Somerset Domestic Abuse Service

The online Preliminary Market Engagement event will take place on Thur 17th Dec, 11am to 12pm.

Please notify us of your interest to attend this online event by Mon 14th Dec by emailing through the name, title and email of the persons attending from your organisation, to [email protected], and we will forward the Teams meeting invite directly to each attendee. Thank you.

Notice: Somerset Council invites organisations with an interest in delivering domestic abuse services to attend a Pre-Market Engagement Event to help shape the future commissioning of domestic abuse support across Somerset.

The purpose of this event is to share our emerging commissioning intentions, gather information from the market, and explore potential solutions to help achieve the priorities set out within the Somerset Domestic Abuse Strategy 2026-2029. Feedback received during this engagement will help inform future service design, commissioning arrangements and delivery models.

Areas under consideration include:

• Domestic abuse helpline services
• Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs)
• Community-based support for adult victims and survivors
• Counselling and therapeutic support services
• Support services for children and young people affected by domestic abuse
• Safe accommodation and accommodation-based support
• Voluntary perpetrator intervention programmes

Our ambition is to ensure that adults, children and families affected by domestic abuse have access to high-quality, specialist, trauma-informed support that improves safety, wellbeing, recovery and long-term outcomes. We are committed to providing accessible services that respond effectively to differing needs and levels of risk, whether through accommodation-based provision, community support, advocacy, therapeutic support, early intervention or behaviour-change interventions.

The session will include:

• An overview of current domestic abuse services in Somerset
• Emerging commissioning priorities and intentions
• Discussion of potential future service delivery models
• Information on how the Somerset Domestic Abuse Strategy 2026-2029 is shaping our commissioning approach
• Opportunities for providers to share feedback, ask questions and contribute to service design considerations

We welcome participation from specialist domestic abuse providers, voluntary and community sector organisations, housing providers, organisations delivering counselling and therapeutic services, children's services, perpetrator interventions, and other interested partners. Consortium and partnership approaches are encouraged.

The procurement opportunity for the future Somerset Domestic Abuse Services is expected to be published in Spring 2027, with contracts anticipated to commence from April 2028.