Community Counselling Service

Descriptions

No Limits were the successful bidder following the competitive, compliant Hampshire tender and commenced delivery in April 2016. The contract was for 3 years and was extended by two further years to expire on 31st March 2021, which was legally provisioned within the contract., In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak gave rise to an urgent need for the continuation of the provision of Counselling Service beyond the previously advertised contract duration. The Contracting Authority considers COVID-19 to be an unforeseen state of urgency and therefore as per the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 published a Regulation 72 notice to extend the service by 6+6 months to expire on 31st March 2022., The Isle of Wight conducted an AQP (Any Qualified Provider) process and awarded IOW Youth Trust and Talk2 counselling provided by Barnardos in 2012. Under the Monitor Regulations which were in place when the contract became live allowed for extension periods without publishing additional notices or further competition. , In 2020, due to the COVID 19 outbreak NHS England stated all contracts should be moved over to block contracts to ease the burden of work. , Therefore the contract was amended to an activity based direct award to support the providers financial stability with an extension to the existing contract giving the Contracting Authority sufficient time to comply with undertaking a compliant competitive procurement process. This contract is in place until 31st March 2022., Due to the ongoing nature of COVID-19 and prior to undertaking a competitive procurement process, the CCG would like to undertake a full and robust service review with coproduction and engagement of service users and their families / carers and a robust option appraisal as to what is required for the future to meet the demands of those with lower mental health needs (as per Local Transformation Plan) across the ICS geographical patch with a preventative focus including a widely-available and credible digital offer to give young people more choice and easier access to support at the first signs of difficulty., In order for the CCG to deliver against the NHS Long Term Plan, the CCG intends to direct award, to effectively extend the existing service under the same terms and conditions rather than undertake a competitive procurement process, the rationale and evidence to support this decision is contained in the section below. The extension will be for a period of 12 months with the longer term aim for the services to be procured through a competitive tender process with a new contract start date of the 1st April 2023. , The extension term is 12 months commencing 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2023, The value of the contracts (at current value) is £595,935 for Hampshire and £268,212 for the IOW.