Kirklees Council in Collaboration with
Bradford Council
Calderdale Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Hull City Council
Leeds City Council
North Yorkshire County Council
Sheffield City Council
Market Sounding Exercise
Scheme Title
Best Interest Assessors and Deprivation of
Liberty Safeguards Framework
Scheme ID
KMCAS - 095
Contracts Monitoring Unit
3rd Floor, Kirkgate
Buildings
Huddersfield
HD1 1 BY
Procurement lead: David Pym
Email: david.pym@kirklees.gov.uk
Tel: (01484) 221000
Version number: v1.3
Date: 2/12/15
Please respond by
12:00 noon on 21st December 2015
via www.yortender.co.uk
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Introduction
Kirklees Council in collaboration with the above mentioned Councils is looking into a
potential procurement option to put in place future framework contractual arrangements
for suitably qualified and experienced organisations or individuals to deliver Best
interest Assessments and Deprivation of Liberty Assessments. Whilst these
Councils are taking a lead it is hoped that most if not all the Councils in the Yorkshire
and Humber area will join the framework. Soundings are currently being taken.
To support this, we would like to gain information from the market regarding a number
of issues related to the potential procurement exercise. You are therefore invited to
consider the programme requirements detailed in this document, and complete the
attached questionnaire to give us your feedback on the proposed approach.
This Market Sounding Exercise (MSE) is not an invitation to tender or a request for
formal expressions of interest. The Council, as contracting authority, is issuing this
request for information only, in order to assess the reaction of the market and thus
make any potential procurement process more focused and efficient.
This process is being undertaken to gather knowledge in the following areas:
 The potential level of interest, from providers, in this contract opportunity.
 The capability of providers to deliver a tried and tested programme.
The benefits to your organisation in participating in this process include:
 The chance to assess whether the opportunity will be suitable and of interest to
you.
 The chance to raise any risks, concerns or issues regarding the potential
opportunity.
This document provides background information regarding the provision of Best
interest Assessments and Deprivation of Liberty Assessments.
Also set out in this document are a number of questions designed to find out:


your appetite for bidding for a contract to deliver this service.
your views on any barriers to delivering the service and possible solutions to
those barriers.
Your responses will assist us in creating a procurement process which is well-framed,
focused, feasible and likely to be of interest to the market. This process focuses on the
market as a whole, rather than on the merits of individual organisations.
Returned questionnaires will be assessed based on the responses to the
questions identified at Appendix 1. Please ensure you complete and return your
questionnaire prior to the defined closing date and time.
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Background
As providers will be aware following the Cheshire West case in 2014, Councils across
the country have been faced with a significant increase in the number of Best Interest
Assessments and Deprivation of Liberty Assessments they have been required to
undertake. In many cases there has been a tenfold increase in this requirement.
Obviously, the increase in the number of assessments has also led to an increase in
the amount spent on these services to the extent that it is now considered necessary to
put a more structured contractual arrangement in place. Additionally, a more formal
arrangement is necessary to ensure that there are standards against which
assessments are carried out and to ensure that Councils internal rules and European
Union contractual rules are complied with.
Scope
In financial terms the above mentioned Councils are spending in the region of £900k£1m per annum. Whilst at the moment only the above mentioned Councils have
expressed a wish to work together it is hoped that more of the Yorkshire and Humber
Councils will eventually join in with this arrangement.
The Project brief is to set up a framework agreement that meets the needs of all the
Councils and ensure that there are sufficient assessors in each of the areas to ensure
that Councils can meet their statutory duties with regard to the provision of this service.
The Councils cannot guarantee your organisation any work under the potential
Framework Agreement but we anticipate there will be vested interest in the framework
Agreement, once established, from the Local Authorities detailed on page 8.
Registering on YORtender
In order to access supporting information and future tender documentation for this
service you must select Kirklees Council as one of the Councils you wish to work with
(please see the “public sectors bodies section”). Guidance on this procedure can be
obtained by selecting the “Help” option at the top of the YORtender page,. By indicating
Kirklees you will automatically receive notifications and any supporting information
relating to these services.
Market Sounding Questionnaire
In order to assist the Councils to develop the above mentioned services, we would
appreciate responses from interested parties on the following key questions in the
context of the information provided above. Additional comments are welcome, although
respondents are requested to specifically address the questions rather than attaching
extensive technical or promotional information.
1. What experience do you have in providing Best Interest Assessments?
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2. What experience do you have in providing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
Assessments?
3. How many years have you been acting as a Best Interest Assessor?
4. What is the name of the organisation where you undertook your qualification?
5. Do you have any formal training that qualifies you to carry out Best Interest
Assessments
6. Please detail how many hours of continuing professional development training
you have undertaken each year since becoming a qualified Best Interest
Assessor.
