The Isle of Wight Council (‘the Authority’) invites tenders from suitably qualified suppliers (‘Potential Suppliers’) for the provision of 0-19 Early Help services on the Isle of Wight.

This procurement follows the open procedure under the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

Early Help is one of the priorities in the Isle of Wight Children and Young People’s plan. On the Isle of Wight, we believe that a coordinated and structured approach to Early Help is essential in ensuring that we can collectively identify and deal with problems to reduce abuse and neglect. We recognise that whilst research shows that the most impact can be made within a child’s early years, Early Help is not just for young children, as problems may occur at any point during childhood and adolescence.

The principles for Early Help are:

• promoting the welfare of children and protecting them from significant harm is at the centre of all we do;

• working together, aligning our resources so we can best support families and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done;

• using motivational interviewing to engage with families, seeking their consent and agreement;

• working to families’ strengths — especially those of parents and carers and taking the time to understand their needs fully. Parents say they are motivated by having goals that reflect their family priorities and working with practitioners whose actions are driven by the needs of the child;

• focusing on solving problems before they escalate and offer flexible responsive support when and where it is required;

• building the resilience of families and communities to support each other;

• basing all that we do on evidence, both of what is needed and of what works;

• being clear and consistent and open about the outcomes we want to achieve, to make a positive difference.

Families will be supported within their local communities through an Early Help offer that enables them to achieve positive outcomes as described in the Island’s Early Help strategy by recognising and building upon their strengths and developing their resilience.