Contract for the Provision of an Essential Household Goods Support Scheme

Lancashire County Council's Essential Household Goods Support Scheme is a non-statutory service that provides support for the people of Lancashire who need help to maintain or establish a home. It provides free essential household items to those individuals/families who do not have access to sufficient income or funds to meet their immediate needs, along with help and advice in seeking additional support. The overall aim of the Service is to support people to meet their immediate needs and to help them feel more secure and live more independently in their community. The Service Provider will deliver the entire Service from the first point of contact through to the approval, provision and delivery of essential household items. This will include managing three separate strands: Strand 1: Receiving and assessing applications to the Essential Household Goods Support Scheme Strand 2: Sourcing and delivering essential household items to successful Service Users Strand 3: Supporting Service Users to seek and access additional support As the budget is limited, it is expected the Service Provider will work with the Authority, and in partnership with public, voluntary, faith and community sector organisations, to deliver an innovative, flexible and holistic service that maximises resources, manages demand and prioritises those Service Users most in need. This Specification sets out the aims, objectives and requirements of the Service, the standards and legislation that must be adhered to, and the anticipated levels of delivery that the successful Service Provider will be expected to attain during the contract period. The Service Provider, working with private, public, voluntary and community sector organisations, will look to be flexible and creative in how it procures and sources household items, aiming to maximise the budget and deliver good quality items that meet the needs and circumstances of Service Users. The Service Provider will work with the Authority to explore different approaches to sourcing household items. Based on figures from previous years, the Authority anticipates the Service Provider to process approximately 1450 applications per 12 month period. This figure includes both those applications awarded household provision and those applications not awarded support. The Authority will work with the Service Provider to establish parameters around the cost of individual awards. These parameters will be kept under review and subject to change by the Authority in collaboration with the Service Provider. The Service Provider will be required to work towards meeting this figure, alongside managing demand, ensuring the level of spend is kept within the annual budget of £450,000, and the Service remains available to Service Users throughout the entire year. It is the Authority's intention to work closely with the Service Provider to periodically review anticipated service levels. The Service Provider will provide the Authority with regular budgetary updates and notify the Authority if there are any budgetary issues. The Service Requirements - including the eligibility criteria, the number of awards, the value of awards, the nature of awards and the approval process - will be reviewed periodically and may be adjusted at any time during the life of the Contract to help manage the budget. The Authority will need to review and approve any changes before they are introduced. There is no guarantee of the volume of referrals throughout the life of the Contract. Please see Specification (Appendix 2) for more details of the Service requirements.