustive - potential suppliers should refer to the full document suite that will be avaliable on the ItT.

For information, the Scheme will operate under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006 as of 31 December 2022.

Additional information: This notice is to advise potential suppliers of this upcoming opportunity, and to be aware of the plans and the resulting requirements. The onus will be on the potential suppliers to return bids within the time-frame.

The MoJ is using Jaggaer for this procurement which means the ITT is available only in electronic form. To access this procurement opportunity please log on to Jaggaer or register for an account at https://ministryofjusticecommercial.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html and search for the ITT using reference 'ITT_7139' to be able to view the ITT documents and submit a bid.

The Authority reserves the right: - to amend, clarify, add to or withdraw all or any part of this planned procurement either before or during it's running; - to vary any timetable or deadlines set out in this notice or the ItT documentation; - not to run a procurement exercise or conclude a contract for some or all of the services stated in this notice; and - to cancel all or part of the procurement at any time.

Transparency:

HM Government requires that tender documentation issued by government departments for contracts exceeding 10 000 GBP over the life of the contract are published online (www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) for the public. The resulting contract shall also be published. The Authority may use its discretion to redact information to protect key commercial interest or on prescribed grounds. Therefore, bidders who wish information not to be published, if successful, should secure agreements with the Authority prior to submission. These could cover key commercial interest, trade secrets and commercial interests which would be prejudiced by publication, all following the test in Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1178/commercial-interests-section-43-foia-guidance.pdf).

Only documentation related to the award will be published. The prescribed grounds for redaction are: (a) national security; (b) personal data; (c) information protected by intellectual property rights; (d) information which is not in the public interest to disclose (following tests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000); (e) third party confidential information; (f) IT security; and (g) Prevention of fraud.

Freedom of information (FOI):

The Freedom of Information Act came fully into force in 2005. If any organisation considers that any information supplied by them is either commercially sensitive or confidential in nature, this should be highlighted and the reasons for its sensitivities specified. In such cases the relevant material will in response to FOI requests be examined in the light of exemptions provided for in the Act.