Find a TenderPlanned procurementPipeline notice
Published 22 May 2026, 10:48 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Carers Support Service · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Lincolnshire County Council (Local council)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£8,188,069pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 4 Apr 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 30 Sept 2032 · starts 1 Oct 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Carers Support Service is a key component of Lincolnshire County Council's response to its duties under the Care Act (2014). The Care Act and the Children and Families Act (2014) give carers full legal recognition.

CPV: Health and social work services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 5 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Oct 2027 – 30 Sept 2032 (5 yrs)
Delivery: East MidlandsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

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

Lincolnshire 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 buyerLincolnshire County Council · division 85
The marketHealth and social work services (CPV 85) · East Midlands
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: 89 of 99 known-size awards · market: division 85 · East Midlands, n=1,246
90%56%

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: 90% against 56%, n=99.

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 Midlands.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 100 of 108 known-location awards · market: division 85 · East Midlands, n=1,615
93%77%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in East Midlands. More of this buyer’s work stays local than in this market: 93% against 77%, n=108.

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 Midlands, n=65
42 days42 days

Half of these awards were announced within 42 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 11 of 26 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 85 · East Midlands, n=1,231
42%76%

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 buyer19 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 85
16% had one bid
The market202 lots with bid counts · division 85 · East Midlands
17% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid16% / 17%
Buyer: 3 of 19 lots with published bid counts. Market: 35 of 202 lots with published bid counts.
2–337% / 35%
Buyer: 7 of 19 lots with published bid counts. Market: 70 of 202 lots with published bid counts.
4–611% / 24%
Buyer: 2 of 19 lots with published bid counts. Market: 49 of 202 lots with published bid counts.
7+37% / 24%
Buyer: 7 of 19 lots with published bid counts. Market: 48 of 202 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 buyer10 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 85
20% below estimate
The market144 lots with estimate and award · division 85 · East Midlands
18% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate20% / 18%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 26 of 144 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%80% / 73%
Buyer: 8 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 105 of 144 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 9%
Buyer: 0 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 13 of 144 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 #160 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£8.2m
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 202 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet17% single-bid risk
Past bids on 202 similar lots
1 bid17%
35 of 202 similar past lots received 1 bid (17%).
2–335%
70 of 202 similar past lots received 2–3 (35%).
4–624%
49 of 202 similar past lots received 4–6 (24%).
7+24%
48 of 202 similar past lots received 7+ (24%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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 £8.2m, 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
Carers FirstLive contractCarers Support Serviceruns to Sept 2027Carers Support Services£10mMatched 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.

100% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (100% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Carers Support Service — held by Carers First; the published contract ends 30 Sept 2027.

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
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
22 May 2026, 10:48 BST
Last source update
22 May 2026, 10:48 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-047623
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Health and social work services
Delivery area
East Midlands (UKF3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a087 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

22 May 2026 → 1 Oct 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published152 days ago
    22 May 2026, 10:48 BST
  2. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  3. Tender notice expectedin 165 days
    4 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract startsin 344 days
    1 Oct 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Pipeline notice published
    22 May 2026, 10:48 BST
    UK1

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

Lincolnshire County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PGRB-3736-CHZN County Offices, Newland, Lincoln, East Midlands, LN1 1YLContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender