Core Counselling Services in Northamptonshire

This service specification has been developed to support delivery of the Northamptonshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy and relevant outcomes set out in the Public Health Outcomes Framework. There are growing inequalities in outcomes related to socio-economic status and outcomes for children become progressively worse the further down the socio-economic spectrum. The service aims to deliver improved outcomes for all young people and shall allocate resources in proportion to need, based on a proportionate universalist model that aims to bring the outcomes for vulnerable children who in line with the outcomes of children generally. It is intended that a contract will be awarded for 1 year (20th November 2025 to 31st March 2026) with the option to extend for a further 12 months in accordance with the Direct Award Process C (DAP C) of the Providers Selection Regime (PSR) (2023). The anticipated annual value of the contract is PS601,000 The key criteria used to assess the provider were the following: *quality and innovation *value *integration, collaboration and service sustainability *improving access and reducing health inequalities *social value. An assessment of suitability has been completed and NICB are assured that the current providers are satisfying the existing contract and will likely satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard and meet the key criteria above. Declarations and conflicts of interest were assessed, and none were identified.