Domestic and Sexual Abuse Service

Provider Engagement On Line Event Tuesday 20 July 2021 10-11.30am

The Council intends to tender for the provision of refuge and domestic violence and sexual abuse services to medium risk victims.

The services being procured will form part of the Council’s approach to meeting a range of its statutory obligations, including the Domestic Violence Act 2021, and to support those residents of Southampton that have experienced or at risk of domestic violence.

It is expected that the service provision will cover the following requirements:

• Support to victims of domestic violence, including family members in the form of outreach support.
• Provision of support within safe accommodation, in the form of buildings based supported accommodation (domestic violence refuge provision), life-skills, and resettlement support.
• Provision of a first point of contact for victims and professionals accessible through multiple channels.
• Participation by the service provider in strategic planning activity relating to the local provision of support to victims of domestic violence.
• Leading on the development and maintenance of effective referral pathways into services, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity and promote local awareness of availability. This will include the development of a safe accommodation/housing related support pathway.
• Delivery of therapeutic support for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence within community settings, including through direct face to face contact and digital online support.
• Delivery of educational programmes to schools: re: healthy relationships, recognising unhealthy behaviours, responding to abuse and seeking support etc.

There is an anticipated contract start date for these services of 1st April 2022, with an initial contract term of up to 5 years, plus scope for further periods of contract extension not exceeding 2 years in total, subject to final approvals.

The provider engagement event will be on-line and will take place on Tuesday 20nd July 2021 10-11.30am. The purpose of the event it is to highlight the activity that has occurred to date, provide those attending with an outline of the proposed service model for consideration, and to provide details of the planned procurement exercise which is intended to follow in the autumn of 2021. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions and give your feedback on our plans.

Provider organisations with an interest in tendering should note that it is neither the intention or the purpose of this event to confer any advantage within the procurement process upon those attending (or not attending).

To book attendance at this event please confirm your details by the end of Friday 18th July 2021, sending them via email to Katerina.Ploumakis@Southampton.gov.uk including the name(s) and email(s) of those attending so we can include you on the virtual meeting invite Please can we ask that a maximum of two people per organisation attend the sessions.

Invites will be issued via Microsoft Teams and will be accessible on a web browser for those without the app.