Official UK procurement notice
Connect to Work · North East Combined Authority (Feb 2025)
Authority: North East Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionA key part of the new Government's mission to kick-start growth is a commitment to building an inclusive and thriving labour market where everyone has the opportunity of good work, and the chance to get on at work. This will improve living standards and ensure funding for vital public services. It is also central to delivering on missions to break down the barriers to opportunity, and to improve the health of the nation.
As part of this mission, the Government has set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate. This would place the UK among the highest performing countries in the world, with the equivalent of over two million more people in work.
The recently launched "Get Britain Working" White Paper outlines Government's strategy to invest £240m to support this ambition and help improve workplace health and keep people in work, including trials of combined public services for those out of work due to ill health. The strategy will bring fundamental reform that transforms relationships with local areas and ensures a strong foundation of partnership working to support people into good, sustainable work.
Connect to Work is the first major element of the Get Britain Working Strategy. It 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 will support the wider development of locally planned systems to drive growth, working jointly with the Government. It will be an important strand in local plans to tackle inactivity and expand employment opportunity. By encouraging join up between health systems and employment support, Connect to Work will support those, primarily, currently outside the workforce and facing greater labour market disadvantages, to stay in work and get back into work. In turn, supporting the Government's ambition for a more inclusive economy, supporting local people to realise their potential and supporting local and national growth.
CPV: Career guidance services · Government services · Training programme services
How this dynamic market works
From the published notice- Type
- Dynamic market
- Bids received
- 17 bids received · 4 suppliers appointed
- Market period
- 2 yrs 10 mo · up to 4 yrs 10 mo from 1 Jun 2025
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£31,500,000
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 award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Price
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Connect to Work” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Dynamic market
- Who may use this agreement
- Any qualifying supplier may apply while the market is open
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 27 Feb 2025, 11:51 GMT
- Last source update
- 14 Aug 2025, 10:42 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Jun 2025
- Authority reference
OPEN 2025424- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-010444- Accelerated
- Light touch contract
- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04e851Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Admission period ends
- 9 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 14 Apr 2025, 12:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Project No: OPEN2025424
Timeline
27 Feb 2025 → 14 Aug 2025 · 10 dates- Planning notice published27 Feb 2025, 11:51 GMT
- Market engagement19 Mar 2025, 23:59 GMT
The recently launched "Get Britain Working" White Paper outlines Government's strategy to invest £240m to support the ambition of a national 80% employment rate and help improve workplace health and keep people in work, including trials of combined public services for those out of work due to ill health. Connect to Work is the first major element of the Get Britain Working Strategy.
By encouraging join-up between health systems and employment support, Connect to Work will support those, primarily, currently outside the workforce and facing greater labour market disadvantages, to stay in work and get back into work. In turn, supporting the Government's ambition for a more inclusive economy, supporting local people to realise their potential and supporting local and national growth.
In England and Wales, Connect to Work funding will support around 100,000 disabled people with health conditions and those with complex barriers to get into employment and on in work.
Connect to Work is a voluntary programme, providing a specific form of support targeted at the right people at the right time, based on their individual circumstances. The programme will deliver the evidence-based Supported Employment model, 'place, train, and maintain', via two different types of interventions - Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Local Supported Employment (LSE).
As the Accountable Body, the North East CA is responsible for the commissioning, implementation and management of the Connect to Work which will support 13,500 residents across the entirety of the programme.
An Invitation to Tender for the IPS intervention will be launched on Thursday 20 March 2025 and will be live for 30 days on the OPEN tendering system.
It is anticipated that delivery will start in Summer 2025.
The purpose of this online session is to provide a high-level overview of the Connect to Work commissioning process, specification, and timescales.
Link to Eventbrite:
- Tender notice published20 Mar 2025, 15:10 GMT
- Next notice expected20 Mar 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Clarification questions by14 Apr 2025, 12:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown9 May 2025, 17:00 BST
- Contract starts1 Jun 2025, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by1 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent24 Jul 2025, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published14 Aug 2025, 10:42 BST
Notice history
12 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 27 Feb 2025- Pipeline notice published27 Feb 2025, 11:51 GMTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Mar 2025, 09:47 GMTUK2
- Tender notice published20 Mar 2025, 15:10 GMTUK4
- Status changed to active20 Mar 2025, 15:10 GMT
- Procurement method changed20 Mar 2025, 15:10 GMT
- Deadline published: 22 Apr 2025, 12:00 BST20 Mar 2025, 15:10 GMT
- Tender notice published16 Apr 2025, 16:41 BSTUK4
- Published value updated16 Apr 2025, 16:41 BST
- Deadline moved to 9 May 2025, 17:00 BST16 Apr 2025, 16:41 BST+17 days · was 22 Apr 2025, 12:00 BST
- Contract award notice published14 Aug 2025, 10:42 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete14 Aug 2025, 10:42 BST
- Contract signature expected18 Aug 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-03: 1 release · 7 Mar 2025
- 2025-02: 1 release · 27 Feb 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast£2,667,381 inc. VAT is the dynamic market's published maximum, restated by the publisher on 2 award rows. It is one ceiling, not 2 separate sums, and no share per lot is published; those rows read “ceiling above”.
