Official UK procurement notice
Agency Open Framework for the supply of Care & Support Temporary Workers
Authority: Orwell Housing Association Limited (Housing)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionOHA/42/2026/C&S/Agency Framework/01
Orwell Housing Association Ltd intends to establish an Open Framework for the provision of Care & Support Agency Staff across its Supported Housing and Care & Support services located throughout North Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
The framework will enable access to suitably qualified and experienced agency staff to support the delivery of high-quality care and support services across care and support properties managed by Orwell Housing. Services may include, but are not limited to, care workers, support workers, senior support workers, and waking night staff, required to meet operational service demands.
The framework is being established as an Open Framework under Section 49 of the Procurement Act 2023 and will operate for a maximum duration of eight (8) years. In accordance with the requirements of the Open Framework, the framework will be periodically reopened, with opportunities for new suppliers to apply for admission approximately every 2 years throughout the term. Full information is contained within the tender documents.
The framework is intended to create a flexible and competitive route to market for temporary Care & Support agency staffing requirements, ensuring continuity of service delivery, value for money and quality outcomes for residents and service users, whilst providing opportunities for market participation by both existing and new providers.
We estimate the value to be £1.7m to £2m per annum, a total estimated cost of £16m including vat. Suppliers please note: the estimated values cover the whole of the framework and not the value awarded to each individual supplier.
All dates mentioned within this notice and tender documents are subject to change by Orwell Housing Association Ltd.
CPV: Health and social work services · Supply services of personnel including temporary staff
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework · open framework scheme (admission reopens)
- Call-offs
- call-offs may be awarded directly or by further competition
- Framework period
- 8 yrs from 4 Jan 2027
- Scheme runs until
- 3 Jan 2035
Published description of the framework
Please refer to the tender documents.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£13,500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Please refer to the tender documents.
- Technical & professional ability
Please refer to the tender documents
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Price
- Economic & financial standing
Please refer to the tender documents.
- Technical & professional ability
Please refer to the tender documents
- Price carries 50 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “Agency Open Framework for the supply of Care & Support Temporary Workers” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract: call-offs may be direct or by further competition.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Open framework scheme
- 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
- 17 Jun 2025, 10:05 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Sept 2026, 09:46 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 12 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
OHA/42/2026/Open/Agency/01- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-085197- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-054df0Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 12 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 30 Sept 2026, 16:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
All tenders must be submitted electronically via the In-Tend portal.
in-tendhost.co.uk/orwell/aspx/Home ↗
No tenders will be accepted after the submission deadline is closed.
Timeline
17 Jun 2025 → 4 Jan 2027 · 8 dates- Planning notice published17 Jun 2025, 10:05 BST
- Market engagement10 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
Orwell Housing will be hosting a pre engagement open session for interested agency suppliers for our open framework for Care and Support agency staff. The session will be held remotely on Wednesday, 10 September at 2pm. Please email [email protected] if you would like to secure a place on the open session. We will provide joining details early September 2025 to those that have shown an interest. Our team will provide an insight on how the open framework will operate and the tender process, which suppliers will need to go through to be awarded a place on the framework. We aim to have the open framework up and running by 2 March 2026. Only those successful bidders who have passed all of the necessary criteria will be included. Please note dates are subject to change. Tender specific information will not be shared at the open session.
- Next notice expected292 days ago7 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Tender notice published48 days ago9 Sept 2026, 09:46 BST
- Clarification questions by26 days ago30 Sept 2026, 16:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period ends14 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown12 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
- Today26 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 17 days12 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 69 days4 Jan 2027
Notice history
8 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Jun 2025- Planned procurement notice published17 Jun 2025, 10:05 BSTUK3
- Preliminary market engagement notice published16 Jul 2025, 14:39 BSTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published15 Oct 2025, 14:18 BSTUK3
- Deadline moved to 16 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT15 Oct 2025, 14:18 BST+87 days · was 21 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Tender notice published9 Sept 2026, 09:46 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £13,500,0009 Sept 2026, 09:46 BSTwas £13,333,333
- Status changed to active9 Sept 2026, 09:46 BST
- Deadline moved to 12 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST9 Sept 2026, 09:46 BST+238 days · was 16 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-06: 1 release · 17 Jun 2025
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications To obtain documents for this procurement you will need to register on / sign into the Intend Portal as per the link provided above.
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender