Official UK procurement notice
Connect to Work - Individual Placement and Support Pathway Oxfordshire
Authority: OXFORDSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP LIMITED (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionEnterprise Oxfordshire, alongside Oxfordshire Employment, is supporting the Oxfordshire Connect to Work programme, together with Oxfordshire County Council, with funding provided from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The Connect to Work programme will take a collaborative, locally-led approach to tackling 'hidden unemployment'. It will help connect local work, health and skills support.
The funding provides a coherent, systematic and joined up approach to maximise the benefits available for individuals and local communities.
Connect to Work is the first major element in the new Get Britain Working Strategy which aims to support people into good, sustainable work. It is a voluntary programme to help tackle economic inactivity by providing a specific form of support targeted at the right people at the right time, based on their individual circumstances.
Enterprise Oxfordshire will be responsible for the delivery of the Individual Placement Support (IPS) pathway in conjunction with local-centric delivery partner(s) who will be procured and managed by Enterprise Oxfordshire through this procurement.
Enterprise Oxfordshire will manage fidelity on behalf of its own delivery and that of its delivery partner(s), retaining team leader and programme manager resource to ensure quality and project and participant management as well as being responsible for finance, administration, compliance, etc. for the IPS pathway.
We anticipate that 1,400 to 1,500 participants will be supported through the IPS pathway over the duration of the project.
Enterprise Oxfordshire has £3,657,233 to procure the IPS pathway Employment Advisor delivery.
Contracts will run from November 2025 to 31 March 2030, with an optional 12 to 24 month extension period.
N.B. Support to participants is expected to commence in January 2026.
- How the procedure runs: This procurement will follow a competitive flexible process in line with the Procurement Act. The stages of the process are described below, however in summary, all responses from bidders which have passed the review of the Selection Questionnaire will proceed to the first stage which will be the assessment of the tender responses. Responses from bidders will be scored, as described below, and the top three scoring tenders will proceed to the second stage. The second stage will consist of an interview at which the bidder shall be given the change to present their proposal and will then be asked a series of questions (the same questions to all bidders) and their presentation and responses to questions will be scored. The highest scoring bidder at the interview stage will be awarded the contract. N.B. We do not envisage that the award criteria will be refined after the launch of the procurement, however this may be necessary if additional guidance or information on Connect to Work is issued that affects the procurement. Enterprise Oxfordshire shall communicate any changes through the Clarification Q&As on the Enterprise Oxfordshire website if required.
CPV: Recruitment services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£3,657,233
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 (6)
- Experience in Delivering IPS or equivalent: 20%
- Team: 20%
- Data Management, Evidencing and Reporting: 10%
- Mobilisation and Delivery Timeline: 15%
- Approach to delivery: 25%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (6)
- Experience in Delivering IPS or equivalent
- Team
- Data Management, Evidencing and Reporting
- Mobilisation and Delivery Timeline
- Approach to delivery
- Social Value
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- 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
- 13 Jun 2025, 13:39 BST
- Last source update
- 6 Feb 2026, 17:20 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 10 Nov 2025
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-042808- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-054880Find a Tender
- How it runs
This procurement will follow a competitive flexible process in line with the Procurement Act. The stages of the process are described below, however in summary, all responses from bidders which have passed the review of the Selection Questionnaire will proceed to the first stage which will be the assessment of the tender responses. Responses from bidders will be scored, as described below, and the top three scoring tenders will proceed to the second stage. The second stage will consist of an interview at which the bidder shall be given the change to present their proposal and will then be asked a series of questions (the same questions to all bidders) and their presentation and responses to questions will be scored. The highest scoring bidder at the interview stage will be awarded the contract.
