Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 8 Oct 2026, 13:46 BST

Official UK procurement notice

CO2330_CYP Emotional Wellbeing_Market Engagement

Authority: Wiltshire Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£1,000,000pipeline notice — not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Mar 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 31 Mar 2032 · starts 1 Apr 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Wiltshire Council is seeking to engage with organisations operating within the children and young people emotional wellbeing sector to help inform the future design and commissioning of emotional wellbeing support across Wiltshire.

The Council is undertaking a period of pre-procurement market engagement to better understand current market capability, emerging best practice, innovative delivery models and potential approaches to service delivery for children and young people. This engagement will explore how emotional wellbeing services can support prevention, early intervention and access to appropriate support, whilst integrating effectively with wider systems including education, health, community and voluntary sector services.

At this stage, no final service model, contract structure, procurement route or contract value has been determined. Wiltshire Council is keen to hear from a broad range of providers, including voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, charities, NHS organisations, independent providers and collaborative partnerships or consortiums.

Engagement activity is expected to include market discussions and a follow-up questionnaire seeking provider insight on service design, outcomes, delivery models, affordability, innovation, collaboration opportunities and potential barriers to market participation. Feedback received will be used to help shape the Council's future commissioning intentions and any subsequent procurement activity.

The Council welcomes views on what an effective emotional wellbeing service should look like for Wiltshire's children and young people, including approaches to self-referral, navigation and advice, counselling and therapeutic support, digital provision, community-based interventions, support for priority cohorts, and integration with wider emotional wellbeing and mental health pathways

Participation in this market engagement exercise will not confer any advantage in any future procurement process, nor does it commit the Council to commence any procurement or award any contract.

CPV: Counselling services · Guidance and counselling services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 4 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2028 — 31 Mar 2032 (4 yrs)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: South West
85312300 Guidance and counselling services85312320 Counselling services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Wiltshire Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531) — and who usually turns up

Wiltshire Council’s own published record, next to the South West England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →

1

How the contest usually goes

This buyer’s published record next to the market where the work is delivered — contested contracts only, counted per lot

Question for the bid
This buyerWiltshire Council · all categories
The marketSocial work services (CPV 8531) · South West England
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: 30 of 52 known-size awards · market: CPV 8531, n=73
58%51%

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.

Here, local means registered in South West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 56 of 88 known-location awards · market: CPV 8531, n=122
64%69%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South West England.

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: 20 decided notices · market: n=36
50 days54 days

Half of these awards were announced within 50 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 13 of 78 awarded contracts without a rival · market: n=107
17%50%

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

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 buyer54 lots with bid counts · all categories
11% had one bid
The market68 lots with bid counts · CPV 8531
21% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid11% / 21%
Buyer: 6 of 54 lots with published bid counts. Market: 14 of 68 lots with published bid counts.
2–333% / 43%
Buyer: 18 of 54 lots with published bid counts. Market: 29 of 68 lots with published bid counts.
4–630% / 26%
Buyer: 16 of 54 lots with published bid counts. Market: 18 of 68 lots with published bid counts.
7+26% / 10%
Buyer: 14 of 54 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 68 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 · all categories
60% below estimate
The market36 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8531
36% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate60% / 36%
Buyer: 6 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 13 of 36 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%30% / 64%
Buyer: 3 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 23 of 36 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate10% / 0%
Buyer: 1 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 0 of 36 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 #1CPV 853121% single-bidPublished estimate£1,000,000
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 68 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—21% single-bid risk
Past bids on 68 similar lots
1 bid21%
14 of 68 similar past lots received 1 bid (21%).
2–343%
29 of 68 similar past lots received 2–3 (43%).
4–626%
18 of 68 similar past lots received 4–6 (26%).
7+10%
7 of 68 similar past lots received 7+ (10%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the winning 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 guide, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet — the published estimate is £1.0m, 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 valueMatch
—

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.

SupplierWon in this categoryLive contractsAward vs estimate
—
Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each figure explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two sides are never blended. A lot’s own market is read at its delivery region where the lot names one; where it names several, or none that can be resolved, the chart falls back to the UK-wide record for the same category and says so under the bar. An empty cell means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • When we call out a difference. A buyer figure is only flagged against the market when the sample is large enough that the gap is unlikely to be chance; at most two callouts appear, always phrased as a comparison with both numbers and the sample size.
  • Coverage (re-measured 5 Oct on the live record, 94,497 awarded procedures of the last three years). 51 % publish a bid count and 72 % a delivery region, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice names none, labelled. Of the 17,687 award-vs-estimate pairs, 34 % sit exactly on the estimate — the buyer published the award at the figure it advertised. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden, and a distribution is not drawn as percentages below ten observations.
  • “Match”, text similarity, the expected-bid figure and the distribution drawn beneath it are model outputs, not published facts or win probabilities. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

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
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
8 Oct 2026, 13:46 BST
Last source update
8 Oct 2026, 13:46 BST
Authority reference
CO2230
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095210
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Counselling servicesGuidance and counselling services
Delivery area
South West (UKK15)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0783c3 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice publishedearlier today
    8 Oct 2026, 13:46 BST
  2. Market engagementin 9 days
    17 Oct 2026, 23:59 BSTWiltshire Council is undertaking an open market engagement exercise to inform the future commissioning of Children and Young People Emotional Wellbeing Services. The engagement process is intended to provide an opportunity for organisations to share their experience, expertise and views on current market capability, innovative delivery approaches, service design considerations and potential commissioning models. The Council is particularly interested in understanding how services can best meet the needs of children and young people, deliver positive outcomes, and work effectively alongside wider health, education, social care and community services. The engagement is expected to comprise: Publication of this Market Engagement Notice. Opportunities for interested organisations to engage with the Council through market engagement activities. Distribution of a market questionnaire/survey to gather provider feedback on service models, outcomes, delivery approaches, market capacity, affordability, contractual considerations and barriers to participation. Review and analysis of feedback received to inform the future specification, procurement strategy, contract structure and route to market. The Council has not yet determined the scope, value, duration, lotting structure or procurement procedure for any future opportunity and is seeking market feedback to help shape these decisions. Organisations are encouraged to be open and candid in their responses and may propose alternative approaches that they believe would achieve improved outcomes for children and young people. Participation in the market engagement process is entirely voluntary and will not influence or confer any advantage in any subsequent procurement process. Any future procurement opportunity will be advertised separately and conducted in accordance with the Council's procurement obligations and applicable legislation.
  3. Tender notice expectedin 144 days
    1 Mar 2027, 23:59 GMT
  4. Contract starts
    1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 8 Oct 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 13:46 BSTUK2
  2. First planning notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 13:46 BST

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Wiltshire Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PDZR-9968-RYYY Wiltshire Council, Trowbridge, South West, BA14 8JN Courtney Brock [email protected]

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure