Published date: 19 March 2018

Awarded contract - This means that the contract has been awarded to a supplier.


Closing: 4 December 2017

Contract summary

Industry

  • Financial and insurance services - 66000000

Location of contract

Any region

Value of contract

£4,798,668

Procurement reference

RD1001203

Published date

19 March 2018

Closing date

4 December 2017

Contract start date

6 February 2018

Contract end date

31 March 2020

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

The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) was introduced in May 2015 to enable adoptive families to have access to specialist therapeutic support services when they need them so as to improve outcomes for young people and families. In April 2016, the scope of the Fund was extended to children who were previously in care immediately prior to being cared for under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) and children living in England who were adopted from countries other than England.

Adoption support services play a vital role in supporting families to meet the needs of their adoptive children. Over 70% of children adopted enter care due to abuse or neglect. Many adopted children have specific needs or disabilities, which require additional support. While recent research has shown that only around 3% of adoptions disrupt, a quarter of parents report major challenges, and a further third describe life as generally good with some challenge.

The Adoption and Children Act (2002) places a duty on local authorities to maintain an appropriate service for adoption support. The Adoption Support Services Regulations (2005) require authorities to assess adoption support needs when requested by an adoptive child, their parents, natural parents and former guardians. The provision of support to meet these needs is at the discretion of the local authority, taking into account the individual case and local resources.

Despite the increase in funding to local authorities through the ASF, we are aware that there still remain challenges around adoption support services e.g. parental awareness of entitlement to an assessment of their adoption support needs; the timeliness and quality of adoption support assessments; an underdeveloped evidence base on the effectiveness of specialist therapeutic interventions and availability and quality of services across the country.
To access the ASF, the responsible local authority must have conducted an assessment of the adoptive/eligible special guardian family's support needs. If the assessment identifies that therapeutic services would be beneficial to the family, the local authority, in discussion with the family, can apply to the ASF on the family's behalf.

More information

Attachments

Award information

Awarded date

21 December 2017

Contract start date

6 February 2018

Contract end date

31 March 2020

Total value of contract

£4,798,668

This contract was awarded to 1 supplier.

Mott MacDonald Limited

Address

Mott MacDonald House
8-10 Sydenham Road
Croydon
CR02EE

Reference

None

Supplier is SME?

No

Supplier is VCSE?

No

About the buyer

Address

2 St Paul's Place, 125 Norfolk Street,
Sheffield,
S1 2FJ
England

Email

amy.cotton@education.gov.uk