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Published 28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Community Support Framework - CAFS/2025/290

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: Stoke on Trent City Council (Local council)

Open framework scheme7 lotsServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Health & Social Care (85) Delivery: West Midlands (UKG23)
Framework ceiling (notional)£20,400,000initial estimate £1,500,000 · framework ceiling, not attributable revenue · 1 value update
Open framework scheme until 13 Nov 202620:00 GMT · period end, not a bid countdown
Clarification cut-off 12 Nov 202612:00 GMT · questions to the authority
Framework period 8 yrsextension options published · starts 1 Feb 2027
Bids per lot · this authority 25division 85 · n=7 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought7 lots · detail below

Published requirement description

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is undertaking a procurement exercise for a Community Support Framework, for children living within Stoke-on-Trent and for children who may be supported in other areas of the country. The Council wishes to source multiple providers to deliver the services.

The services will stabilise children and families who have support needs that require statutory intervention. The cohorts of children will be those with disabilities and those on the edge of care or who are in care. Service areas include Short Break packages, and outreach/wrap around support, and urgent support required within 24-48 hours, complex support. The Framework will be managed by Stoke-on-Trent City Council who, through a series of call-off agreements, will engage, collaborate and work with organisations to deliver a broad range of these services.

58,305 children and young people live in Stoke-on-Trent, and 8,703 children and young people have Special Educational Needs. 455 Children and young people with SEND are known to social care, and 249 with an EHC Plan are known to social care (Stoke-on-Trent SEND Strategy 2024-2028).

CPV: Medical practice and related services · Social services · Welfare services for children and young people

How this framework works

From the published notice
Type
Closed framework · open framework scheme (admission reopens)
Call-offs
every call-off is a further competition among the appointed suppliers
Framework period
8 yrs from 1 Feb 2027
Scheme runs until
31 Jan 2035
Published description of the framework

Providers will provide their quotes as part of the tender, which will be used to bench mark the call off process. Further details included in the tender documents.

Lots and requirements (7)Procurement structure

7 lots · all with a published value · same evaluation weights on every lot

Every one of these 2 lots carries the same published figure, £3,600,000: it is the framework's maximum for the whole notice, not each lot's own budget, and no share per lot is published. The cards below say ceiling above rather than repeat it.

Lot #1Lot 1a - Short Breaks: Non-CQCRenewal 8 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£2,000,000
Provision of Short Breaks for children with disabilities, delivering activities in the home or community. Personal care is excluded. CQC registration is not required.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: West Midlands
Value
£2,000,000 exc. VAT · £2,400,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Extension options published
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #2Lot 1b - Short Breaks: CQC 8 yrsPublished value£2,000,000
Provision of Short Breaks for children with disabilities, delivering activities in the home or community. Personal care may be required. CQC registered provision is required.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Delivery: West Midlands
Value
£2,000,000 exc. VAT · £2,400,000 inc. VAT
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #3Lot 1c - Short Breaks for Complex Needs: CQC 8 yrsPublished value£5,200,000
Provision of Short Breaks for children with disabilities with complex health needs and/or requiring high-hour packages. CQC registered provision is required to deliver complex personal care and/or behaviour management associated with assessed needs.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Delivery: West Midlands
Value
£5,200,000 exc. VAT · £6,240,000 inc. VAT
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #4Lot 2 - Planned Intervention 8 yrsPublished value£800,000
Planned Intervention including positive behaviour support, mentoring, structured activities, and edge-of-care interventions.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Delivery: West Midlands
Value
£800,000 exc. VAT · £960,000 inc. VAT
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #5Lot 3a - Urgent Short Term: Non-CQC 8 yrsPublished value£320,000
Urgent short-term interim provision for children and young people (including those with disabilities), required on the same or next day following identification of need. Personal care is excluded. CQC registration is not required.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Delivery: West Midlands
Value
£320,000 exc. VAT · £384,000 inc. VAT
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #6Lot 3b - Urgent Short Term: CQC 8 yrsceiling above
Urgent short-term interim provision for children and young people (including those with disabilities), required on the same or next day following identification of need. Personal care may be required. CQC-registered provision is required.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Delivery: West Midlands
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #7Lot 3c - Urgent Short Term & Complex Needs: CQC 8 yrsceiling above
Urgent short-term interim provision for children and young people (including those with disabilities), required on the same or next day following identification of need. CQC-registered provision is required to deliver complex personal care and/or behaviour management associated with assessed needs.
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2035 (8 yrs)Delivery: West Midlands
85120000 Medical practice and related services85311300 Welfare services for children and young people85320000 Social services

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
How bids are scored · same split on all 7 lots
Quality: 70%Price: 30%

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Stoke on Trent City Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531) — and who usually turns up

Stoke on Trent City Council’s own published record, next to the West Midlands market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →

1

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 frameworks and DPS 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.

This authority

Stoke on Trent City Council

framework/DPS notices in 36 months: 5 in CPV 8531 (2 route not published) · 11 in division 85 (2 route not published) · 49 in all categories (1 without competition · 9 route not published)

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 7 lots. 1 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 6 from older notices (bids received, middle 25).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

25division 85 · 36m · n=7 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 7 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

0%division 85 · 36m · n=7 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 25 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

at estimateall categories · 24m · n=25 pairs
Deadline → award date
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.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 3 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

97dall categories · 36m · n=3 notices
Notice updates
i

How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.

Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 178 notices.

Last 24 months.

0all categories · 24m · n=178 notices
Awarded without competition
i

How often this buyer awards without a competition.

Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 3 notices.

Last 36 months.

0%CPV 8531 · 36m · n=3 notices
Bids per lot · history, not this notice’s lots robust · n=7
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 7 lots on 2 contested notices · division 85, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 0%
  • 2–3 14%
  • 4–6 0%
  • 7+ 86%

Middle value 25 · 7 lots on 2 contested notices · division 85.

How procedures are run moderate · n=3
i

Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

Based on 5 notices · CPV 8531, last 36 months.

  • Open 100%
  • Selective 0%
  • Limited 0%
  • Direct 0%

5 notices · CPV 8531. Open and selective are competed (they feed the bid and price figures above); limited and direct are not; notices publishing no route are outside all four.

The market · delivery region

West Midlands · Social work services (CPV 8531)

framework/DPS notices delivered in West Midlands in 36 months: 39 in CPV 8531 (28 competed, 9 route not published) · 596 in division 85 (154 competed, 63 route not published)

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 24 lots. 9 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 13) and 15 from older notices (bids received, middle 9).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

9CPV 8531 · 36m · n=24 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 24 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

8%CPV 8531 · 36m · n=24 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Nothing published for this region in this sector: not measured on frameworks — a panel award is a ceiling, not a price.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

—not measured on frameworks — a panel award is a ceiling, not a price
Deadline → award date
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.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 5 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

88dCPV 8531 · 36m · n=5 notices
SME bidders
i

How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.

SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 23 lots.

Last 36 months.

81%CPV 8531 · 36m · n=23 lots
Winners based in the region
i

How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.

Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 44 awards.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

91%CPV 8531 · 36m · n=44 awards
Bids per lot · history, not this notice’s lots robust · n=24
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 24 lots on 13 contested notices · CPV 8531, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 8%
  • 2–3 4%
  • 4–6 13%
  • 7+ 75%

Middle value 9 · 24 lots on 13 contested notices · CPV 8531.

How procedures are run robust · n=30
i

Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

Based on 39 notices · CPV 8531, last 36 months.

  • Open 83%
  • Selective 10%
  • Limited 7%
  • Direct 0%

39 notices · CPV 8531. Open and selective are competed (they feed the bid and price figures above); limited and direct are not; notices publishing no route are outside all four.

robust · n=25
i

Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.

We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.

This notice gives one total for several lots, so we show the percentage but do not turn it into pounds.

A benchmark, not a price to bid.

The middle award in Stoke on Trent City Council (all categories, n=25 pairs) lands at estimate. Applied to each lot’s own published value in the lot table below — the notice total (£20,400,000) is an envelope for 7 lots and is not converted.
2

Who you are likely to meet
i

Who you may be up against.

Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.

A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.

Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list

By lot · 7 lots
i

Likely bidders for each lot.

For each lot: the previous winner, suppliers with history on this lot, and suppliers strong in this category.

A guess from the record, not a bidder list.

LotAwarded / admittedLikely suppliers
Lot 1a - Short Breaks: Non-CQC£2,000,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £2.0m (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
Lot 1b - Short Breaks: CQC£2,000,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £2.0m (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
CPV market ranking when lot-specific history is thin.		—
Lot 1c - Short Breaks for Complex Needs: CQC£5,200,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £5.2m (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
CPV market ranking when lot-specific history is thin.		—
Lot 2 - Planned Intervention£800,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £800k (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
CPV market ranking when lot-specific history is thin.		—
Lot 3a - Urgent Short Term: Non-CQC£320,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £320k (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
CPV market ranking when lot-specific history is thin.		—
Lot 3b - Urgent Short Term: CQC£3,600,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £3.6m (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
Lot 3c - Urgent Short Term & Complex Needs: CQC£3,600,000 · CPV 85311300 · expect ≈ £3.6m (at estimate, Stoke on Trent City Council)
CPV market ranking when lot-specific history is thin.		—

Ranked by CPV market fit, scale and buyer history — historical public-sector wins, not the published bidder list or a predicted field. Lots with the same shortlist are grouped.

Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price
i

Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.

Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.

A guess from the record, not a bidder list.

SupplierEvidenceLast awardTheir award vs estimateRelevance
Honeycomb Charitable Services Ltd (trading as Glow) Large2 class wins · 3 lots for this buyer1 months agono comparable pairs64%
People Potential Possibilities Large14 class wins · 1 lots for this buyer1 months agoat estimate n=263%
Keys PCE Limited Large8 class wins · 1 lots for this buyer2 months agoat estimate n=461%
We Are With You Large8 class wins · 1 lots for this buyerthis monthat estimate n=561%
VOYAGE 1 LIMITED Large21 class wins4 months agono comparable pairs58%

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 middle value on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 8531 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.

Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each tile 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 columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • 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). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
  • “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.

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
Open admission
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Open framework scheme
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
Last source update
28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 18 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
Authority reference
CAFS/2025/290
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Medical practice and related servicesSocial servicesWelfare services for children and young people
Delivery area
West Midlands (UKG23)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-058222 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Apply via ProContract (Due North)
Submission portal named on this notice: ProContract (Due North) · Who buys & how to bid on ProContract
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · short registration with manual review; public opportunity list
Expression of interest (EOI)
—
Appointment period ends
13 Nov 2026, 20:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
12 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
procontract.due-north.com/Procurer/Advert/View ↗

Timeline

8 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice published
    6 Aug 2025, 09:39 BST
  2. Market engagement
    20 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
    The 0-25 Commissioning Team would like to invite providers to attend an upcoming online engagement event on Thursday 21st August 2025 14:00-15:00 to discuss this opportunity further. To book your place, please contact [email protected] with the following information: Name, Provider more…Name, Telephone Number and Email Address and reference 'Community Support Framework Market Engagement Event' in the subject.
  3. Next notice expected358 days ago
    7 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
  4. Tender notice published2 days ago
    28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
  5. Clarification questions byin 43 days
    12 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
  6. Admission / appointment period endsin 44 days · period end, not a bid countdown
    13 Nov 2026, 20:00 GMT
  7. Award decision expected byin 79 days
    18 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
  8. Contract startsin 123 days
    1 Feb 2027, 00:00 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

7 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 6 Aug 2025
  1. Tender notice published
    28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BSTUK4
  2. Published value updated to £20,400,000
    28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BSTwas £1,500,000
  3. Status changed to active
    28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
  4. Procurement method changed
    28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
  5. Deadline published: 13 Nov 2026, 20:00 GMT
    28 Sept 2026, 14:34 BST
  6. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    26 Sept 2025, 13:10 BSTUK2
  7. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    6 Aug 2025, 09:39 BSTUK2

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Stoke on Trent City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PDQZ-1442-RZTZ Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, ST4 1HH

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure