AMCV 322 - Advice, Advocacy & Welfare Benefits Service

This is a contract award notice for an Advice, Advocacy and Welfare Benefits preventative service for adults. This service is to replace an existing contract.

The Advice, Advocacy and Welfare Benefits (AAWB) service will deliver advice and non-statutory advocacy for all adults aged 18+ across a range of issues which impact on people’s wellbeing and will incorporate support for people who need help to be able to navigate the welfare benefits system.

As a guideline, over a 12 month period the current service has delivered advice, advocacy and welfare benefits support to over 9,500 people. This can be broken down by:

•Non-statutory advocacy = 1,900

•Advice = 7,600 people in total

•Over 50% of all individual issues are related to Welfare Benefits & Tax Credits

The provider will be expected to manage any increase in demand within the contract value.

The contract will make a significant contribution to Shropshire Council’s strategic intentions that are in place to support prevention and early intervention. Chiefly this in in reference to the delivery of The Shropshire Plan and also the more recently agreed Prevention Framework which provides more context and detail for how we will deliver our strategic plans.

The Framework includes the following key priority area which relates to this contract:

•Priority 2: Integration and One Shropshire - Enable communities and the voluntary and community sector to take more of central role in the development and delivery of prevention programmes, ensuring all age groups are at the centre of the implementation of the framework. This includes the developing community and family hubs (and spokes)

Furthermore, the framework emphasises the importance of taking forward approaches that are neighbourhood led. This means joining up local services in the community, as well as with countywide provision, and fostering community connections so that everyone in a neighbourhood can thrive.

Providing more services closer to home and taking a neighbourhood approach is at the heart of our wider vision to improving wellbeing and preventing illness and poor health. Working in this way will allow us to fulfil the following priorities:

•The One Shropshire Vision aims to outline how Shropshire Council is working with its partners including the NHS and Voluntary and Community Sector to support people to live their best lives and centres around making it as easy as possible for people to stay happy, healthy and connected in their communities.

•One Shropshire is about coming together as a system (system meaning working with multiple partners, the community and people who live in Shropshire), with an integrated, complementary offer that meets identified and prioritised local needs and fills any gaps in provision.

Given the breadth of experience and range of activity required, we would welcome proposals which bring together a number of organisations to deliver this service. This may be a formal or informal partnership, a consortium, a lead provider / sub-contractors arrangement or similar. Additionally, the Council recognises the importance of the strong brand, identity and recognition that individual organisations have and a solution which retains choice for people within the contracting arrangement is desirable.

The contract will be for an initial term of 4 years with an option to extend the contract by a further 3 years subject to contract performance and budget availability. Additional information: To respond to this opportunity please click here: www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/E5K2335YZ2 ↗