Provision of Support in Dispersed Safe Accommodation for Individuals Escaping Domestic Abuse

Cornwall Council, as commissioner on behalf of the Safer Cornwall Partnership, currently provides outreach support within accommodation to women, men, transgender and non-binary individuals, with or without children, with complex needs or other vulnerabilities who have experienced domestic abuse.

The key aim of the service is to increase the safety of individuals with multiple vulnerabilities and complex needs who are escaping domestic abuse, through the provision of specialist safe accommodation and empowering the person to understand their own and others’ behaviours and how they can support themselves.

This service will also provide culturally sensitive housing related support and accommodation to individuals and their children from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The service is to be delivered through a minimum of 24 dispersed units in locations spread throughout Cornwall to offer choice and safety and locations must give full consideration of access to services and public transport links, and the local landscape in relation to other existing accommodation services.

Providing a variety of self-contained accommodation units to service users on a tenancy or license agreement, according to individual need and risk assessment, supported with 24 hour in person or on-call tailored support, as detailed in the specification. Provided according to assessment of risk and need and to be delivered by trained and experienced workers with a high level of understanding of the specific needs. Although flexible this is for an optimum 6 month period per person.

Tenders are invited by Cornwall Council from Providers with relevant experience and ability to demonstrate sufficient capacity within available budget funding, for the Provision of Support in Dispersed Safe Accommodation for Individuals Escaping Domestic Abuse, for an initial four year period, commencing in April 2024, with an option for extending the contract by up to a further six years, in three year increments.

For the avoidance of doubt the maximum available budget for this service is £375k for the first year and bidders exceeding this available budget will be deemed to be unsuitable.