Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 10 Jun 2026, 10:39 BST

Official UK procurement notice

26061 Cambridgeshire County Council Short breaks Activity Framework

Authority: Cambridgeshire County Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£1,700,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Mar 2031 · up to 31 Mar 2036 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Cambridgeshire County Council have an existing Short Breaks Activity Framework which is due to expire, and we are looking to commission more Short Breaks providers into our framework to enhance our offer.

CPV: Health and social work services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2028 – 31 Mar 2031 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Mar 2036 with extensions
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Cambridgeshire County Council buys Health and social work services (CPV 85), and who usually turns up

Cambridgeshire County Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Health and social work services (CPV 85) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerCambridgeshire County Council · division 85
The marketHealth and social work services (CPV 85) · East of England
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 301 of 315 known-size awards · market: division 85 · East of England, n=1,850
96%55%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning. Small firms win more of this buyer’s work than the market’s: 96% against 55%, n=315.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in East of England.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 176 of 326 known-location awards · market: division 85 · East of England, n=2,392
54%56%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in East of England.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 decided notices · market: division 85 · East of England, n=135
63 days49 days

Half of these awards were announced within 63 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 44 of 71 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 85 · East of England, n=1,838
62%70%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer21 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 85
10% had one bid
The market388 lots with bid counts · division 85 · East of England
15% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid10% / 15%
Buyer: 2 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 60 of 388 lots with published bid counts.
2–329% / 28%
Buyer: 6 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 109 of 388 lots with published bid counts.
4–638% / 31%
Buyer: 8 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 122 of 388 lots with published bid counts.
7+24% / 25%
Buyer: 5 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 97 of 388 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer19 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 85
47% below estimate
The market262 lots with estimate and award · division 85 · East of England
37% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate47% / 37%
Buyer: 9 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 98 of 262 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%42% / 57%
Buyer: 8 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 150 of 262 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate11% / 5%
Buyer: 2 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 14 of 262 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #136 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.7m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 388 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet15% single-bid risk
Past bids on 388 similar lots
1 bid15%
60 of 388 similar past lots received 1 bid (15%).
2–328%
109 of 388 similar past lots received 2–3 (28%).
4–631%
122 of 388 similar past lots received 4–6 (31%).
7+25%
97 of 388 similar past lots received 7+ (25%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £1.7m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueWhy listed
1st Reaction Security LtdEarlier contract23029 Cambridgeshire County Council Security Services Frameworknotice published Dec 2023——Matched as the earlier contract

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

What this replaces
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

48% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (48% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

23029 Cambridgeshire County Council Security Services Framework — held by 1st Reaction Security Ltd; no contract end date published.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
10 Jun 2026, 10:39 BST
Last source update
10 Jun 2026, 10:39 BST
Authority reference
26061
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-054604
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Health and social work services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH1)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b17b Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

10 Jun 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published133 days ago
    10 Jun 2026, 10:39 BST
  2. Market engagement117 days ago
    25 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    Please follow the link to the procontract website. There you will need to register an account and express interest in the opportunity. Once done you will automatically have access to the PME document and questionnaire which you will need to complete and submit to us within ProContract before the deadline.

    procontract.due-north.com/Supplier/Advert/View ↗

  3. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  4. Contract starts
    1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    10 Jun 2026, 10:39 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Cambridgeshire County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PJVB-3262-VGVJ New Shire Hall Emery Crescent Enterprise Campus,, Alconbury Weald, Huntingdon, East of England, PE28 4YEContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure