Independent Approved Premises – Phase 1 London and North West Probation Service Regions

Approved Premises (APs) provide a critical community-based service to accommodate and manage high risk individuals serving community sentences and on release from custody.

Provision of accommodation on release is a key factor in reducing reoffending and supporting transition into the community whilst reducing the need for prison places. There is currently 104 APs across England & Wales.

Independent Approved Premises (IAPs) are run by independent contracted organisations. Providers charge a monthly contract for service fee for the 24-hour, 365 day Approved Premises services: their staff, service user costs, premises and facilities management.

15 of the current 104 APs in England & Wales are IAPs.

The MoJ intends to run a competition in December 2023 for IAPs located in both London and the North West, with contracts starting on 1 April 2026. The IAPs will be single sex occupancy. Our Target Operating Model (TOM) will be shared with bidders and details our property requirements. Operationally our preference is for each IAP to provide between 15 and 35 bed spaces.

The MoJ intends to run a two-phase procurement with the second competition for IAPs in five other Probation Service Regions: North East, South West/South Central, South East, Midlands and Wales.

The intention is to hold further Market Engagement sessions in February 2024 for the second competition group; further information on this will be posted in early-2024.

Across the two competition groups MoJ is seeking to contract for no less than 226 IAP bed spaces across England & Wales.

The MoJ will be holding Market Engagement sessions on the following topics:

1. Target Operating Model, Schedules and Speed Networking: 31/10/2023, 15:00 - 16:00

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/533b0021-1531-4b3b-8e81-c0c5bc18bee5@c6874728-71e6-41fe-a9e1-2e8c36776ad8

2. Evaluation Criteria: 01/11/2023, 11:30 - 12:15

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/21ee7358-a74a-43a8-bfdd-996c1c0a5605@c6874728-71e6-41fe-a9e1-2e8c36776ad8

3. How to use Jaggaer (e-tendering platform), and how to complete a Financial Response Template: 01/11/2023, 13:30 - 14:15

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b0e38869-4377-482c-9942-897ac97d8566@c6874728-71e6-41fe-a9e1-2e8c36776ad8

Please register for each session using the links above.

Approved Premises (APs) provide accommodation for high-risk (male) and medium or high-risk complex need (female) People on Probation serving community sentences and upon release from prison. APs support the individual’s safe transition into the community, while providing an important level of public protection.

The key purpose of APs is to allow Probation Service staff to closely monitor and manage high-risk and complex behaviours while supporting the individual’s reintegration into the community.

Priority is given to those who pose a risk of serious harm to children, known victims and the public, as well as to themselves.

The model length of stay for a Person on Probation is 12 weeks. However, a range of factors will influence the duration, including the ability to safely progress an individual on into subsequent community or supported accommodation.

There are currently 104 APs operating across England and Wales:

• 89 are operated by the Probation Service
• 15 are Independent Approved Premises, predominantly operated by the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector

IAPs work with the highest-risk people of probation and are a vital element in public protection arrangements.

Effective security is essential for public protection, for people of probation management, and for the safety of staff and residents. They offer a level of contact, support and supervision that exists nowhere else in the probation service with the aim of protecting the public by reducing the likelihood of re-offending.

These premises provide enhanced supervision through 24-hour a day staffing, night-time curfews, compliance with consistently enforced rules and a programme of supervision, support and monitoring, which addresses offending behaviour and the reduction of risk.

Residents are seen daily, and staff become involved in the residents’ lives to a high degree; giving advice, offering support, exercising control and supervision and liaising with the rest of the service and a wide range of agencies.

The capacity to engage directly with a wide range of Criminal Justice stakeholders – Courts, Probation, Prisons, Police – is therefore essential. This intensive level of contact is what enables IAP staff to be aware of residents’ actions and changes in their behaviour in a way that no other intervention can and allows a high level of monitoring of residents’ well-being.

There are two key elements to the provision of an IAP:

The first element is the provision and maintenance of a ‘fit for purpose’ residential unit which, will require the relevant licenses to operate as such;

The second element is the delivery of the 24-hour support service.

Further information on APs can be found under PSI 32/2014 located here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/probation-instructions-pis

Please use the Teams links to register for a session or please notify us at [email protected] to be added to mailing lists. Additional information: The purpose of this notice is to advertise preliminary market engagement which is to be carried out in advance of the procurement.