Access to Counselling in Schools

Formal counselling should be undertaken by a professional counsellor, acting in their specialist role, and in accordance with a strict code of ethics, which requires confidentially, accountability and clinical supervision.

• All school-based staff will be required to have an up-to-date enhanced disclosure Scotland PVG.
• All counsellors must be appropriately trained and qualified and accredited by their professional/therapeutic bodies, such as Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA), or British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

The service Provider should conform to agreed professional standards, such as those provided by COSCA and BACP.

The service Provider should conform to current best practice for school-based counselling, specifically in respect of counsellors’ qualifications, supervision policy, child protection policies and continuous professional development and learning.

INSURANCE

The successful Tenderer must hold, or commit to obtain prior to the commencement of and duration of the Contract of any subsequently awarded contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below:

• Employers Liability - 5 million GBP minimum (statutory), each and every claim
• Public Liability - 5 million GBP minimum, each and every claim
• Professional Indemnity - 1 million GBP minimum, in the aggregate
• Motor Vehicle - If vehicles are used at all for this contract (ie for attending council premises for supplier performance monitoring meetings): Third party Motor Vehicle cover (statutory) to be evidenced with a MV certificate in the COMPANY name; OR where there is no company fleet and employees use their own vehicles instead, a letter signed by a person of appropriate authority confirming that the provider has ongoing arrangements in place to ensure that employees' vehicles are appropriately insured and maintained for business purposes.

FINANCIAL

The Council will use Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) to assist in its determination of the organisation’s financial status and risk. The Council would expect Tenderers to have a minimum D&B Failure Score of 20, however failure to meet this Failure Score would not necessarily merit a ‘FAIL’ as the D&B Failure Score is only one factor used by the Council in assessing the acceptability or otherwise of a Tenderer’s financial status.

The Council will take into account the Tenderer’s response to the SPD Part 1V Question 4B.1.1. Fu…

Tenderers will be required to provide examples that demonstrate that they have the relevant experience to deliver the services as described.

A minimum of two examples will be required.

a) All staff appointed to the contract must have an up-to-date enhanced disclosure Scotland PVG carried out at the providers cost before being able to provide these services.

b) Tenderers will be required to confirm that they and/or the service provider have the relevant educational and professional qualifications.

c) All staff must be appropriately trained and qualified and accredited by relevant professional/therapeutic bodies. For example, counselling staff delivering services should be accredited with COSCA (Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland) or BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) or equivalent.

d) Tendering organisations should conform to agreed professional standards, such as those provided by COSCA and BACP, and current best practice for school-based counselling.