Essex County Council (“the Council”) is seeking to commission a new Direct Payments Support Service (DPSS) to enable people who are ordinarily resident within the administrative boundaries of Essex (excluding the unitary authority areas of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea) to manage their direct payment.
This procurement will incorporate the following lots:
Lot 1: Independent Information and Advice Service and Personal Assistant (PA) Support Hub
Lot 2: Payment/Payroll/Account Management services
Further details regarding the Council’s requirements for each of these lots can be found within the relevant service specification which will be published on the Council’s e-tendering portal, ProContract and can be accessed via:
https://procontract.due-north.com/
Please register for a user account to gain access to the procurement documentation for this opportunity. The Council envisages that this procurement will be published on the aforementioned e-sourcing portal on Thursday 20th October 2022.
Prospective bidders are advised that the Council will act akin to a central purchasing body in relation to this procurement opportunity in conjunction with Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) who will access but not formally be a party to the ensuing contract. In addition, please note that whilst the ensuing DPSS contracts will primarily be used to support people with either social care and/or mental health needs to manage their personal budgets via a Direct Payment; it will also be open for the following classification of users within the administrative area of Essex: NHS Healthcare (including local Integrated Care Systems).
In addition, bidders are advised that this service will be commissioned under an initial three (3) year term with the option to extend for a further two (2) years at the Council’s sole discretion; thereby resulting in a maximum possible contract duration of five (5) years.
This lot is designed to secure suitable provision of an advice and information service relating to direct payments, which will also include Employer Advice and Guidance Services and a Personal Assistant support hub delivered to individuals who may be considering taking a Direct Payment or already have one in place, and who are ordinarily resident in Essex.
Further details of the Council's requirements for this lot can be found within the service specification for this procurement on the Council's e-sourcing portal, ProContract as detailed in section 1.3 of this notice above.
Please note that the stated contractual value of £1,400,000 for this lot reflects the estimated value of this contract over the course of the maximum 5-year duration of the service based upon the Council's current and forecast demand and expenditure of £280,000 per annum.
This lot is designed to secure suitable provision of Payment Services and Account Management to support people with either social care and/or mental health needs (across both adults and children’s services) to manage their personal budgets via a Direct Payment (DP).
Please note that the successful bidder for this lot will be required to deliver all the following specified requirements (noting that not every DP recipient will require support from all of the constituent elements of this provision):
• Payroll - to support DP recipients who employ their own Personal Assistant(s)
• Bought Ledger - to support individuals to pay for social care services using their Direct Payment; and
• Account Management - to ensure that Direct Payment money for each DP recipient is received in an identifiable, named account from which all relevant payments can be made.
Further details of the Council's requirements for this lot can be found within the service specification for this procurement on the Council's e-sourcing portal, ProContract as detailed in section 1.3 of this notice above.
Please note that the stated contractual value of £3,250,000 for this lot reflects the estimated value of this contract over the course of the maximum 5-year duration of the service based upon the Council's current and forecast demand and expenditure of £650,000 per annum.