Soft Market Testing Questionnaire

This is a soft market testing exercise exploring market interest in bidding to deliver the service user council for substance misuse and peer mentor service in Southwark.

The Service User Council for Substance Misuse performs a governance function for Southwark’s substance misuse services and the Drug and Alcohol Action Team. The Service User Council is consulted prior to any strategic or operational decision making process and feature in treatment service specifications. The Service User Council also undertakes research projects which are used in service development.

The Peer Mentor Service provides practical and emotional support to Southwark’s treatment service users during their recovery journey. They are available to work with people from the time they first enter treatment and support service users in all phases of treatment. The presence of peer mentors in treatment services are visible, tangible evidence that recovery is possible and can be achieved.

Our vision for the provision of the service user council and peer mentors’ service is to consolidate and develop the service to support the recovery community in Southwark including co-delivery of groups with the commissioned treatment provider and capacity-building around the delivery of Alcohol Identification & Brief Advice. The service should continue to advocate for Southwark treatment service users and to continue to be the voice of service users in service development and strategy.

The financial envelope and length of contract are yet to be decided. The soft marketing exercise provides an opportunity to input into contract value and length.

Additional information: If you have any queries or wish to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact me by email: Iain.Gray@southwark.gov.uk or by telephone: 0207 525 0807.