London Borough of Bromley: Recruitment of the Foster Carer Service

UK-Bromley: Health and social work services.
Preliminary Questions
   This notice is for Prior information notice: No
   This notice is for Contract notice: Yes
   This notice is for Contract award notice: No
         
Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1) Name and addresses:
       London Borough of Bromley
       Civic Centre, Stockwell Close, Bromley, BR1 3UH, United Kingdom
       Email: ECHS.ContractsTeam@bromley.gov.uk
       Main Address: http://www.bromley.gov.uk
       NUTS Code: UKJ4
      Specifications and additional documents: As Above
I.2) Joint procurement:
   The contract involves joint procurement: No.
   The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body: No .
I.3) Communication       
   The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at:              
         https://www.londontenders.org
   Further information can be obtained from: the above mentioned address    
   Tenders or requests to participate must be sent: electronically via -- https://www.londontenders.org          
         to the abovementioned address

I.4) Type of the contracting authority    
   Regional or local authority
I.5) Main activity:    
   General public services

Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement
   II.1.1) Title: Recruitment of the Foster Carer Service          
         Reference number: DN259771          
   II.1.2) Common Procurement Vocabulary:       
      85000000 - Health and social work services.
   II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICE

   II.1.4) Short description:
   The London Borough of Bromley invites tenders from contractors with detailed knowledge and experience of providing Recruitment Services for Foster Carers as detailed in the Tender Documentation and Service Specification.

It is proposed that the procurement process is carried out through a negotiated light tough regime, with a contract term of 3 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years. The estimated contract value over the whole 5 year period is £1m.

The tender opportunity will be run electronically through the London Tenders Portal and suppliers will need to register their company with the portal at www.londontenders.org to ensure they are able to submit the relevant documents. All applications MUST be made through the London Tenders Portal ONLY and NOT to the Contact Details contained within this notice.          
   II.1.5) Estimated total value:       
      Value excluding VAT (give figures only) : 1,000,000 - Currency : GBP
   II.1.6) Information about lots:
      This contract is divided into lots: No

   II.2) Lot Description          
   II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s):       
      85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people.       
   II.2.3) Place of performance:       
      Region Codes:               
         UKJ4 - Kent
   II.2.4) Description of the procurement:       
      The provider will:

Provide a recruitment and advertising strategy, process initial carer enquiries, conduct an initial ‘Skills to Foster’ course, undertake all elements of the assessment of prospective carers, complete the formal written record and present the prospective carers to the Bromley Fostering Panel for consideration.

Provide professional supervision to the assessors and a robust quality assurance package. To ensure compliance with the standards required for our fostering panel, all reports will be required to be quality assured and assessed at an appropriate level of quality prior to being presented to our fostering panel.

Ensure that a proportion of fostering units recruited are prepared to take on specific types of placements where Bromley has specific shortages (male or sibling placements, adolescents) and a proportion of these foster carers will be of a Black and Minority Ethnic background, a measure required due to a shortage of carers from this demographic.    
   II.2.6) Estimate value
      Value excluding VAT (give figures only) : 1,000,000 - currency : GBP        
   II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement                 
      Duration: between 01/03/2018 and 28/02/2021    
   II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
      The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds : NO           
   II.2.14) Additional information          
      The provider will be subject to minimum quality requirements when responding to carer enquiries and carrying out initial assessments and will be required to ensure that each carer is recruited within a maximum 10 mile radius of Bromley’s borough boundaries and within a minimum timeframe of 16 weeks from the carer first registering an interest. Start date may vary depending on negotiations.    
   
   
Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial And Technical Information

III.1) Conditions for participation
   III.1.4) Objective rules and criteria for participation    
      List and brief description of rules and criteria:
         Evaluation of the tender will be based on the CIPFA standing guide to the commissioning of local authority work and services tender evaluation model and in full compliance with EU Directives, the Council's Contract Procedure Rules and in accordance with the stated criteria. Tenderers should note that the evaluation of the above criteria for Quality issues etc. will also include the operation of minimum score thresholds. If the Tenderer's proposal receives a score below the required threshold then the bid may not be considered further. (The minimum acceptable score is a requirement to obtain at least half of the available points in any particular area).

An indicative use of this model can be downloaded from the Council’s website at http://www.bromley.gov.uk/info/200095/tenders_and_contracts/265/submitting_tenders            

III.2) Conditions related to the contract
   III.2.1) Information about a particular profession    
      Reference to the relevant law, regulation or administrative provision:          
         Not Provided    
   III.2.2) Contract performance conditions          
      Not Provided           
   III.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
      Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract    
      
Section IV: Procedure   

IV.1) Description   
   IV.1.1) Type of procedure                       
         Procedure involving negotiations                   
   IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system                
         The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement - NO                 
         In the case of framework agreements justification for any duration exceeding 4 years:                
            Not Provided    
   IV.1.6) Information about electronic auction
         An electronic auction will be used - Not Provided          
   IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA )
         The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) - Not Provided
IV.2) Administrative information       
   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure    
   Notice number in OJEU: Not Provided    
   IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of expressions of interest          
         Date - 03/07/2017 Local Time - 12:00       
   IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted:       
         English               

Section VI: Complementary Information       
VI.2) Information about electronic workflows                       
    Electronic invoicing will be accepted                
    Electronic payment will be used    
VI.3) Additional Information:       
   The Council works with the London Boroughs of Bexley, Lewisham, Greenwich, Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon. In addition to the bodies identified above, in appropriate circumstances and in compliance with any legal and regulatory requirement, the opportunity for services to be provided through this contract may also be offered to the above mentioned organisations who may have similar usage volumes.

The Council may make use of the contract for further negotiated arrangements to the extent permissible and in compliance with the relevant Procurement Regulations. Prospective contractors are advised that the documents issued at this time in conjunction with the OJEU Tender Notice may be supplemented and/or amended as provided for in Regulation 53(6) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=237658586
GO-2017531-PRO-10319769 TKR-2017531-PRO-10319768              
VI.4) Procedures For Appeal
   VI.4.1) Body responsible for appeal procedures:
       Royal Courts of Justice
       The Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2079476000                
   VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
       Royal Courts of Justice
       The Strand, Holborn, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom       
   VI.4.3) Review procedure
      Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:                
         Complaints during the procurement process are conducted under the Official Journal for the European Union (OJEU) in line with the Public Contracts Regulations (2015). Our processes are conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner. We are committed to developing constructive relationships with suppliers and are keen to generate maximum competition in all of our procurements to deliver best value and sustainable cost savings for the taxpayer. The outcome of the evaluation process is totally dependent on the competitive strength of the individual bid submissions, regardless of the bidder's size or place on existing / previous arrangements. We are committed to treating all suppliers fairly and all feedback and complaints are given full and fair consideration. If at any stage we believe that a mistake has been made by us, please be assured that we will rectify it to the extent that we can legally do so. In order to complain you must first be registered on the eSourcing tool for the relevant procurement event. All complaints must be raised via the eSourcing tool messaging facility. If you are still unsatisfied at the outcome of a procurement competition and wish to challenge it, then you should issue legal proceedings under Part 3 chapter 6 (Applications to the Court) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and serve them on the Government Legal Department in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules Part 66 (Crown Proceedings) and its associated Practice Direction. Please note that service by email is subject to prior agreement with the Head of Litigation at the Government Legal Department Solicitor's Department and is not routinely given.       
   VI.4.4) Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained:
       Royal Courts of Justice
       The Strand, Holborn, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2079476000       

VI.5) Date Of Dispatch Of This Notice: 31/05/2017