Published date: 14 January 2022
Closed early engagement
Contract summary
Industry
Health and social work services - 85000000
Location of contract
East of England
Procurement reference
ECC001-DN581675-78969160
Published date
14 January 2022
Closing date
4 February 2022
Contract is suitable for SMEs?
Yes
Contract is suitable for VCSEs?
Yes
Description
In preparation for a proposed forthcoming procurement opportunity to provide support to people to manage a direct payment, Essex County Council is inviting prospective providers to engage in a soft market test to secure market feedback on the current commissioning intentions for the proposed new Direct Payment Support Services offer.
The precise structure of the forthcoming procurement remains subject to confirmation pending a review of the feedback from the market engagement. However, the Council is currently considering incorporating the following support for a direct payment support service (DPSS):
1. Payroll and Account Management
2. A single, dedicated Personal Assistant (PA) hub, incorporating support to develop a PA register alongside assistance with the recruitment, training, management and incentives to retain Personal Assistants.
3. A dedicated Direct Payment Information and Advice service & an Employment, Advice and Guidance Service
4. A pre-paid card option to manage direct payments
5. A digital solution to manage direct payments
The Council may seek to engage more than one provider to provide all or parts of these services in order to create choice for people who will access the services.
The Council may structure the corresponding procurement opportunity so that a number of providers will deliver all the core aspects of the service. However, the Council reserves the right to refine the scope of this procurement following the market engagement events for this project. The final scope of the procurement including the use of lots, contractual value and duration and confirmed procurement timetable will be published in the corresponding Contract Notice prior to the formal launch of this procurement opportunity.
Further details of these components and a suite of soft market test questions can be located via the Council's e-sourcing portal, ProContract: https://procontract.due-north.com/Login
Please note that you will need to undertake the registration process to secure a user account to access the soft market test questionnaire on ProContract. However, please be advised that the registration process is free of charge and provides access to all the current and forthcoming procurement opportunities for Essex County Council alongside several other public sector organisations.
Please note that the deadline for the soft market test responses will be Friday 4th February 2022 at 17:00 and all responses must be submitted via the messaging facility in ProContract.
About the buyer
Contact name
Rachel Horne
Address
County Hall
Market Road
Chelmsford
CM1 1QH
England
Share this notice
Closing date: 4 February 2022
All content is available under the
