Guidance

Support for missing British nationals abroad and their families: call for bids guidance

Published 1 December 2022

Context

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) aims to provide a consistently high-quality consular service for British nationals overseas. In support of this, the FCDO works in partnership with other organisations to provide assistance to cases of British nationals missing abroad and their families.

Globally, the FCDO is currently providing consular assistance to nearly 4,600 British people missing overseas and their families. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we assisted approximately 1,000 missing person’s cases a year.

We invite proposals from organisations with relevant expertise to form a partnership with the FCDO’s Consular Directorate. This partnership contributes to FCDO’s objective to provide support to British people abroad who need to access our services 24/7.

The partner will provide tailored one-to-one support for cases of British nationals missing abroad and their families, this may include, but not be limited to:

a) Specialised emotional and practical support to the families of British nationals missing abroad

b) A public phone number that is accessible globally, preferably available 24 hours a day, seven days a week

c) A referral hotline for FCDO staff, both in the UK and internationally, preferably 24 hours per day, seven days a week

d) Promoting online information relevant to those missing abroad through a continuous, accessible web presence

e) Mobilising an effective network in the UK and overseas to provide support in missing person’s cases

f) Specialist support and expertise in missing person’s campaigns

g) Liaising with search operations, and all other related agencies, in-country

h) Media management for families, including through social media

i) Sourcing or providing the cheapest available travel to the site of disappearance

j) Family support including regular updates and reassurance, mediation between families and missing persons

k) Referring families to other specialist organisations or the FCDO when a missing person is found and their, or their family’s, needs change

Further, we expect the partner to provide information and learning materials to:

a) Assist with the provision of training to FCDO staff about the support available from this partnership, to contribute to reviewing and developing the partnership and to feed into the development of ongoing consular policy and practice on missing people abroad.

b) Be prepared to provide training to key stakeholders, when requested, via upskilling workshops and knowledge sharing. To note, the relevant costs would ordinarily be met outside of the Grant Agreement.

Consular Directorate provides non-judgemental support. Our partners should demonstrate how they will provide support to cases of missing British persons and their families, ensuring that all cases receive due attention.

Budgets are subject to final agreement, but the anticipated maximum budget for this work, including advice, is £40,000 per annum. We welcome bids for a proportion of this funding or up to the maximum amount. If more than £40,000 is required, or dedicated staff could achieve an improved service, you should explain this in your bid.

We will not provide funding to cover organisational overhead costs not directly attributable to supporting missing British nationals’ cases and the objectives of Consular Directorate.

Eligibility

We welcome proposals from organisations able to provide support to the FCDO in cases of missing British persons and their families.

Organisations should already possess relevant licences and permits to enable them to operate in countries where the services are to be provided.

We are looking for organisations that can demonstrate in their bid:

• an understanding of issues impacting missing persons and their families
• an understanding of laws impacting the handling and releasing of information pertaining to missing persons
• experience of working with British nationals
• ability to deliver a global service
• experience or understanding of working with UK government and foreign governments
• capacity to provide assistance in challenging contexts

Criteria for assessing project proposals

We will consider proposals against the following criteria:

• alignment of fit with Consular Directorate’s objectives
• clarity of proposal design, including and not limited to; evidence of appropriate qualifications and experience required to deliver the proposed outputs and activities
• evidence of wider stakeholder support and engagement, such as co-ordination with other relevant national and international partners, networks and governments, including where these can support broader FCDO consular and human rights objectives
• evidence of past delivery as a service provider
• evidence of consistency and sustainability of activities and support provided
• detailed budget breakdown and evidence of value for money (VfM) and
• monitoring and evaluation planning to demonstrate delivery against objectives

Guidelines for submitting a proposal

Submit your proposal using the FCDO proposal form. Submit it in full and in accordance with this guidance. We will not review incomplete proposal forms. If you have questions, email Consular Assistance Policy Team.

• include both qualitative and quantitative milestones, which should be referenced in reporting
• include annexed evidence of previous experience delivering similar projects
• you must provide details of how the work will be monitored in your proposal. Monitoring and evaluation methods should be robust, transparent and include scope for beneficiary input. They should be designed to give a meaningful assessment of impact
• demonstrate a full assessment of project risks. Potential partners should identify any risks which might apply to the project, what steps will be taken to mitigate those risks, and how risks will be reviewed during the delivery cycle. You must have an internal due diligence process in place to monitor and manage these risks. We will not approve proposals without realistic risk assessments, including duty of care to staff
• budget your projects in Pounds Sterling and demonstrate value for money, excluding VAT. Budgets should give a detailed breakdown of cost per activity per month and unit costs for staff where possible. Travel and accommodation costs incurred should be in line with FCDO guidance, which is available on request

Terms of agreement

Agreements will be subject to FCDO standard contract terms:

• payment will be made quarterly in advance, and
• the financial year runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.  The agreement will be for 1 year, but potentially renewable on an annual basis. This is subject to satisfactory performance evaluation and funding availability throughout the 2024 to 2025 Spending Review period

Timing

Submit your proposal to consular.grantagreementbids@fcdo.gov.uk by 9am on 16 January 2023. Bidders will be notified by 20 February 2023.

Contact

For enquiries email consular.grantagreementbids@fcdo.gov.uk