Court Appointed Intermediary Services

Descriptions

This notice relates to a procurement exercise conducted under the light tough regime, following a process similar to the open procedure. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has established two dynamic framework agreements 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, these frameworks relate only 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. The two frameworks comprise: The Managed & Approved Service Provider Framework (MASP) - 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 Approved Service Provider Framework (ASP) - experienced and qualified intermediaries to support bookings on demand. Both MASP and ASP Frameworks will re-open at six month intervals for the admission of new service providers.