Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 9 Feb 2026, 13:05 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Children’s Activities Framework – Holiday Activities and Food (HAF)

Authority: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (Local council)

Framework agreementServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£3,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 4 Mar 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 2 yrsends 30 Nov 2028 · starts 1 Dec 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Council is intending to undertake a procurement exercise for children's activities including Holidays Activities & Food (HAF). In order to help inform such an exercise, the Council is undertaking this second pre-market engagement stage to explore what is available in the market, seeking feedback and guidance from providers. The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme is a national programme funded by the Department for Education (DfE). The programme targets children and young people from Reception to Year 11 (ages 4 to 16) who are in receipt of benefit-related free school meals (FSMs). It offers free access to nutritious meals and engaging activities, aiming to alleviate holiday hunger, reduce social isolation, and encourage physical activity. There will be a supplier presentation briefing session held on Tuesday 3rd March 2026 at 12:30pm. This session is expected to last no more than 1 hour. In order to confirm attendance to the Pre-Market Engagement event, please complete and return appendix 1 of the Pre-Market Engagement document by 12noon on 02/03/2026.

CPV: Child daycare services · Children's holiday-camp services · Daycare services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
2 yrs from 1 Dec 2026

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 2 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Dec 2026 – 30 Nov 2028 (2 yrs)
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
What this means for your bid
  • “Children’s Activities Framework – Holiday Activities and Food (HAF)” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

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

How Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council buys Holiday centre and holiday home services (CPV 5524), and who usually turns up

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Holiday centre and holiday home services (CPV 5524) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerBarnsley Metropolitan Borough Council · all categories
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: 75 of 83 known-size awards · market: division 55 · UK-wide, n=77
90%47%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 76 of 99 known-location awards · market: CPV 5524 · UK-wide, n=9
77%100%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 decided notices · market: division 55 · UK-wide, n=18
68 days47 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 68 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.

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 2 procurements with awards; rival share unknown · market: division 55 · UK-wide, n=62
—6%

Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.

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 buyer5 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market13 lots with bid counts · CPV 5524 · UK-wide
23% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 23%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
2–30% / 15%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
4–640% / 31%
Buyer: 2 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
7+60% / 31%
Buyer: 3 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 13 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

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 #1CPV 853124 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£3.0m

This lot is listed as CPV 8531. The table above uses the notice category.

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 193 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet7% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 193 similar lots
1 bid7%
14 of 193 similar past lots received 1 bid (7%).
2–314%
27 of 193 similar past lots received 2–3 (14%).
4–616%
30 of 193 similar past lots received 4–6 (16%).
7+63%
122 of 193 similar past lots received 7+ (63%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 11 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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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
NovaCity LtdEarlier contractHoliday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme – Barnsley’s Healthy Holidaysstarted Sept 2026——Matched as the earlier contract
Barnsley Premier LeisureEarlier contractHoliday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme – Barnsley’s Healthy Holidaysstarted Sept 2026——Matched as the earlier contract
Active BarnsleyEarlier contractHoliday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme – Barnsley’s Healthy Holidaysstarted Sept 2026——Matched as the earlier contract
Helping Others Positively Engaged in CommunityEarlier contractHoliday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme – Barnsley’s Healthy Holidaysstarted Sept 2026——Matched as the earlier contract
Mid Yorkshire Community FoundationEarlier contractHoliday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme – Barnsley’s Healthy Holidaysstarted Sept 2026——Matched 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.

43% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (43% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Barnsley Council Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) — held by Mid Yorkshire Community Foundation and Momentous Academy 2022 Ltd (+1 more); no contract end date published.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
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
9 Feb 2026, 13:05 GMT
Last source update
9 Feb 2026, 13:05 GMT
Authority reference
P633
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-011358
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Child daycare servicesChildren's holiday-camp servicesDaycare services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064b13 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

9 Feb 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published261 days ago
    9 Feb 2026, 13:05 GMT
  2. Market engagement239 days ago
    2 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Tender notice expected237 days ago
    4 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Today
    28 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 33 days
    1 Dec 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Feb 2026, 13:05 GMT
    UK2

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

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PYHH-2597-YVZG Town Hall, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Yorkshire & Humber, S70 2TAContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure