Published date: 1 February 2024

Last edited date: 27 April 2025

Open opportunity - This means that the contract is currently active, and the buying department is looking for potential suppliers to fulfil the contract.


Closing: 13 May 2025, 5pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Law-courts-related administrative services - 75231100

Location of contract

North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West, Scotland, Wales

Value of contract

£0

Procurement reference

tender_176932/1473276

Published date

1 February 2024

Closing date

13 May 2025

Closing time

5pm

Contract start date

31 July 2025

Contract end date

31 March 2026

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (above threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

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.

More information

Previous notice about this procurement

Court Appointed Intermediary Services - Framework Re-Opening

  • Opportunity
  • Published 1 February 2024, last edited 16 October 2024

Additional text

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 sixth re-opening of the frameworks, following their introduction in April 2022.

How to apply

Follow the instructions given in the description or the more information section.

About the buyer

Contact name

Commercial

Address

102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
England

Email

CommercialIntermediaries@justice.gov.uk