D/deaf Support Service Soft Market Testing

There are 604 people who are Deaf with or without speech known to The County Council, the 2021 Census shows that in Nottinghamshire 241 people registered their first language as British Sign Language.

Significant engagement with people who use or work in D/deaf services have told us about things they feel most important to them, such as welfare rights, help with correspondence, dealing with key agencies and social opportunities. Some also talked and about things that weren't available, including enough social contact, support around employability and employment and D/deaf sport.

People were keen to retain current areas of support, such as welfare rights, but were also interested in exploring new areas, such as physical and mental well-being, and new approaches such as community organising, peer support and partnership opportunities e.g. around employment.

The desired outcome of this Soft Market Testing is to gain insight into the market, gauge the level of interest from potential Providers and gather feedback on specific aspects of the future service specification.