Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 15 May 2026, 17:36 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Adoption Support Flexible Purchasing System

Authority: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (Local council)·On behalf of: Star Procurement

Framework agreementServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£6,006,244pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 13 Jul 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 8 yrsends 13 Nov 2034 · up to 30 Nov 2034 with extensions · starts 14 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The FPS means that there is a compliant and consistent way of commissioning the required Therapies across the members of Adoption Counts, and also does not lock out the market once awarded. The FPS will be opened up approximately every 4 months to allow for new Applicants to apply to get on to the FPS, this means the FPS is future proofed against new and innovative therapies (which may be a providers commercial advantage, or a very niche are of the market) as the providers of these new therapies and new entrants to the market are not locked out of Adoption Counts preferred contracting method for these services. It also means that Applicants who fail to place on to the FPS for poor quality of responses, but which are known to do excellent work, are not locked out of the arrangement for long as they may apply when the next applications window is opened up, and providing they rectify the issues they will be told about, they may be successful on their next application.

CPV: Children's home construction work · Other therapeutic products · Social work and related services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
8 yrs · up to 8 yrs 1 mo from 14 Nov 2026

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 8 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 14 Nov 2026 – 13 Nov 2034 (8 yrs) · up to 30 Nov 2034 with extensions
Delivery: North WestEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “Adoption Support Flexible Purchasing System” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

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

How Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council buys Social work and related services (CPV 8530), and who usually turns up

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Social work and related services (CPV 8530) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerStockport Metropolitan Borough Council · all categories
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: 16 of 18 known-size awards · market: CPV 8530 · UK-wide, n=52
89%44%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 13 of 21 known-location awards · market: CPV 8530 · UK-wide, n=123
62%75%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North West 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: 14 decided notices · market: CPV 8530 · UK-wide, n=26
51 days75 days

Half of these awards were announced within 51 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.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 1 of 2 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8530 · UK-wide, n=25
1 of 212%

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 buyer10 lots with bid counts · all categories
10% had one bid
The market8 lots with bid counts · CPV 8530 · North West England
0% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid10% / 0%
Buyer: 1 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
2–320% / 13%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
4–620% / 0%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
7+50% / 88%
Buyer: 5 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 8 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.

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 #1CPV 853096 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£6.0m
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 93 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet3% single-bid risk
Past bids on 93 similar lots
1 bid3%
3 of 93 similar past lots received 1 bid (3%).
2–312%
11 of 93 similar past lots received 2–3 (12%).
4–619%
18 of 93 similar past lots received 4–6 (19%).
7+66%
61 of 93 similar past lots received 7+ (66%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 13 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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

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.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
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
Framework agreement
Who may use this agreement
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
15 May 2026, 17:36 BST
Last source update
19 Jun 2026, 16:36 BST
Authority reference
DN816304
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-058248
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Children's home construction workOther therapeutic productsSocial work and related services
Delivery area
North West (UKD3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069a84 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

15 May 2026 → 14 Nov 2026 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published158 days ago
    15 May 2026, 17:36 BST
  2. Latest notice published123 days ago
    19 Jun 2026, 16:36 BST
  3. Market engagement111 days ago
    1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST

    an information event regarding the Adoption Support Services for Adoption Counts members (Adoption Counts, its Members, and all other Regional Adoptions Agencies and their constituent Members from across the North West, including Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Merseyside).

    Please see information provided below regarding the event.

    Date: 1st July 2026

    Time: 11am - 11:45am

    Place: Virtually via Microsoft Teams

  4. Tender notice expected99 days ago
    13 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 24 days
    14 Nov 2026

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 May 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    15 May 2026, 17:36 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    19 Jun 2026, 16:36 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

2 public bodies on the notice

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PZGW-7196-LCHL Stopford House, Piccadilly, Stockport, North West, SK1 3XEContact email

Other public bodies

  • Star ProcurementProcess contact pointProcuring entityProcurement SupportGB-COH: Star ProcurementGB-PPON: PMJL-3178-QZJH Sale, North WestContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure