Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for the re-procurement of an Appropriate Adult Service

The council are inviting suppliers to participate in preliminary engagement to gain insight from the market with the purpose of making any potential future exercise, well framed, feasible, focused and of likely interest to the market.

This preliminary market engagement questionnaire is to seek potential providers views for key areas of service provision:

An Appropriate Adult (AA) service is a safeguarding service used in the criminal justice system to protect the rights and welfare of vulnerable people when they are involved with the police. It exists because some people may not fully understand police procedures or be able to communicate effectively without support.

The Service is delivered from a central custody suite in Spennymoor, County Durham, however on occasions Appropriate Adults may be required to attend alternative locations when a voluntary attendance interview is undertaken.

The AA service currently assists custody for vulnerable adults and children on a call out basis as and when required. For adults this service is 24/7 and for children this is out of hours including bank holidays.