County Durham Sensory Support for Adults who are Deaf/Deafened or Hearing Impaired

This contract is for a community-based support service which will be provided to people who live in County Durham and are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing or deafblind.

The contract has been divided into two lots:

Lot 1 - Information, Advice & Guidance Services and Floating Support for Adults who are Deaf/Deafened/Deaf/Blind

Lot 2 - Community Support Work for Adults with Acquired Severe Hearing Loss

The Council believes that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) applies to this contract (both Lots).

Providers must only respond to the Lot to which they are interested in bidding for. Providers may bid for more than one Lot however the council is seeking a different provider for each Lot so a bid preference must be submitted

A community-based support service will be provided to people who live in County Durham and Darlington and are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing or deaf blind.

The service will target adults who have acquired severe hearing loss and are experiencing difficulty coping with this life changing situation.

The service must be delivered county-wide and be easily accessible and responsive to service users' needs. It will need a dedicated presence in the County and will need to make links with partner organisations in order to identify appropriate referrals.

The Provider will support people who are:

• Hearing impaired
• Deafened
• Pre-lingual Deaf with Speech
• Deafblind

The Provider will develop a preventative network of support by establishing and maintaining local community groups throughout County Durham and Darlington and assist those groups to become self-sufficient. A variety of community groups will be available to service users.

The Provider will also deliver a wide range of independent living support including, but not limited to:

• Housing related support
• Health and wellbeing support
• Welfare Rights assistance
• Education, Training and Employment support.
• Accessing the community and promoting social inclusion.
• Personal admin and correspondence
• Advocacy

The service will be delivered by Support Workers who have specialisms or experience of working with people who have a hearing loss. Support Workers must have the necessary communication skills to support clients who are deafblind.

One to One floating support is to be delivered to a small number of individuals who are unable to access community groups due to physical disabilities, mobility, or mental health issues. Personal circumstances should be considered with flexibility given where appropriate.

This support is to enable service users to remain independent in their own homes and individual.

This procurement is issued under an Open Tender process in line with Public Contracts Regulation 2015, under Regulation 74 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for contracts for social and other specific services (Light Touch Regime).

Access to the tender documents are available free of charge at www.nepo.org utilising reference number DN624878 Additional information: The expected start date for the proposed contract is 1st November 2022.

The expected end date for the proposed contract is 31st October 2025.

The proposed contract is to be let with an option to extend for a further two periods of 12 months from the actual end date subject to funding and Commissioner approval.