Havant Advice Services

Havant Borough Council (the council) invited tenders from suitably qualified suppliers for the provision of open access social welfare services for people across Havant Borough (the Service).

The purpose of the Service is to:

- Provide free, confidential, impartial advice to people in need, over the age of 16 who live of work in Havant Borough.

- Improve outcomes for individuals and help prevent future crisis, whilst helping reduce demand for health care, social care, housing and other statutory services.

- Seek to understand the underlying causes of people's problems with the aim of helping the individual better deal with the symptoms of their challenges by offering a holistic advice and support service.

The Service must be available through a range of options, with and without appointment, on a walk-on basis at accessible locations in the Borough, by telephone, email ,or other technologies that provide confidential communication.

The Service must provide advice that is accurate, up to date, lawful, and fit for purpose. It shall be tailored to meet the needs of the customer. Therefore the Service must provide advisor trained in areas of high volume / high value demand, and who are also able to help customers find answers that fall outside of these areas.

The highest areas of demand are welfare benefits, debt, housing, consumer issues, and other issues including family rights, employer rights etc.

In addition, the Service must provide specific debt and other advice to council housing customers. This will include attendance at the council's premises for 1.5 days per week to work directly with the councils housing team.

The council's budget for this service is £141,000 per year, excluding VAT. This will be paid in 2 instalments in March and October each year.

The contract is due to commence on 01 April 2026 for an initial period of 3 years, ending on 31 March 2029. The contract includes the option to extend for additional periods to be agreed, to a maximum contract term of 5 years.

This takes the total approximate value of the contract is £705,000 (excluding VAT). The council aims to work with the supplier to identify and bid for new pots of funding. Where this is successful, this may lead to an increase in the total value of the contract.

Payment for the contract will be made in 2 instalments at 6 month intervals starting on contract commencement.

There are TUPE implications for this contract.

It must also be noted that the council is part of the "Hampshire and Solent" area that has been accepted as a priority area for English Devolution. This process includes Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), the creation of new unitary authority structures to replace existing "two-tier" county and district council system. Further details about this process are available at https://www.havant.gov.uk/devolution-and-local-government-reorganisation-lgr

Definite timescales for this process are still to be confirmed, however, for Tenderers, the prospect of LGR means:

- the minimum contract term has been set to allow for flexibility during this period of reorganisation

- the take up of extension options may depend on how advice services across the new structure will be commissioned

- this contract may be novated to the new authority structure and name during the contract term

- the contract may be varied to allow for service adaptations within the new structure, or to prepare for the new structure