Lot 1 - Refuge Service (including advice, information, and advocacy) to Women and Children fleeing domestic violence and abuse

Contracts

• Refuge Service (including advice, information, and advocacy) to Women and Children fleeing domestic violence and abuse. · The Haven WolverhamptonVCSE

  Signed

  2 Jul 2018

  Value

  £3,979,924

  Status

  active

  • Change Lot 1 - refuge services (including advice, information, and advocacy) for women and children fleeing domestic abuse pertaining to this contract is extended for a period of 12 months starting from 02 July 2025. Additionally, the price has also been varied to cover the cost of the 12 months in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and Council's Contract Procedure Rules., Need for modification brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority/entity could not foresee: There have been a number of significant changes in the national landscape regarding domestic abuse since the commencement of this contract, including the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (hereafter the Act 2021). Part 4 of the Act 2021 introduced statutory duties for Tier One Local Authorities in England through the provision of domestic abuse support in safe accommodation. The Act 2021 also recognised, for the first time, children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. The provision through this contract currently offers support to children who are directly linked to an adult victim of domestic abuse receiving support. In July 2024, the Our Future Council programme introduced a two - three year transformation and cost reduction programme which recognises the need to: • Create a shared culture of continually thinking differently, which includes challenging existing approaches. • Accept that the sustainability and scale of some activity and services that may currently be valued will have to be challenged. • Reprioritise what is delivered and how it is delivered At the same time, the increase in demand for specialist domestic abuse support seen during COVID-19 has been sustained in the years that have followed, with no indication of subsiding. The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will introduce a duty to collaborate for relevant authorities within a Police area to take a collaborative approach to local commissioning of support services for victims (including child victims under 18 years of age) of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and serious violence. Relevant authorities are identified as Local Authorities, NHS Integrated Care Boards and the local Policing body within each Police area. In November 2024, the Ministry of Justice outlined the broad implementation timeline for the Duty and locally, planning discussions are being led by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner West Midlands. To date, commissioning of support services for victims of domestic abuse has primarily been reflective of geographical boundary responsibilities for each relevant authority with varying levels of partnership consultation. The significance of the changing landscape requires a different approach to the future commissioning of services for people who are victims of domestic abuse; ensuring that the Local Authority embeds the response to statutory duties introduced during this contract period, considers how the provision should respond to children as victims in their own right, and to the challenges set out by the Our Future Council programme. Therefore Lot 1 - refuge services (including advice, information, and advocacy) for women and children fleeing domestic abuse and the other two lots pertaining to this contract are extended for a period of 12 months to enable a full review and redesign of services and to ensure that any new specification is fit for purpose having been appropriately informed by service users, key partners and the market.