Official UK procurement notice
British Forces Social Work Services to Service Communities - Tender Notice
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
Sectors: Health & Social Care (85) Delivery listed: Brunei (BN)Belize (BZ)Canada (CA)
Published estimate£3,867,500≈ £1.9m / year · £4,641,000 inc. VAT10.3% below final estimate
Submissions closed 8 Sept 2025awarded 3 Oct 2025
Awarded to Polaris Children's Services Ltd2 awards
Contract term 2 yrsends 31 Oct 2027 · up to 31 Oct 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Nov 2025
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThere is a requirement in MOD policy to promote and maintain the welfare of Service Personnel (SP) and of the Service Community. The provision of Social Work Service (SWS) is a significant contributor to this requirement. As far as possible, a SWS primarily seeks to replicate the elements of statutory social work provided by local authorities in the UK but to a range of overseas MOD settings.
- No preliminary market engagement: Lack of sufficient time to carry out meaningful market engagement prior to publishing Tender.
CPV: Social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£3,867,500
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
- Economic & financial standing
See tender documents for full details.
- Technical & professional ability
See tender documents for full details.
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).
How bids were scored
- Value for Money Index: This approach divides the total score of the non-cost (quality) criteria by the tender cost. It ranks tenders on the amount of quality (represented by the non-cost score) for each £ of cost.
Conditions of participation2
- Economic & financial standing
See tender documents for full details.
- Technical & professional ability
See tender documents for full details.
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
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 6 Aug 2025, 15:27 BST
- Last source update
- 11 Dec 2025, 14:45 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 22 Sept 2025
- Authority reference
714770455- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-046604- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0582abFind a Tender
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: Defence Sourcing Portal · Who buys & how to bid on MOD DSP
Access & registration note: Free · registration requires an NCAGE code — obtain in advance · before you can bid: NCAGE
- Submission deadline
- 8 Sept 2025, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 22 Aug 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Timeline
6 Aug 2025 → 11 Dec 2025 · 8 dates- Tender notice published6 Aug 2025, 15:27 BST
- Clarification questions by22 Aug 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline8 Sept 2025, 17:00 BST
- Award decision expected by395 days ago22 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent385 days ago3 Oct 2025, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends373 days ago14 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts356 days ago1 Nov 2025
- Latest notice published315 days ago11 Dec 2025, 14:45 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 6 Aug 2025- Tender notice published6 Aug 2025, 15:27 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published3 Oct 2025, 11:08 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete3 Oct 2025, 11:08 BST
- Contract signature expected17 Oct 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published11 Dec 2025, 14:45 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 2
Awarded value £3,467,5001 contract exc. VAT · 1 repeated publication of the same award counted once
Bids received 33 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 1 Nov 2025
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polaris Children's Services LtdBritish Forces Social Work Services to Service Communities1 Nov 2025 – 31 Oct 2027 · up to 31 Oct 2029Extensions: 2x 1 Year Options · Options: 2x 1 Year Options | £3,467,500same award published again · counted once | 3 Oct 2025standstill to 14 Oct 2025 | Standstill |
| Polaris Children's Services Ltd | £3,467,500 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 2 · Polaris Children's Services Ltd
- Signed
- 1 Nov 2025
- Value
- £3,467,500
- Period
- 1 Nov 2025 – 31 Oct 2027 · up to 31 Oct 2029 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 2x 1 Year Options
- Options
- 2x 1 Year Options
1 agreed KPI: See Contract Documents
- See Contract Documents
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders · 12 at stage one | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Polaris Children's Services LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender