In 2018 the Police and Crime Commissioner commissioned a Restorative Justice Service.
It was commissioned on a two year contract with an option to extend for a further 2 years (Decision ref 2017-59292).
In April 2021, the PCC entered into the final 12 month extension period. The current contract is due to expire in March 2022.
This report advises the Police and Crime Commissioner of the procurement process. It was undertaken during the recent exercise to award a replacement contract for the Restorative Justice Service.
Vision for the service
The vision for the new service is:
‘To ensure that at any stage of their journey victims have access to high quality restorative justice, that is responsive to their needs and is available to them at any point in their journey through the criminal justice system’
The key outcomes for the service provider are the following:
- Increase the number of victim-initiated referrals to the service
- Increase the number of referrals from partners within the criminal justice system
- Continual development and improvement of engagement rates
- High satisfaction rates of both victims and offenders
- Improvements in perceptions of safety, vulnerability, physical and mental wellbeing, better able to cope with aspects of everyday life, better informed and more empowered to act, increased feelings of safety for both victims and offenders
- Increases in signpost/ direct referrals for both victims and offenders
- Reducing the reoffending rate for offenders that have engaged with the service
- Number of awareness raising/ training sessions provided to partners in the criminal justice system
This service links to the Police and Crime Plan Priority of ‘Effective Quality Support for Victims and Witnesses’ and ‘Bringing Offenders to Justice’.
An advert was placed in the European Journal and the Bluelight E-tendering system inviting suppliers to bid for the service.
An open tender was carried out using EU Supply as the tender portal, advertising the contract in Contract Finder as per the Public Procurement Regulations 2015.