Official UK procurement notice
DHSC:ASC Fair Pay Agreement Negotiation Support Fund
Authority: Department of Health & Social Care (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe government’s manifesto committed to establishing Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) in the Adult Social Care (ASC) sector – aimed at improving pay, terms and conditions, and other related employment matters for the ASC workforce, by introducing a new form of sectoral collective bargaining. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) provides the legislative basis for this, and negotiations are expected to start in April 2027. In order to ensure negotiations are as successful as possible, ministers have approved a £321k Negotiation Support Fund (NSF) to support the sector prior to the start of negotiations. This fund is seen as key for mitigating delivery and handling risks associated with this top Government priority for ASC.
- No preliminary market engagement: A UK2 was published
CPV: Health and social work services · Outpatient care services · Payroll management services · Residential nursing care services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat 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 (3)
- Quality: Quality will account for 60% of all available marks
- Price: 30% of all available marks will be available for price with the lowest price scoring maximum marks.
- Social Value
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
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
- 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
- 29 May 2026, 09:50 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Aug 2026, 08:44 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 7 Jul 2026
- Authority reference
C449744- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-050617- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a85cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 29 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 17 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Please submit via our portal
Timeline
29 May 2026 → 18 Aug 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published146 days ago29 May 2026, 09:50 BST
- Clarification questions by127 days ago17 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
- Submission deadline115 days ago29 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
- Award decision expected by106 days ago7 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent104 days ago10 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Contract starts98 days ago16 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends90 days ago23 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published65 days ago18 Aug 2026, 08:44 BST
Notice history
6 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 May 2026- Tender notice published29 May 2026, 09:50 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published13 Jul 2026, 12:50 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete13 Jul 2026, 12:50 BST
- Contract signature expected24 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published17 Aug 2026, 11:11 BSTUK7
- Contract details notice published18 Aug 2026, 08:44 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-05: 1 release · 29 May 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government24 Jul 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 | £298,750same award published again · counted once | 7 Jul 2026standstill to 23 Jul 2026 | Standstill |
| Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government | £298,750 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
DHSC:ASC Fair Pay Agreement Negotiation Support Fund · Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government
- Signed
- 14 Aug 2026
- Value
- £298,750
- Period
- 14 Aug 2026 – 31 Mar 2027
- Status
- active
- Change To remove KPI's as not required under PA23
4 agreed KPIs: Outreach and awareness · Outreach and awareness · Outreach and awareness …
- Outreach and awareness, Provision of a stakeholder log recording a diverse range of stakeholders across the sector have been engaged with, including across employers within ASC provider membership organisations CASSRs, ADASS and PCH networks
- Outreach and awareness, Provision of a stakeholder log recording that stakeholders in the following underrepresented groups have been engaged with: • SMEs • Micro-providers • Providers across different geographic contexts (especially rural and coastal) • Providers across different socio-economic contexts (especially the most deprived areas) • Demonstrable effort made to engage individual employers
- Outreach and awareness, Delivery confidence and progress made in the production of a suite of accessible materials and resources to enhance awareness of the ASCNB and FPA
- KPI's set in contract
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders | 2 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Improvement and Development Agency For Local GovernmentAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender