Essex County Council Advocacy Services

Market Engagement Questionnaire

1.1. Introduction and Current Position

Essex County Council currently holds four advocacy contracts, operating independently of each other and managed by three providers. These current contracts cover the following services:

·  Formal 1:1 Advocacy, including NHS Complaints Advocacy

·  Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy

·  Independent Mental Health Advocacy

·  Citizen Advocacy

These contracts are due to expire in June 2018, and ECC is seeking to procure advocacy services to commence from 1st July 2018 and ensure that services continue to be available to the residents of Essex.

At present the project team is scoping potential procurement options for these services and discussing the pros and cons of each option.

1.2. Future Aspirations

Essex County Council is seeking to implement a ‘Hub’ model of provision of the advocacy services in the County.

This is an expansion of the way the Formal 1:1 Advocacy contract has operated for the past four years, and appoints a lead provider to manage the contract either delivering all advocacy services in-house where they have the capability, or through the use of sub-contract organisations and partnerships.

ECC would have a contractual relationship only with the lead provider who would be responsible for the entirety of the contract and the provision of the services County-wide.

A key feature of this model would be that all referrals for advocacy services in Essex would go via a centralised point of contact, which would then ‘triage’ the call and direct it to the appropriate form of advocacy for the needs of the service user.

1.3. Procurement Plans

The existing advocacy contracts expire in June 2018, and ECC is making preparations for the procurement of the services beyond this date.

This includes engagement with existing service users, internal stakeholders across the Council, and with the market to better understand the landscape in which we are procuring these services.

1.4. Purpose of Engagement

This engagement questionnaire has been designed to be the first stage of the market engagement activities, and is intended to build upon the existing knowledge of the market in Essex, and the UK as a whole.

Through the engagement, we hope to use the information and feedback received to continue to develop our plans for the future of the advocacy services in Essex, and to help us to deliver innovative and best-in-class services.

Further engagement with the market will be heavily informed by this initial engagement activity, and all participants will be made aware of future opportunities to engage with ECC on these contracts.

1.5. Responses

All responses to this questionnaire should be returned via email to , not later than 5pm on 1st September 2017.

All responses will be for the use of Essex County Council only, and will not be shared with any external parties for any purpose.

Section 2: Questionnaire

2.1. Organisation Information

Question / Provider Response
Organisation Name
Organisation Type
(e.g. Limited Company, PLC, Partnership, Sole Trader, Charity etc.)
Organisation Address
Name of Persons Completing this Form
Contact Details for Person Completing this Form (email and telephone required)

2.2. Provider Questionnaire

2.2.1. / Question
Would your organisation be capable of leading a hub model (see 1.2. for information) for the delivery of advocacy services?
Response to question 2.2.1
[Enter text here]
2.2.2. / Question
Would you seek to deliver the hub model through the use of partnerships with local or specialist organisations?
Response to question 2.2.2.
[Enter text here]
2.2.3. / Question
How much of the proposed list of services would you be capable of delivering through your own in-house resource?
ECC currently provide:
·  Formal 1:1 Advocacy, including NHS Complaints Advocacy
·  Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy
·  Independent Mental Health Advocacy
·  Citizen Advocacy
Please list which advocacy services you are able to provide through your in-house resource.
Response to question 2.2.3.
[Enter text here]
2.2.4. / Question
Of the advocacy services you don’t provide in-house (as per question 2.2.3.) which services do you currently have arrangements for providing on a sub-contract basis?
Response to question 2.2.4.
[Enter text here]
2.2.5. / Question
Would you consider forming a joint venture or special purpose vehicle to deliver ECC’s requirements with another provider?
Response to question 2.2.5.
[Enter text here]
2.2.6. / Question
Do you have any existing partnerships with providers in Essex or other localities?
Response to question 2.2.6.
[Enter text here]
2.2.7. / Question
Would you be interested in creating a partnership with a lead provider and delivering an element of the advocacy services?
Response to question 2.2.7.
[Enter text here]
2.2.8. / Question
Are you able to deliver services across Essex or would you be restricted to a smaller area geographically?
Response to question 2.2.8.
[Enter text here]
2.2.9. / Question
Do you specialise in a certain area of advocacy provision? Do you plan on expanding your services?
Response to question 2.2.9.
[Enter text here]
2.2.10. / Question
What performance measures do you think would best demonstrate the quality of delivery of advocacy services?
Response to question 2.2.10.
[Enter text here]
2.2.10. / Question
What are the key areas of quality that you think should be assessed before a contract award is made?
Response to question 2.2.11.
[Enter text here]

Section 3: Feedback and Contact

Thank you for taking part in the ECC Market Engagement Questionnaire. Your response is completely confidential and will only be used by Essex County Council to inform the structure of any forthcoming procurement process.

As part of the market engagement activities, we’re happy to receive feedback from the market around the content of the questionnaire, and any additional comments you may have that haven’t been covered within the questionnaire.

Please send any feedback along with your response to this questionnaire to Nick Green via email at