Official UK procurement notice
Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Flying Start Childcare placements
Authority: Torfaen County Borough Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis DPS opportunity for an open procurement procedure and is being tendered in accordance with Section 9 (Light touch contracts) of the Act defines a ‘light touch contract’ and provides for regulations to specify which services (referred to in the regulations as ‘light touch services’) can be procured under a light touch contract.
Under these regulations the Council is not required to procure these services in line with the full extent of the 2023 Regulations and is able to determine itself the arrangement structure and the procedures for awarding contracts, subject to ensuring compliance with the principles of transparency and equal treatment of Service Provider. To best meet the needs of the services the Council shall regulation 69-71 for light touch frameworks.
The procurement process, as stated within the tender documents follows a clear, structured and transparent process to ensure a fair and level playing field is maintained at all times and that all Service Providers are treated equally and fairly.
The Council reserves the right to terminate this procedure and cancel this DPS at any given time. Additionally, if you are successful in being selected onto this DPS, the Council reserves the right to terminate the selection, if at any time it is discovered that a Service Provider has made any material misrepresentation and/or have not notified the Council about any material changes in relation to the information provided as part of the pre-qualification process
The Council reserves the right to remove such Organisation from this procurement process. In the event mini competitions and associated procurement documents have been issued, the Council may require the Organisation to return the tender documents which will be deemed void. If an error or misrepresentation is not discovered until after the contract is awarded, the Council reserves the right to terminate the contract and recover all costs incurred as a result of the termination from the Organisation.
CPV: Child daycare services · Daycare services · Pre-school education services · Primary education services
How this dynamic market works
From the published notice- Type
- Dynamic market
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The purpose of the Flying Start programme is to support families to give children the…Renewal
The purpose of the Flying Start programme is to support families to give children the best start in life; offer improved child opportunities through high quality registered childcare and universal parenting support programmes, for example, Early Language Development; and improve engagement of families with Flying Start opportunities by offering local services based within Flying Start communities. The Flying Start programme is Welsh Government funded.
The Flying Start childcare provision will be provided for children who live in the Flying Start postcode catchment areas from the term after their second birthday until the term of their third birthday, to enable smooth transition into their rising 3 place in Early Years Education.
Welsh Government Flying Start Guidance states that Childcare is required to run 5 days for 2.5 hours a day for 39 weeks a year (term time) with some Council and setting discretion for flexibility where parents are attending training or working. Settings should be able to offer some flexibility for no more than 2 sessions per day, but this arrangement is exceptional and must be agreed by the Council in advance of the offer being made to the family. Any arrangements made without prior Council approval of placement, will be the responsibility of the setting to finance.
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).
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the Dynamic Purchasing Documentation
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the Dynamic Purchasing Documentation
- “Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Flying Start Childcare placements” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Torfaen County Borough Council runs Social work services (CPV 8531) tenders for its clients, and who usually turns up
Torfaen County Borough Council procures on behalf of other bodies; its record below covers every client it has tendered for, next to the published 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) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Wales (Cymru).
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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.
Half of these awards were announced within 56 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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.
1 bid22%
2–30%
4–611%
7+67%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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.
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 #1The purpose of the Flying Start programme is to support families to give children the…CPV 8531Published estimate£1.2m
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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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid3%
2–345%
4–614%
7+39%
i
Where the award 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 statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
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.
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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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Barnardo'sLarge | £167m83 awards in 36m · last this month | 31 live · £87m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=38 |
ACTION FOR CHILDRENLarge | £144m33 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 7 live · £8.2m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=17 |
Home Start CymruLarge | £953k3 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 3 live · £864k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=1 |
| £160k1 awards in 36m · last 7 months ago | None on file | 4% below n=1 | |
| £600k1 awards in 36m · last 10 months ago | None on file | at estimate n=1 |
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Restricted procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open admission
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 29 Feb 2024, 15:59 GMT
- Last source update
- 7 Oct 2025, 16:15 BST
- Authority reference
T.4602- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-063006- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-044469Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Publisher note: The tender and all supporting documentation are only available from the Proactis Supplier Portal, which can be directly accessed following registration. NB: Tender information and any questions and answers relating to the tender will only be available directly from the portal and will not be communicated by any other means. Tender submissions will only be accepted via the portal and not by any other means unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Council. E-Tender access information: — Go to https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login You can access the opportunity by completing the following steps: If you have not already signed-up to the Proactis Supplier Portal, click "Signup", complete the required information and then click "Register". — Registration should only be performed once for each Organisation. — If you think that someone in your Organisation may have already registered on this Portal then you must not register again. — Please contact the Primary Contact in order to arrange access to the Portal. An activation email will be sent to the email address of your primary contact. Click on the link contained within the email to activate your account. Sign into the Proactis Supplier Portal by entering your Login Name that you previously provided. Enter the temporary password that was provided in the activation e-mail. Complete the Self Registration/Organisation Details. Click the < and > arrows to move from page to page; on page 8, create a new password. Click "Complete Registration" Click on the Red Box marked "Opportunities", type Torfaen in the box at the top of the page called "Search by customer reference, title or customer name..." and click "Search" Identify the Opportunity with the title of “T.4602- Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Flying Start Childcare placements “and click the White Arrow in a Blue Circle on the right-hand side of the line. Click "Register Interest" Then click the Telescope button on the left-hand side of the page, then enter "Torfaen" in the box at the top of the page called "Search by customer reference, title or customer name... and click "Search". You will now see that the “T.4602- Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Flying Start Childcare placements” Opportunity now to Private. Click the White Arrow in a Blue Circle. It is recommended that you read the information provided in the documents that can be found if you click the line marked "Request Documents" before attempting to answer any of the questions. (WA Ref:156362)
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Apply via ProContract (Due North)- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Admission period ends
- 30 Oct 2029, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en, cy
- Bid validity
- 1440 days from the deadline
Timeline
7 Oct 2025 → 6 Nov 2029 · 3 dates- Notice published378 days ago7 Oct 2025, 16:15 BST
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown30 Oct 2029, 12:00 GMT
- Invitations to tender expected6 Nov 2029
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Oct 2025- Published value updated to £1,200,0007 Oct 2025, 16:15 BSTwas £1,500,000
- Deadline moved to 30 Oct 2029, 12:00 GMT7 Oct 2025, 16:15 BST+2038 days · was 1 Apr 2024, 12:00 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The High CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice; the tender pack is on the portal.