Official UK procurement notice
Children and Young People's Advocacy and Independent Visitor Service
Authority: Cheshire East Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCheshire East Borough Council has awarded a contract to a single provider to deliver Advocacy, Independent Visitor services for Children and Young People and age assessment for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).
The requirement is divided into three offers, all to be provided by a single supplier. These offers are as follows:
- Offer 1 - Advocacy, including an opt out model for children and young people open to child protection aged 8-18
- Offer 2 - Independent Visitor Service
- Offer 3 - Spot purchase to provide advocacy support for children who are subject to an age assessment
Please note that the contract commencement date was 1 August 2026; however, the contract was not fully executed by all parties until 24th August 2026. As the system does not permit a contract signature date that falls after the commencement date, the signature date has been entered incorrectly for administrative purposes.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£747,800
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 sub-criteria (2)
- Quality: 70%
- Pricing: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Pricing
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
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
- Awarded
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 29 Apr 2025, 10:33 BST
- Last source update
- 4 Sept 2026, 11:05 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 14 Apr 2026
- Authority reference
C4311- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-001117- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0508deFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 4 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 28 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted at www.the-chest.org.uk ↗
The Chest project reference: DN801007
Unrestricted access to this opportunity is available via The Chest North West Portal, register for free at www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ and express an interest in the project. ID DN801007
The values given in this notice are only estimations and take into account the extension option - the Council gives no guarantee or warranty or makes any representation as to the accuracy of any indicative volumes.
The Council reserves the right not to award the opportunity or to award only part (or a different arrangement) of the opportunity described in this contract notice.
Timeline
29 Apr 2025 → 4 Sept 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published29 Apr 2025, 10:33 BST
- Market engagement16 May 2025, 23:59 BST
Cheshire East Council is conducting a soft market testing exercise to understand interest from providers in the delivery of Advocacy and Independent visitors.
Advocacy and Independent visitors form an integral part of the overall local offer for children and Young People in Cheshire East ensuring that our statutory duty as a local authority is met. The current service design of commissioned services will be reviewed to ensure that the re-commission focuses on achieving the 7 outcomes of the Children and Young People's Plan 2022-2026. The re-commission will also focus on achieving greater value for money and effectiveness for children, young people and their families.
Cheshire East Council would like to gain insight from providers who may be interested in providing these services in Cheshire East. Your feedback will help to inform future commissioning intentions. For more information, please refer to the attached questionnaire and return your responses via email to [email protected]. The deadline to respond is Friday 9th May: 16:00pm
The questionnaire can be accessed via the Chest from below link/reference:
procontract.due-north.com/RFx/RFxSummary ↗
Chest Ref: DN772936
Please note, suppliers need to register on the Chest please visit www.the-chest.org.uk ↗, and select the "register free" option.
- Next notice expected389 days ago1 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published291 days ago7 Jan 2026, 14:31 GMT
- Clarification questions by270 days ago28 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline263 days ago4 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by194 days ago14 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent186 days ago23 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends173 days ago5 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts147 days ago1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published51 days ago4 Sept 2026, 11:05 BST
Notice history
11 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Apr 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published29 Apr 2025, 10:33 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 May 2025, 12:18 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published7 Jan 2026, 14:31 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £747,8007 Jan 2026, 14:31 GMTwas £625,000
- Status changed to active7 Jan 2026, 14:31 GMT
- Procurement method changed7 Jan 2026, 14:31 GMT
- Deadline published: 4 Feb 2026, 12:00 GMT7 Jan 2026, 14:31 GMT
- Contract award notice published23 Apr 2026, 11:11 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete23 Apr 2026, 11:11 BST
- Contract signature expected11 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published4 Sept 2026, 11:05 BSTUK7
Published amendments (1)
Deadline for Market Engagement has been extended
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-05: 1 release · 7 May 2025
- 2025-04: 1 release · 29 Apr 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coram VoiceSME1 Jun 2026 – 31 May 2029 · up to 31 May 2031Extensions: 2 x 12 month extensions are available to be used at the Council's discretion. 01/06/2029 - 31/05/2030 01/06/2030 - 31/05/2031 | £737,650 | 21 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Coram VoiceSME
- Signed
- 31 Jul 2026
- Value
- £737,651
- Period
- 1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2029 · up to 31 Jul 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 2 x 12 month extensions are available to be used at the Council's discretion. 01/08/2029 - 31/07/2030 01/08/2030 - 31/07/2031
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 2 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Coram VoiceAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsTo access this competition and download the full suite of tender documents - please visit www.the-chest.org.uk, project ID DN801007.
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender