Council appoints new provider for advocacy services

Following a procurement process, Bedford Borough Council has appointed a new provider for Adult Advocacy Support Services.

An advocacy service helps people understand their rights, and ensures their voice is heard, when it comes to decisions about their health, care and wellbeing.

Once contracts are signed, VoiceAbility will take on the service from 1 April 2022 following a successful tender process where service users and stakeholders helped to write questions for potential providers and score their answers.

The Council will now work with VoiceAbility and the current provider to ensure a smooth transition. Staff from the current provider will be offered the option of moving to the new service to help provide continuity for current service users.

Councillor Wendy Rider, Portfolio Holder for Adults' Services, said "It is extremely important that our residents have access to a high-quality advocacy support service if they need it, and we were delighted to be able to involve service users in the procurement process. VoiceAbility were the successful bidder, and we are confident they will provide a quality service moving forward. Our priority now is to ensure a smooth transfer between providers and to ensure there is no change in the quality of the service offered during the transition period."

During the procurement process, bidders were evaluated on Pricing, Hours and Quality and Service Delivery. VoiceAbility scored full marks for Pricing and Hours and scored highest in Quality and Service Delivery.