Police and Fire Medical Appeals Board 2023

This procurement will be managed electronically via the Home Office's e-Sourcing Portal (JAGGAER). To participate in this procurement, participants must first be registered on the e-Sourcing Portal. If you have not yet registered on the e-Sourcing Portal, this can be done online at https://homeoffice.app.jaggaer.com by following the link 'To register click here'. Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so. Once you have registered on the eSourcing Portal, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This can be done by searching for the procurement title - 'Police & Fire Medical Appeal Boards Framework 2023'

The Secretary of State for the Home Department ('the Home Office') has overall responsibility for policing in England and Wales and for the fire service in England only. Policing in Scotland and the fire service in both Wales and Scotland are devolved powers. However, the requirements under the framework being tendered relate to both policing and fire in England, Scotland and Wales. As part of this responsibility, the Home Office is empowered to consider any appeal by a pension scheme member against a decision made by a police force or fire authority in relation to an ill-health pension or injury benefit award. In order to administer such appeals, the Home Office appoints a contractor with the capability to appoint and manage independent appeal boards staffed by qualified medical practitioners.

The current framework expires on 30.09.2023 and the Home Office is inviting bids from organisations for the replacement framework.

Services:

The Home Office requires a provider to manage boards of medical referees who will conduct medical appeals under the appropriate police and fire pension regulations in England, Wales, and Scotland. The required services comprise the provision of regional Medical Appeal Boards for the police and fire services in England, Wales, and Scotland, in accordance with relevant pension and injury benefit regulations.

Scope:

The scope of the Framework Agreement includes the following:

• Administering Police and Fire Medical Appeal Boards,
• Recruitment and training of board members with appropriate expertise,
• Monitoring and reporting of key performance indicators,
• Producing annual and quarterly reports submitted formally to the Home Office,
• Access to legal advice both before and after the hearings, whether from providers own legally qualified staff or through external legal advisers' and 'post decision casework,
• Providing stakeholders, such as pension authorities, selected medical practitioners, fire trades unions and the Police Federation with at least one day of training per year in relation to Medical Appeal Boards. Training will be based on stakeholder needs and feedback from board members and is distinct from training provided by parent organisations,
• To ensure independence of the appeal board process.