7. Do you currently work as a Best Interest Assessor in a particular Council area if
so which Council area?
8. Would you be interested in working as a Best Interest Assessor in other Council
areas in Yorkshire and the Humber?
9. If you have answered ‘Yes’ to question 8 which areas would you be prepared to
work in
10. Would you be willing to work for a fixed rate in your primary local authority (the
local authority in which you are based) and a fixed rate plus a mileage rate of
£0.45 for all other areas.
You should complete the Appendix 1 document and return via YORtender by 12 noon
on Monday 21st December 2015. Please and ensure your answer is relevant to the
specific question and in any event no more than 250 words. Please do not send any
attachments or additional documents as they will not be considered.
Consortia
The Councils mentioned above welcome responses from potential consortia i.e.
whereby organisations or individuals join together in submitting a response to the
services outlined in this document.
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Compliments and complaints
Any compliments, complaints or feedback regarding this MSE can be made to the
procurement lead indicated above.
Open data and freedom of information
The councils are committed to openness and transparency in their activities and
decisions. In addition, we are subject to legislation and guidance relating to information
publishing and open data, including the Freedom of Information Act.
Please state in your response any information that you wish to remain confidential and
confirm that it fits within a legally recognised exemption. Please also provide contact
details within your response so that should the council need to consult you on any
information request we can do this promptly.
You are advised that information which falls into the council’s interpretation of
exempted information may still have to be disclosed in some circumstances, for
example as a result of an appeal by a member of the public against our initial decision
not to reveal information.
Incurred expenses
The council will not be responsible for, or pay, any costs or losses or expenses which
you or others incur during the preparation and submission of your MSE response.
Disclaimer
The publication of this MSE document does not commit the Council to any particular
procurement process or to take forward this project in any way.
For the avoidance of doubt, this document is issued for the purpose of conducting an
information gathering exercise and does not formally begin the procurement.
Responding to this MSE will not place you in a more favourable position at the tender
stage of this or any other project.
Queries
If you have any questions in relation to this MSE these should be submitted via the
‘Discussions’ facility in YORtender Where the response to an enquiry does not relate
to commercially confidential matters, the City Council will copy the response to all
organisations who have expressed an interest in this exercise. If you wish to avoid such
disclosures you should clearly mark the enquiry “In Confidence” and set out the
reasons for the request for non-disclosure. The City Council will at its discretion decide
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whether the enquiry is confidential and, if it does not consider it to be so, you will have
the option of withdrawing the enquiry. This does not affect the City Councils obligations
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
If you have any problem submitting your response (Appendix 1) or experience issues
with the YORtender system prior to the deadline, or you require further guidance on
any of the processes within the YORtender system, please contact the YORtender
helpdesk on:
Tel:
0844 543 4580
Email: yorkshiresupport@due-north.com
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Appendix 1
Market Sounding Exercise
Scheme Title
Best Interest Assessors and Deprivation of
Liberty Safeguards Framework
Scheme ID
KMCAS -095
Name of Organisation Responding:
1.
What experience do you have in providing Best Interest Assessments?
2.
What experience do you have in providing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
Assessments?
3.
How many years have you been acting as a Best Interest Assessor?
4.
What is the name of the organisation where you undertook your qualification?
5.
Do you have any formal training that qualifies you to carry out Best Interest
Assessments
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6. Please detail how many hours of continuing professional development training you
have undertaken each year since becoming a qualified Best Interest Assessor.
7. Do you currently work as a Best Interest Assessor in a particular Council area if so
which Council area?
8. Would you be interested in working as a Best Interest Assessor in other Council
areas in Yorkshire and the Humber?
9. If you have answered ‘Yes’ to question 8 which areas would you be prepared to
work in?
Council
Yes / No
Council
Barnsley MBC
North East Lincolnshire Council
Calderdale Council
North Lincolnshire Council
City of Bradford
North Yorkshire County Council
Craven District Council
Richmondshire District Council
Doncaster MBC
Ryedale District Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Rotherham MBC
Hambleton District Council
Scarborough Borough Council
Harrogate Borough Council
Selby District Council
Hull City Council
Sheffield City Council
Kirklees Council
Wakefield Council
Leeds City Council
Out of Yorkshire and Humber Area Councils (where Councils have out of Area
placements)
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Yes / No
10. Would you be willing to work for a fixed rate in your primary local authority (the local
authority in which you are based) and a fixed rate plus a mileage rate of £0.45 for all
other areas?
11. Please inform us of any confidential and/or additional information that you consider
relevant to this MSE response.
Signed
Name (Block Capitals)
Designation
For and on behalf of
Registered Office
Address
Email and Website
addresses
Telephone
Date
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