Official UK procurement notice
Kent Carers Support Service ( Lot 1 - East Kent)
Authority: Kent County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionKent County Council are seeking to re-procure a Kent Carers Support Service which is aimed at supporting unpaid carers within the county.
This new service will replace two current services;
The Carers Community Navigation Service and Carers Short Breaks service.
Key Areas of Service Delivery: Building from the Kent Adult Carers Strategy the following
key areas of service delivery have been identified for the Kent Carers Support Service:
i) Identifying and Recognising Carers, including Seldom-Heard Carers
ii) Empowering Carers: information, advice and training in ways that they can understand
iii) Prevention and Wellbeing especially for lifestyle risk factors, mental health and information and advice
iv) Support for Young Carers' Transition to Adulthood
v) Carers Assessment
vi) Carers Breaks
vii) Emergency Breaks
viii) Carers Personal Budgets
Lot 2 of this contract was previously awarded. Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-070631
- How the procedure runs: All tenderers are required to complete and submit both the PSQ and ITT in one tendering window. The council will first evaluate each PSQ against the evaluation criteria. Only those that pass the PSQ stage will progress to have their ITT evaluated.
CPV: Social work and related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£23,522,800
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).
- Quality Questionnaire: See Award Criteria
- Pricing: See Award Criteria
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible 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
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 22 May 2026, 14:47 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Apr 2026
- Authority reference
CN250345- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-000434- Accelerated
- Light touch contract
- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ff96Find a Tender
- How it runs
All tenderers are required to complete and submit both the PSQ and ITT in one tendering window.
The council will first evaluate each PSQ against the evaluation criteria. Only those that pass the PSQ stage will progress to have their ITT evaluated.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 30 Jan 2026, 16:30 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 16 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
5 Jan 2026 → 1 Aug 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published290 days ago5 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Clarification questions by279 days ago16 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline265 days ago30 Jan 2026, 16:30 GMT
- Award decision expected by175 days ago30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent155 days ago21 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published153 days ago22 May 2026, 14:47 BST
- Standstill ends140 days ago4 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts83 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Jan 2026- Tender notice published5 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published22 May 2026, 14:47 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete22 May 2026, 14:47 BST
- Contract signature expected22 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Involve KentVCSELot 1. Kent Carers Support Service - East Kent1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2029 · up to 31 Jul 2033Extensions: Kent County Council has included 2 x 24 month extension periods which may be executed at the council's discretion. | £23,522,800 | 20 May 2026standstill to 4 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders · 5 at stage one | 1 | 3 | — |
Who bid
- wonINVOLVE KENT LIMITEDVCSE · South East England
- did not winCROSSROADS CARE KENTVCSE · South East England
- did not winCARERS' SUPPORT EAST KENTSMEVCSE · South 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
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- CARERS' SUPPORT EAST KENTBidder / tenderer
- CROSSROADS CARE KENTBidder / tenderer
- INVOLVE KENT LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender