Find a TenderOpen admission Tender notice
Published 23 Sept 2026, 14:02 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Framework Agreement for the Procurement of Occupational Health Counselling Services

Authority: Gloucestershire County Council (Local council)

Framework agreement4 lotsServicesBelow threshold - open competitionBelow thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Framework ceiling (notional)£370,000envelope for 4 lots · framework ceiling, not attributable revenue
Admission open until 13 Oct 202612:00 BST · period end, not a bid countdown
Clarification cut-off 5 Oct 202612:00 BST · questions to the authority
Framework period 2 yrsup to 4 yrs with extensions · starts 1 Dec 2026
Bids per lot · this authority 6division 85 · n=25 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought4 lots · detail below

Published requirement description

THIS RELATES TO NOTICE - 2026/S 000-072388 - EXTENDED SUBMISSION END DATE - NOT A DUPLICATE.

Framework Agreement for the Procurement of Occupational Health Counselling services- A Below Threshold Contract regulated of the Procurement Act 2023 within the light touch category.

Gloucestershire County Council 'GCC' are looking to procure Occupational Health Counselors who will work with us to ensure the delivery of occupational health services and supporting the health and wellbeing of our workforces.

CPV: Counselling services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Type
Open framework
Call-offs
call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
Framework period
2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 Dec 2026
Buyer regions
UKK13
Who may buy through it

Gloucester City Council, Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service GFRS, as well as schools, academies, and educational settings as a traded service in county may potentially use this framework to call off.

Published description of the framework

Lots 1,2,3 and 4 Bidders are invited to submit their most competitive pricing at the framework stage, which will be applied to future call-off awards. Once published, see ITT for details around lots that have maximum number of suppliers.

Lots and requirements (4)Procurement structure

4 lots · all with a published value · same evaluation weights on every lot
Lot #1Provision of Structured Counselling Sessions within an Occupational Health workplace settingRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£120,000
GCC are looking to establish a framework of multiple suppliers to deliver Occupational Health Counselling Services to the workforce. The framework will consist of 4 lots: Lot 1 Provision of Structured Counselling Sessions within an Occupational Health workplace setting Virtual and Face to Face
Contract period: 1 Dec 2026 — 30 Nov 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 4 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: South West
Value
£120,000 exc. VAT · £144,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months. Total term - 4 years
85312320 Counselling services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #2Provision of Initial Assessments to Assess Suitability for Structured Counselling Sessions within an Occupational Health workplaceRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£80,000
GCC are looking to establish a framework of multiple suppliers to deliver Occupational Health Counselling Services to the workforce. The framework will consist of 4 lots: Lot 2 - Provision of Initial Assessments to Assess Suitability for Structured Counselling Sessions within an Occupational Health
Contract period: 1 Dec 2026 — 30 Nov 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 4 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: South West
Value
£80,000 exc. VAT · £96,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months. Total term - 4 years
85312320 Counselling services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #3Provision of Reflective Practice also referred to as Reflective SupervisionRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£12,000
GCC are looking to establish a framework of multiple suppliers to deliver Occupational Health Counselling Services to the workforce. The framework will consist of 4 lots: Lot 3 - Provision of Reflective Practice also referred to as Reflective Supervision Virtual and Face to Face
Contract period: 1 Dec 2026 — 30 Nov 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 4 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: South West
Value
£12,000 exc. VAT · £144,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months. Total term - 4 years
85312320 Counselling services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #4Provision of Critical Incident Support to Service UsersRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£50,000
GCC are looking to establish a framework of multiple suppliers to deliver Occupational Health Counselling Services to the workforce. The framework will consist of 4 lots: Lot 4 - Provision of Critical Incident Support to Service Users Virtual and Face to Face
Contract period: 1 Dec 2026 — 30 Nov 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 4 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: South West
Value
£50,000 exc. VAT · £60,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Option to extend for a further 2 x 12 months. Total term - 4 years
85312320 Counselling 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 4 lots
Quality: 50%Price: 40%Social value: 10%

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

How Gloucestershire County Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531) — and who usually turns up

Gloucestershire County Council’s own published record, next to the South West England 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

Gloucestershire County Council

framework/DPS notices in 36 months: 2 in CPV 8531 · 21 in division 85 (1 without competition · 8 route not published) · 51 in all categories (3 without competition · 22 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: 25 lots. 8 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 10.5) and 17 from older notices (bids received, middle 3).

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

6division 85 · 36m · n=25 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: 25 lots.

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

0%division 85 · 36m · n=25 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: 23 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

at estimateall categories · 24m · n=23 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: 7 notices.

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

Last 36 months.

119dall categories · 36m · n=7 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: 183 notices.

Last 24 months.

0all categories · 24m · n=183 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 industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 13 notices.

Last 36 months.

8%division 85 · 36m · n=13 notices
Bids per lot · history, not this notice’s lots robust · n=25
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 25 lots on 4 contested notices · division 85, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 0%
  • 2–3 36%
  • 4–6 24%
  • 7+ 40%

Median 6 · 25 lots on 4 contested notices · division 85.

How procedures are run robust · n=13
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 21 notices · division 85, last 36 months.

  • Open 92%
  • Selective 0%
  • Limited 8%
  • Direct 0%

21 notices · division 85. 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

South West England · Social work services (CPV 8531)

framework/DPS notices delivered in South West England in 36 months: 34 in CPV 8531 (23 competed, 9 route not published) · 204 in division 85 (133 competed, 48 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. 11 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 7) and 13 from older notices (bids received, middle 15).

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.

0%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: 6 notices.

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

Last 36 months.

59dCPV 8531 · 36m · n=6 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: 24 lots.

Last 36 months.

71%CPV 8531 · 36m · n=24 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: 127 awards.

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

Last 36 months.

98%CPV 8531 · 36m · n=127 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 10 contested notices · CPV 8531, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 0%
  • 2–3 13%
  • 4–6 29%
  • 7+ 58%

Median 9 · 24 lots on 10 contested notices · CPV 8531.

How procedures are run robust · n=25
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 34 notices · CPV 8531, last 36 months.

  • Open 88%
  • Selective 4%
  • Limited 8%
  • Direct 0%

34 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=23
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.

Awards in Gloucestershire County Council (all categories, n=23 pairs) land a median at estimate. Applied to each lot’s own published value in the lot table below — the notice total (£370,000) is an envelope for 4 lots and is not converted.
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
Below threshold - open competition
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open admission
Procurement threshold
Below threshold
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
23 Sept 2026, 14:02 BST
Last source update
23 Sept 2026, 14:02 BST
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Counselling services
Delivery area
South West (UKK13)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077832 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Apply via SAP Ariba
Submission portal named on this notice: SAP Ariba · Who buys & how to bid on SAP Ariba
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowed
Access & registration note: Free buyer-specific invitations
Expression of interest (EOI)
Appointment period ends
13 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
5 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
https://service.ariba.com/Sourcing.aw/109521003/aw?awh=r&awssk=95SqHZLl&dard=1 Suppliers must register on SAP Ariba before submitting a bid. Once registered, email [email protected] with your organisation name and Ariba Supplier ID so GCC can add you to the relevant Sourcing Event. f your organisation is interested in participating in this project, please provide the following information and send it to the email address within this notice for review and more…supplier onboarding onto e-tendering portal: Supplier Full Legal Name Supplier Main Address including Street and number District Postal Code City Country/Region Primary Contact Details Contact First Name Contact Last Name Contact Email Address Contact Telephone Number Please ensure all information is submitted in full to the contact email in this notice if you wish to be considered for this opportunity. All communication must be conducted via the Ariba portal.

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice publishedearlier today
    23 Sept 2026, 09:45 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 12 days
    5 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  3. Admission / appointment period endsin 20 days · period end, not a bid countdown
    13 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  4. Contract startsin 68 days
    1 Dec 2026, 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

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Sept 2026
  1. Tender notice published
    23 Sept 2026, 14:02 BSTUK4
  2. Deadline moved to 13 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
    23 Sept 2026, 14:02 BST+14 days · was 29 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
  3. Tender notice published
    23 Sept 2026, 09:45 BSTUK4
Published amendments (1)

Extension of deadline

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Gloucestershire County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PZHT-7473-ZVPN Shire Hall, Westgate Street, Gloucester, South West, GL1 2TG

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Bidding documents and specifications tenderBidding documents and specificationsDOCXSuppliers must register on SAP Ariba before submitting a bid. Once registered, email [email protected] with your organisation name and Ariba Supplier ID so GCC can add you to the relevant Sourcing Event. f your organisation is interested in participating in this…

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender