Essex County Council (ECC) is responsible for delivering the Coroner Service for the Essex Coroner Area, which includes the administrative areas of Essex County Council, Thurrock Council and Southend-on-Sea City Council. As part of this statutory function, ECC requires suitably qualified and experienced providers to deliver Deceased Storage Services across Essex. The purpose of this contract is to provide secure, compliant and dignified secondary contingency storage arrangements for deceased persons on behalf of HM Coroner when additional capacity is required beyond that available through primary mortuary provision. The service forms an important component of the Essex Coroner Area´s resilience arrangements and supports continuity of service during periods of increased demand, maintenance works, service disruption, major incidents or other circumstances affecting mortuary capacity. The successful provider/s will be required to maintain suitable facilities capable of receiving and storing deceased persons safely, securely and respectfully, operating in accordance with all relevant legislation, professional standards, health and safety requirements and recognised industry best practice. The service provider/s shall maintain: - Secure refrigerated deceased storage facilities. - Support transfers to and from NHS mortuaries within Essex, including Basildon, Broomfield, Colchester, Princess Alexandra and Southend Hospitals. - Robust identification, tracking and audit arrangements. - Appropriate temperature monitoring and alarm systems. - Arrangements for the receipt and release of deceased persons at short notice. - Suitable procedures for handling complex, traumatic and bariatric cases. - Business continuity and emergency response arrangements. - Appropriate staffing to ensure a responsive and professional service. The service will operate on a 24-hour, 365-day basis and must be capable of responding to urgent requests from the Essex Coroner Service. The Authority welcomes participation from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), funeral directors and specialist providers with relevant experience and suitable facilities. This contract is intended to provide contingency deceased storage capacity and will be utilised only when operational circumstances require additional provision. No minimum throughput, call-off volume, contract value or level of expenditure is guaranteed under the contract. Historical utilisation and occupancy data has been provided within the procurement documentation to assist bidders in understanding the nature of the requirement. This information is provided for indicative purposes only and does not constitute a guarantee of future demand.