GMCA1401 Greater Manchester Rehabilitation Service

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is inviting organisations with the capability to act as a prime provider to take part in pre-procurement market engagement in relation to the proposed procurement of GMCA1401 - Greater Manchester Rehabilitation Services.

Further details on the proposed opportunity and how to take part in this engagement activity are set out below.

Overview of the Proposed Procurement:

GMCA intends to procure a Lead Prime Provider to deliver the Greater Manchester Rehabilitation Services from 1st October 2027.

It is anticipated that the service will be delivered through a prime provider model, with the Lead Prime Provider holding end to end contractual accountability and sub commissioning services from a diverse, skilled supply chain rooted in local communities. This will enable delivery of a sequenced, comprehensive rehabilitation offer across Greater Manchester.

The Greater Manchester Rehabilitation Services form a core part of the wider Whole System Approach to Diversion, which aims to support people in contact with the justice system to comply with requirements, move away from offending behaviour, and successfully exit the system.

The service will support men and women aged 18+ in both custodial and community settings, with the aim to:

• Deliver tailored, needs led support for people on the Greater Manchester probation caseload and within prison establishments, including women at risk of entering the justice system
• Enable individuals to achieve and sustain improvements in housing, employment, financial stability and wellbeing
• Strengthen supportive relationships, social networks and community connections
• Build links to meaningful education, employment, volunteering and community based opportunities
• Support non clinical recovery from substance misuse and gambling, where relevant

The Lead Prime Provider will operate a single point of assessment and coordination, ensuring individuals receive the right support at the right time. The model is designed to address complex and interdependent rehabilitation needs while supporting individuals to build the skills, confidence and resilience required for long term change.

Who This Engagement Is Aimed At:

GMCA invites organisations that consider themselves capable of acting as a Lead Prime Provider for the Greater Manchester Rehabilitation Services to participate in an optional 1:1 market engagement discussion, to be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.

As a potential Lead Prime Provider, organisations must be able to demonstrate the capability to:

• Hold end to end contractual accountability for delivery, quality, performance and outcomes across the full service
• Commission, manage and assure a multi disciplinary subcontracted delivery network, including governance, performance management, quality assurance and regulatory compliance
• Operate at scale across Greater Manchester, with sufficient financial standing, infrastructure and organisational resilience
• Lead on contract management, reporting, safeguarding, data management, risk and quality assurance
• Act as the single point of contractual accountability to the commissioner

The proposed Lead Prime Provider role is expected to require significant organisational maturity, including established commercial, finance, governance, digital and performance functions capable of operating at scale.

Purpose of the 1:1 Sessions:

This engagement is exploratory and non binding. These discussions will help shape GMCA's thinking but do not form part of any formal procurement process and will not be evaluated or scored.

We are seeking to:

• Better understand market capacity, appetite and delivery models, including prime-subcontractor arrangements
• Sense check assumptions about delivery at scale
• Explore risks, dependencies and opportunities from a provider perspective
• Learn from provider experience to help inform our future commissioning and procurement approach

Format:

• 1 hour Microsoft Teams meeting
• Facilitated, discussion based session (no presentations required)
• Attended by representatives from the GMCA Commissioning and Commercial teams, and GM Probation

Important Notes:

• This targeted engagement is not intended for organisations seeking subcontractor, consortium only or delivery partner roles at this stage.
• Participation is entirely voluntary and limited to up to four representatives per organisation.
• Organisations are encouraged to ensure attendees can speak authoritatively about:
• Organisational scale and delivery capacity
• Financial and commercial delivery models
• Prime-subcontractor governance and risk management
• It is recommended that organisations consider representation from a range of internal functions, including senior operational, commercial and/or finance leadership.
• This activity is solely a market engagement exercise and your attendance will have absolutely no bearing on future evaluation. Participation will not provide any advantage or influence the outcome of the procurement in any way.?
• No commitment to procure is implied by this engagement activity.
• Any information shared will be treated in confidence and used solely to inform service design and commissioning planning.
• For audit, transparency and record keeping purposes, each session will be recorded and transcribed.

How to Take Part:

Potential Lead Prime Providers must register their interest in arranging a 1:1 session via The Chest (reference DN804773) messaging function by 5pm Wednesday 13th May 2026.

The link to the Chest advert can be found here:

procontract.due-north.com/Advert ↗

When expressing interest, please include:

• Organisation name
• Named contact and role
• Names and roles of any additional attendees
• Confirmation that your organisation is exploring participation as a Lead Prime Provider and considers itself capable of fulfilling this role

Slots will be allocated subject to availability on the following proposed dates:

• Monday 18 May 2026 - PM only
• Tuesday 19 May 2026

Subject to demand and availability, GMCA reserves the right to offer alternative dates or times.

GMCA Privacy Statement:

When registering to participate in this market engagement exercise, GMCA will receive your name, email address, organisation and job role. This information will be used to record attendance and to issue communications relating to this engagement activity and any future events or updates relevant to this proposed procurement.

If you wish to opt out of receiving future communications relating to this opportunity, please email [email protected].