N.B. We do not envisage that the award criteria will be refined after the launch of the procurement, however this may be necessary if additional guidance or information on Connect to Work is issued that affects the procurement. Enterprise Oxfordshire shall communicate any changes through the Clarification Q&As on the Enterprise Oxfordshire website if required.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 17 Oct 2025, 11:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 3 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Electronic submission
- Not allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tender responses must be emailed to [email protected]
Timeline
13 Jun 2025 → 6 Feb 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published13 Jun 2025, 13:39 BST
- Next notice expected14 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published24 Jul 2025, 14:27 BST
- Clarification questions by382 days ago3 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline368 days ago17 Oct 2025, 11:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent345 days ago10 Nov 2025
- Award decision expected by344 days ago10 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Standstill ends334 days ago20 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts331 days ago24 Nov 2025
- Latest notice published256 days ago6 Feb 2026, 17:20 GMT
Notice history
17 events · 7 releases on Find a Tender · since 13 Jun 2025- Pipeline notice published13 Jun 2025, 13:39 BSTUK1
- Tender notice published24 Jul 2025, 14:27 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £3,271,30324 Jul 2025, 14:27 BSTwas £3,000,000
- Status changed to active24 Jul 2025, 14:27 BST
- Procurement method changed24 Jul 2025, 14:27 BST
- Deadline published: 5 Sept 2025, 11:00 BST24 Jul 2025, 14:27 BST
- Tender notice published22 Aug 2025, 08:33 BSTUK4
- Deadline moved to 19 Sept 2025, 11:00 BST22 Aug 2025, 08:33 BST+14 days · was 5 Sept 2025, 11:00 BST
- Tender notice published12 Sept 2025, 22:00 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £3,657,23312 Sept 2025, 22:00 BSTwas £3,271,303
- Deadline moved to 17 Oct 2025, 11:00 BST12 Sept 2025, 22:00 BST+28 days · was 19 Sept 2025, 11:00 BST
- Contract award notice published11 Nov 2025, 13:30 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete11 Nov 2025, 13:30 GMT
- Contract award notice published19 Nov 2025, 07:42 GMTUK6
- Contract signature expected28 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract signature expected1 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published6 Feb 2026, 17:20 GMTUK7
Published amendments (2)
The following changes have been made: 1. Deadline for submission and subsequent timescales updated to reflect revised submission date of 19th September 2025. This is due to the volume of Clarification Questions received before the deadline for these. The ITT timeline has been updated to reflect this. 2. Commencement for IPS Pathway activity is now expected to be January 2026 to allow more time for…
Deadline for submission and subsequent timescales updated to 17th October due to material change to the ITT following receipt of additional recommendations to ensure IPS fidelity. Changes include: - Additional requirement for supplier to manage facilitation of additional participant costs. - Increased direct staff cost budget to allow to enable provision of such facilitation - Clarity around sta…
Routine re-releases (7)
- 2025-09: 1 release · 12 Sept 2025
- 2025-08: 1 release · 22 Aug 2025
- 2025-07: 1 release · 24 Jul 2025
- 2025-06: 1 release · 13 Jun 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palladium International Limited28 Nov 2025 – 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2032Extensions: There is potential scope for the programme to be extended for an additional 12-24 month period. Any extension will be at Enterprise Oxfordshire's discretion and is subject to funding availability and adequate performance by the Supplier. | £3,365,555same award published again · counted once | 10 Nov 2025standstill to 20 Nov 2025 | Standstill |
| Palladium International Limited1 Dec 2025 – 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2032Extensions: There is potential scope for the programme to be extended for an additional 12-24 month period. Any extension will be at Enterprise Oxfordshire's discretion and is subject to funding availability and adequate performance by the Supplier. | £3,365,555 | 10 Nov 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 2 · Palladium International Limited
- Signed
- 15 Jan 2026
- Value
- £3,365,555
- Period
- 15 Jan 2026 – 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- There is potential scope for the programme to be extended for an additional 12-24 month period. Any extension will be at Enterprise Oxfordshire's discretion and is subject to funding availability and adequate performance by the Supplier.
No agreed KPIs: Contract is not above £5 million including VAT.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4final-stage tenders · 5 at stage one | 1 | 3 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- PALLADIUM INTERNATIONAL LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (9)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: Clarifiction Q&As and webinar recording will be added to the webpage at : https://www.enterpriseoxfordshire.com/news/invitation-to-tender-connect-to-work-individual-placement-and-support-pathway-oxfordshire/
- Bidding documents and specifications ITT documents. Clarification Q&As will also be published here regularly, up to the clarification deadline,
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
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender