Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS)

The Council wishes to re-commission a Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service. There are currently many children and young people aged 0-25 defined as having special educational needs or a disability in Cornwall. Cornwall Council has commissioned service provision from the market for the last five years. The incumbent provider is currently delivering this service to approximately 200 families. The aim of the Service is to assist The Council in delivering its specific duty to provide information, advice and a support service to children, their parents and carers and young people with SEND, as defined in Parts 19 and 32 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The provision of this service will also enable The Council to fulfill its obligations in line with the SEND code of practice and the Quality Standards for Services Providing Impartial Information, Advice and Support.

Additional information: The Council has recently started using an e-tendering system. The Due North system is already used by a number of public bodies in the South West so you may already be familiar with it.

If you have not yet used this system you will need to visit the South West portal which can be found at this address https://www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk/. You can register for free using the step-by-step registration wizard, where you will be required to enter your company details. Once registered you will be able to access the opportunity portal where this SENDIASS tender opportunity can be accessed.

Although the system is intuitive, Cornwall Council are offering a briefing to potential suppliers on how the system operates. This will cover how to register, find contract opportunities in the system and respond to an opportunity.

The two hour briefings are due to run on the 25th and 27th May 2016. They are bookable via the Eventbrite website on this link: http://cce-tendering.eventbrite.co.uk. If you have any queries about the event, or any issues when booking on then please email: Responsible.procurement@cornwall.gov.uk

Due North also provide comprehensive online and telephone help functions for suppliers, details of which can be accessed from the website.