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triage Central LimitedSMEConnect to Work Lot 1 County Durham1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on Performance against KPIs and funding from DWP | £7,864,878 inc. VAT | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
| Triage Central LimitedSMEConnect to Work Lot 2 Gateshead1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on Performance against KPIs and funding from DWP | ceiling above | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
| GROUNDWORK NORTH EASTVCSEConnect to Work Lot 3 Newcastle1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on performance against KPIs and funding from DWP | £4,905,444 inc. VAT | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
| GROUNDWORK NORTH EASTVCSEConnect to Work Lot 4 North Tyneside1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on performance against KPIs and funding from DWP | £2,802,596 inc. VAT | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
| Northumberland County CouncilConnect to Work Lot 5 Northumberland1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on performance against KPIs and funding from DWP | £4,195,066 inc. VAT | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
| Northern Rights Social Enterprise (Tyne and Wear) LimitedSMEVCSEConnect to Work Lot 6 South Tyneside1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on performance against KPIs and funding available from DWP | £3,504,344 inc. VAT | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
| Triage Central LimitedSMEConnect to Work Lot 7 Sunderland1 Oct 2025 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 29 Mar 2030Extensions: Extension based on performance against KPIs and funding from DWP | ceiling above | 24 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17final-stage tenders · 50 at stage one | 4 | 4 | — |
Who bid
- wonTRIAGE CENTRAL LIMITEDSME · Scotland
- wonGROUNDWORK NORTH EASTVCSE · North East England
- wonNorthumberland County Council · North East England
- wonNORTHERN RIGHTS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE (TYNE AND WEAR) LIMITEDSMEVCSE · North East England
- did not winENABLE SCOTLAND (LEADING THE WAY) · Scotland
- did not winINGEUS UK LIMITED · Greater London
- did not winPIONEERING CARE PARTNERSHIPSME · North East England
- did not winPEOPLEPLUS GROUP LIMITED · South West England
- did not winFedcap Employment Limited · North East England
- did not winDurham County Council · North East England
- did not winPERTEMPS RECRUITMENT PARTNERSHIP LIMITED · West Midlands
- did not winTHE GROWTH COMPANY LIMITEDVCSE · North West England
- did not winMAXIMUS UK SERVICES LIMITED · East Midlands
- did not winEducation Development Trust · South East England
- did not winREED IN PARTNERSHIP LIMITED · Greater London
- did not winBEAM UP LTDSME · Greater London
- did not winEVERYTURN SERVICES LTDVCSE · North East England
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Suppliers admitted to the dynamic market
17 commercial parties on the notice · 4 awarded- BEAM UP LTDBidder / tenderer
- Durham County CouncilBidder / tenderer
- ENABLE SCOTLAND (LEADING THE WAY)Bidder / tenderer
- EVERYTURN SERVICES LTDBidder / tenderer
- Education Development TrustBidder / tenderer
- Fedcap Employment LimitedBidder / tenderer
- GROUNDWORK NORTH EASTAdmitted to the market
- INGEUS UK LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- MAXIMUS UK SERVICES LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- NORTHERN RIGHTS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE (TYNE AND WEAR) LIMITEDAdmitted to the market
Show 7 more suppliers
- Northumberland County CouncilAdmitted to the market
- PEOPLEPLUS GROUP LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- PERTEMPS RECRUITMENT PARTNERSHIP LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- PIONEERING CARE PARTNERSHIPBidder / tenderer
- REED IN PARTNERSHIP LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- THE GROWTH COMPANY LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- TRIAGE CENTRAL LIMITEDAdmitted to the market
Official documents & specifications (11)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award 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
- Contract award notice Contract award 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
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
Show 3 more notices
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender