Community Support for Women in Prison or the Community

The Authority is seeking to procure the second generation of rehabilitative services for women in prison or the community to help them address rehabilitative needs and to desist from offending, across England (other than Greater Manchester, where a procurement for similar services will be led by GM Combined Authority) and Wales.

The contract value over the full term is currently estimated at approximately £238,189,668. This figure includes an estimated £30m of services to be funded by other public sector partners. However, as the MOJ and the various partners have not yet entered into agreements in relation to these funding contributions, this £30m estimate is indicative only. The amount contributed by the partners (and consequently the total value of the contract) may significantly increase or decrease depending on the funding contributions agreed between the MOJ and various partners.

There is an indicative launch date of January 2027, an indicative award date of January 2028 and an anticipated indicative go live date of September 2028. The proposed contract length shall be 5 years, with the option to extend by up to 3 further years. Please note, that some key decisions including budgets and dates are yet to be approved through internal governance and therefore may change.

The women's services will provide a combined, whole-person, individualised service to help service users:

• Build supportive relationships and social networks. This might include family relationships, friends, community groups and peer communities.
• Connect to a range of community-based activities and resources that matter to them. This could include volunteering, sport or constructive leisure activities.
• Progress towards recovery from drug or alcohol use and gambling.
• Achieve and maintain sustainable outcomes in relation to housing, employment and financial management.

The Delivery Partner, who will undertake the role of lead bidder, will be responsible for the delivery of all services in the specification. It is envisaged that to deliver the whole breath of services, a supply chain may be utilised under the direction of the Delivery Partner, who will instruct, engage and collaborate with a supply chain to ensure successful delivery of the required services.

Please note, these new combined services will replace the existing separate pathway services previously procured which cover Dependency & Recovery, Personal Wellbeing, Accommodation, Finance, Benefits and Debt and Education, Training and Employment.

The authority will deliver this combined service by tendering 23 contracts across two waves of tenders:

Wave 1:

Community Support for Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Mercia

Community Support for West Midlands

Community Support for Humberside

Community Support for North Yorkshire

Community Support for South Yorkshire

Community Support for West Yorkshire

Community Support for Cheshire

Community Support for Merseyside

Community Support for Cumbria

Community Support for Lancashire

Community Support for Wales (North Wales & Dyfed-Powys, Gwent & South Wales

Community Support for Avon & Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire

Community Support Services for Devon, Dorset & Cornwall

Community Support for Essex, Suffolk & Norfolk

Community Support for Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire

Wave 2:

Community Support for Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire

Community Support for Cleveland & Durham

Community Support for Northumbria

Community Support for Thames Valley & Hampshire

Community Support for Kent

Community Support for Surrey & Sussex

Community Support for London East

Community Support for London West

Together and within the contract, we aim to create responsive, innovative solutions and foster lasting, positive impacts. Partnerships will be at the core of these contracts to significantly enhance the capabilities and reach of the involved entities.