The procurement contact named on the official notice.

Following the previous Essex Children's Homes collaboration events which took place during May to December 2025 inclusive, Essex County Council ("ECC") would like to invite providers to the next collaboration event which will take place on the 16th April 2026 from 09:30 to 13:00.

Please note that this event will take place online via MS Teams instead of in-person as previously advertised.

In addition, please be advised that the Council will circulate the requisite meeting invitation via e-mail to all providers who have registered their attendance via the MS Forms survey as detailed below.

In summary, during previous market collaboration events, we have worked together to: • Understand how we can respond to the highest levels and complexity of need that Essex children present with • Co-design prerequisites for collaborative working • Co-design and tested a new collaborative placement finding protocol • Co-design a clear understanding for the need for emergency placements and move-on placements to support good transitions for children in care. • Co-design a procurement pathway that is compliant and enables ECC to identify providers that share our values and can deliver high quality children's home placements for Essex children.

Please be advised that the focus of this event is designed to secure an understanding of the key features to secure a successful relational contract between ECC and providers.

In order to inform the discussions during this event, ECC officers have created a short survey that will enable us to better understand your experiences of local authority contracts and capture any approaches which are considered best practice to inform the drafting requirements for this service.

Please take the time to complete the survey which can be accessed via: https://forms.office.com/e/BQxSs1xJHB If you would like to share any supporting information to accompany your survey response , for example evidence of good practice or lessons learned from similar projects, please feel free to email us via: rachel.horne@essex.gov.uk We look forward to meeting new providers during this event and reconnecting with providers that have been a part of the journey so far.

Please be advised that the scope of this agenda means that this event is best suited to directors, development or strategic leads rather than frontline, operational staff.

In addition, please note that in order to provide equitable access to all organisations, spaces at this event are limited to two (2) representatives per provider.

New providers to Essex are welcome to attend this event.

However, please be aware that you may benefit from a prior discussion with the project team ahead of time to ensure you understand the journey of co-design so far.

You can find out more how to access a spot at our Friday drop-in sessions here: https://www.essexproviderhub.org/children-s-services/contacts/new-to-essex-children-s-homes-consultations/ Explanatory notes: Please be advised that any information regarding the contract value and contract duration within this notice are provided for indicative purposes to fulfil the requirements of the online form.

The Council reserves the right to review and amend this information and will publish the actual position within the tender notice.

In addition, please note that in relation to the stated position regarding the contracting authority within this notice, the contracting authority is Essex County Council and any Successor Body meaning one or more entities which assumes any of the Council's functions (as applicable) as a result of Local Government Reform (LGR).

Such successor body or bodies may be, without limitation, a local authority, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a strategic authority or any other status determined pursuant to the Devolution and LGR Legislation.