Official UK procurement notice
Advocacy Services · East Ayrshire Council (Oct 2026)
Authority: East Ayrshire Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAdvocacy Services to be delivered across East Ayrshire to support Service Users, Families and Carers
CPV: Guidance and counselling services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The council requires a Service Provider to provide a range of advocacy services…Planned
The council requires a Service Provider to provide a range of advocacy services throughout East Ayrshire. The service will support Service Users/Individuals to have their views and wishes heard, safeguard their rights and assist them to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
The service is expected to include, but not be limited to:
-Statutory mental health advocacy.
-Independent advocacy for adults and young people.
-Collective advocacy opportunities.
-Non-instructed advocacy where appropriate
-Support for protected groups and those experiencing inequalities.
-Partnership working with health and social care services, third sector organisations and communities.
The service will be delivered in accordance with the principles set out in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003, the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA) Principles and Standards, and relevant Scottish Government policy.
The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 imposes a duty on local authorities and health boards to collaborate to ensure the availability of independent advocacy services in their area. The Act gave everyone with mental illness, learning disability, dementia and related conditions the right to access independent advocacy support.
The service must be delivered across the whole of East Ayrshire to those normally resident therein with Advocates travelling throughout the area to meet Service User/Individual's needs and may require to be delivered in people's own homes and within a range of settings, such as hospital and office settings (including day/resource centres/nursing homes, HMP Prison Kilmarnock etc).
The anticipated annual budget for the service is approximately 378k GBP which may change. It should be noted that for the last year there were 174 active cases for advocacy services.
It will be essential that the Service Provider has premises within the East Ayrshire area to ensure Service Users/Individuals can access services directly.
It should also be noted that TUPE may also be applicable.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How East Ayrshire Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up
East Ayrshire Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Scotland.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 52 days of the bid deadline.
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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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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.
1 bid8% / 36%
2–335% / 34%
4–641% / 18%
7+16% / 11%
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.
Below estimate43% / 31%
Within ±2%29% / 50%
Above estimate29% / 19%
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.
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 #1The council requires a Service Provider to provide a range of advocacy services…CPV 8531Estimate not published
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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 44 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid36%
2–334%
4–618%
7+11%
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.
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.
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.
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 · publisher note attached- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 Oct 2026, 14:43 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Oct 2026, 14:43 BST
- Authority reference
PS/26/219- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100585- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078f3dFind a Tender
Publisher note: Suitable organisations should email the Procurement Officer by 20 November 2026 at [email protected] providing details of an established presence within East Ayrshire demonstrating existing experience delivering independent advocacy across the geographical area; providers must have established relationships and experience of supporting a diverse range of service users/individuals with varying needs across the East Ayrshire area and be able to demonstrate their understanding of local needs, knowledge of the communities and have established links with local services and stakeholders. NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Public Contracts Scotland Web Site at https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=845591. (SC Ref:845591)
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 Oct 2026 → 8 Jan 2027 · 2 dates- Notice published1 day ago23 Oct 2026, 14:43 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 75 days8 Jan 2027
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
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.