Somerset Family Support Service (SFSS)

Somerset Council is recommissioning the Somerset Family Support Service (SFSS), which provides early help and targeted support to children, young people and families across Somerset. The service plays a key role in helping families to build resilience, improve outcomes and prevent escalation to statutory interventions by offering accessible, strengths-based support and working alongside partners in local communities.

SFSS has been delivered in Somerset since 2018. Recent contract monitoring information indicates sustained demand: since 2022/23 the service has accepted 288 families (2022/23 to 29 January 2026), averaging around 74 families per year, with 65 families accepted to date in 2025/26. Overall, the service is intended to provide a preventative pathway by strengthening family resilience and reducing escalation into higher-cost statutory intervention; performance reporting also indicates that around 85% of families supported have not escalated in their level of need.

SFSS is aimed at children, young people and families living in Somerset who would benefit from early help and targeted, preventative support. Access is typically via referrals from the Council and partner agencies, and delivery is intended to be strengths-based and community focused.

Essential referral eligibility criteria within the current SFSS model include: a child in the family under the age of 12 (who is usually the intended beneficiary, although support is delivered on a whole-family basis); and existing involvement at the point of referral from Social Care, the Family Intervention Service, or a Parent and Family Support Advisor (PFSA).

SFSS is intended to provide locality-based services throughout Somerset, delivered at venues convenient to the service user, including the family home and community venues. Services are delivered at times convenient to the service user and subject to volunteer availability. Given the inclusion of short-stay hosting within the current model, the service needs to be responsive and able to provide timely support when families are under pressure. As a minimum, the service is available (as needed) between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday, with delivery on weekends and bank holidays by prior arrangement with SFSS. Transport to and from services offered by SFSS is expected to be largely covered through the unit cost per family. This locality-based approach is also intended to support sustainable staffing and volunteering by minimising avoidable travel time across a large rural county.

SFSS provides practical, relationship-based family support in the community, designed to stabilise families and prevent escalation into statutory social care. The current model combines three strands of support:

(1) befriending and mentoring, where trained volunteers provide emotional and practical help to parents/carers (for example, listening support, encouragement and help to build routines and connections);

(2) short-stay hosting, where children can stay with approved host families for a short period (planned or, where needed, at short notice) to provide a safe break and reduce family stress; and

(3) practical resource provision, coordinating donated goods and practical assistance to help address immediate pressures (for example, essential items and basic household support). These strands work alongside wider local services to provide coordinated, strengths-based support, with a focus on improving outcomes for children and families and reducing the likelihood of needs escalating.

Given Somerset's rural geography, the Council's expectation is that the service will be delivered in a locally accessible way across the county. As part of market engagement (and any future procurement), providers will be asked to set out how they would deploy staff and volunteers to enable timely, consistent support in communities, including how travel and logistics would be managed to support recruitment and retention and avoid unnecessary travel burden.

Key considerations for potential providers (to help inform responses to this engagement) include:

• Somerset is a large and predominantly rural county; providers will be asked to set out how they would ensure locally accessible delivery across all areas, including their proposed operating footprint, travel-time assumptions, and how they would mitigate travel demands to support recruitment, retention and timely responses.
• The service includes significant volunteer-supported elements (including befriending/mentoring and hosting). Providers will be asked to describe how they would recruit and retain volunteers/hosts; deliver training and supervision; provide ongoing support (including out-of-hours/on-call arrangements if required); and maintain safe, consistent practice.
• Strong safeguarding and quality assurance arrangements will be required. Providers will be asked to outline safeguarding governance; safer recruitment (including volunteers/hosts); supervision and case oversight; management of allegations/concerns; and secure information sharing/data protection arrangements with the Council and partners.
• Delivery will need to align with local pathways and work alongside partners to provide coordinated support for families. Providers will be asked to describe referral routes, triage/assessment, and clear step-up/step-down arrangements with Early Help, education, health and statutory services.
• Providers will be asked to set out realistic mobilisation and continuity plans, including how relationships with families and volunteers would be maintained during any transition. Where applicable, providers should also consider any workforce transfer implications (e.g., TUPE) and how these would be managed.

As part of this activity, Somerset Council is undertaking preliminary market engagement to understand the level of interest in delivering SFSS and to help inform the proposed service model and procurement approach.

It is anticipated that any new arrangements would commence on 01/04/2027.

In summary, this engagement is intended to test market appetite and capability to deliver SFSS (including the three strands of support) and to gather views on delivery models that are workable in Somerset's geography. The feedback received will be used to refine the proposed service model and procurement approach ahead of any formal tender, with any new arrangements anticipated to commence on 01/04/2027.