Official UK procurement notice
Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent Placement
Authority: Lincolnshire County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionLincolnshire Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent Placements. This procurement is under the Light Touch Regime established pursuant to Regulations 74-76 and Regulation 76(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for the purposes of commissioning an Open Select List for the provision of placements for all Independent Placements;
* Independent Non-Maintained (Special) Schools (INMS)
* Independent Residential Children's Homes
* Independent Foster Care (IFA)
* Supported Accommodation
* Domiciliary Care for Children with Disabilities (CWD)
* Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities (CWD)
* Alternative Provision
This is the final re-opening in the current 5-year cycle, which started on 1st September 2027, and will run to 31st August 2027.
The Open Select List procurement is itself no guarantee of business; suppliers who are evaluated as eligible to join the list will be sent appropriate independent placement referrals before the rest of the market and are able to submit their response/offer which is then evaluated on it's merits (see document 1a which details the process).
CPV: Other community, social and personal services · Social work and related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lincolnshire Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent PlacementsPublished value£1,000,000
- Variant bids
- not allowed
- Electronic catalogue
- required
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Lincolnshire County Council buys Social work and related services (CPV 8530) — and who usually turns up
Lincolnshire County Council’s own published record, next to the East Midlands market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Social work and related services (CPV 8530) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
Lincolnshire County Council
contract notices in 36 months: 9 in CPV 8530 · 63 in division 85 (5 direct) · 134 in all categories (7 direct)
East Midlands · Social work and related services (CPV 8530)
contract notices delivered in East Midlands in 36 months: 73 in CPV 8530 (71 contested) · 1,753 in division 85 (776 contested) · the notice publishes no delivery location, so the authority’s registered region is used
moderate · n=4 Awards in Lincolnshire County Council (CPV 8530, n=4 pairs) land a median 2% below. Too few pairs to turn into a pound figure with any confidence — read the percentage as a rough direction, not this notice’s estimate converted.
Who you are likely to meet
Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list
The matcher links this notice to “Lincolnshire Children's Services Open Select List 2024 for Independent Regulated Placements” of this authority, but none of the 13 panel members sit in a category matching this notice.
Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price
| Supplier | Evidence | Last award | Their award vs estimate | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWELL-IN SOCIAL CARE LTD SME | 8 class wins · 2 lots for this buyer | 6 months ago | no comparable pairs | 97% |
| KINDER HOME CARE SERVICES LTD SME | 3 class wins · 2 lots for this buyer | 6 months ago | no comparable pairs | 97% |
| HAYWOOD HOMES LIMITED SME | 4 class wins · 2 lots for this buyer | 2 months ago | no comparable pairs | 94% |
| Daystar Care Services Ltd SME | 6 class wins · 3 lots for this buyer | 22 months ago | no comparable pairs | 93% |
| Global Access Care Ltd SME | 5 class wins · 2 lots for this buyer | 20 months ago | no comparable pairs | 93% |
Matched by the nightly worker on class wins, buyer history, delivery geography, scale and notice text; relevance is a 0–100% heuristic score, not a probability of bidding. “Their award vs estimate” is that supplier’s median on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 8530 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.
Method and what to read with care
- Two columns, no blending. The authority column walks its own record only: notices in the 4-digit class, then the 2-digit division, then all categories (36 months, per lot, contested only), and as a last resort its 24-month row across all categories (per lot, contested contract notices). The market column is the notice’s primary delivery ITL1 × the same class, then division (36 months). Nothing is filled from the UK-wide class; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable.
- Per lot, contested only. Find a Tender publishes bid counts per lot; a seven-lot tender is seven contests. Procedures awarded without competition (limited / direct) are excluded from bids, price pairs and decision days — they report one bid by definition. Frameworks and DPS are a separate population from contracts (6–7 bids per lot against 2–4) and only the notice’s own kind is shown.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). Award-vs-estimate pairs need a lot estimate, one active award on the lot, one canonical supplier and a gap under 60 %; about 30 % of pairs are exact matches (the buyer published the award at the estimate). n is on every figure; below 3 the tile is muted, never hidden.
- Pounds. The expected award applies the authority’s median movement (or the region’s, when the authority has fewer than 3 pairs) to this notice’s estimate; the middle half uses the region’s quartiles. A multi-lot notice publishes an envelope, so the movement is applied per lot, never to the total. A benchmark, not a recommended price.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
What this replaces
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (62% title match) — the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Lincolnshire Children's Services Open Select List 2024 for Independent Regulated Placements — winner not published; no contract end date published.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 21 Sept 2026, 14:55 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Sept 2026, 14:55 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 21 Oct 2026, 15:30 BST — …
- Authority reference
LCC1891- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a3d7
How to participate & submission route
Submit via Panacea- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 21 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bids opened
- 21 Oct 2026, 15:30 BST
Timeline
4 published dates · Europe/London- Notice publishedearlier today21 Sept 2026, 14:55 BST
- Contract startstoday22 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Submission deadlinein 30 days21 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Bids openedin 30 days21 Oct 2026, 15:30 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awardsAwards so far
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bleep 360 Care limitedSME, CAVALRY HEALTHCARE LTDSME, Care Plas Services LtdSME, FIRBANKS SUPPORTED LIVING LTDSME, MEADOWS CARE LIMITEDSME, NIGHTINGALE NOBLE LTDSME +15 morejoint award | — | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 072858-2025-DN792270-1 · Bleep 360 Care limitedSME, CAVALRY HEALTHCARE LTDSME, Care Plas Services LtdSME, FIRBANKS SUPPORTED LIVING LTDSME, MEADOWS CARE LIMITEDSME, NIGHTINGALE NOBLE LTDSME +15 more
- Signed
- date not published
- Value
- £1,000,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27bids | — | — | — |
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 Nov 2025- Status changed to active21 Sept 2026, 14:55 BST
- Deadline published: 21 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST21 Sept 2026, 14:55 BST
- Status changed to complete11 Nov 2025, 14:52 GMT
- Procurement method changed11 Nov 2025, 14:52 GMT
- Deadline withdrawn11 Nov 2025, 14:52 GMT
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
21 commercial parties on the notice- Action for ChildrenAwarded supplier
- AnnicareAwarded supplier
- Bleep 360 Care LimitedAwarded supplier
- Bright Lives CareAwarded supplier
- Canaries Solutions LimitedAwarded supplier
- Care Plas Services LtdAwarded supplier
- Cavalry HealthcareAwarded supplier
- Cedars ChildcareAwarded supplier
- Cera Care Operations LtdAwarded supplier
- Fidelis Healthcare LtdAwarded supplier
Show 11 more suppliers
- Firbanks Supported LivingAwarded supplier
- Fosse Support ServicesAwarded supplier
- Joy Tender Loving Care LtdAwarded supplier
- Meadows Care LtdAwarded supplier
- Nightingale Noble LtdAwarded supplier
- Priority Care Services LtdAwarded supplier
- Rabah Concept LimitedAwarded supplier
- Silomarg LtdAwarded supplier
- T-Junction Children's ServicesAwarded supplier
- Vera Chilly Consultancy Services LtdAwarded supplier
- Young People FirstAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice; the tender pack is on the portal.