Official UK procurement notice
Northamptonshire Children's Trust Pre-Market Engagement Event for the Reopening of the Independent Fostering Arrangements and Children's Homes DPS
Authority: Northamptonshire Children's Trust (Public body)
What is being bought2 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionNorthamptonshire Children's Trust (hereafter referred to as the "Children's Trust") is re-opening the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Independent Fostering Arrangements and Children's Homes.
Northamptonshire Children's Trust (NCT) would like to invite Residential Children's Home Providers and Independent Fostering Agencies who are not currently part of the framework to attend the forthcoming Pre-Market Engagement Event.
As part of the preparations to re-open the Children's Services Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), we are keen to engage with providers, share our future plans, and gain valuable insight from the market.
Event Details:
Date: Friday 23 October
Time: 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Venue: Microsoft Teams
The session will include:
- An overview of the DPS re-opening process.
- Future commissioning intentions.
- Opportunities for providers to ask questions and provide feedback.
- Information on how organisations can participate in future procurement opportunities.
To reserve your place, please complete the registration form below:
url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ioNHCy6kBCYGYBwHZf… ↗
Following registration, a Teams meeting link will be sent directly to the email address provided.
We encourage any provider interested in future opportunities to attend and look forward to hearing your views
The primary role of Independent Fostering Arrangements and Children's Homes is to provide homes to ensure children in our care have a place that is safe and suitable for their individual needs, where they are supported by people who care for them and about them to achieve their full potential, develop resilience, enjoy good health and wellbeing and develop into adulthood.
The Children's Trust previously set up the DPS which commenced on 1st February 2024 with an initial term of 4 years and 2 months (i.e. to 31st March 2028), with an option to extend for up to an additional 3 years (until 31st March 2031).
Services will be categorised by the following lots that are described further in the specification:
Lot 1: Independent Fostering Agency placements for Children in Care
Category 1.1 - Standard
Category 1.2 - Enhanced
Category 1.3 - Complex Needs
Category 1.4 - Emergency
Category 1.5 - Transition to Family Care from Children's Homes
Category 1.6 - Parent and Child
Lot 2: Children's Homes placements for Children in Care
Category 2.1 - Standard Homes
Category 2.2 - Specialist Homes
Category 2.3 - Complex Needs
Category 2.4 - Emergency
Potential Providers can apply for one or more Lots and Categories.
Please note: this contract originally started on 1st February 2024.
The Light Touch Regime (LTR) applies to the Services under this DPS, as per Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
CPV: Health and social work services
Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure
2 lots · no lot values publishedLot #1Independent Fostering ArrangementsPlanned
The primary role of Independent Fostering Arrangements and Children's Homes is to provide homes to ensure children in our care have a place that is safe and suitable for their individual needs, where they are supported by people who care for them and about them to achieve their full potential, develop resilience, enjoy good health and wellbeing and develop into adulthood.
The Children's Trust previously set up the DPS which commenced on 1st February 2024 with an initial term of 4 years and 2 months (i.e. to 31st March 2028), with an option to extend for up to an additional 3 years (until 31st March 2031).
Services will be categorised by the following lots that are described further in the specification:
Lot 1: Independent Fostering Agency placements for Children in Care
Category 1.1 - Standard
Category 1.2 - Enhanced
Category 1.3 - Complex Needs
Category 1.4 - Emergency
Category 1.5 - Transition to Family Care from Children's Homes
Category 1.6 - Parent and Child
Lot #2Children's HomesPlanned
Potential Providers can apply for one or more Lots and Categories.
Please note: this contract originally started on 1st February 2024.
The Light Touch Regime (LTR) applies to the Services under this DPS, as per Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
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).
- “Northamptonshire Children's Trust Pre-Market Engagement Event for the…” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
Health and social work services (CPV 85) in East Midlands, and who usually turns up
Northamptonshire Children's Trust has too little published record in this market to describe on its own. Published market evidence for the same work stands beside whatever it has. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Health and social work services (CPV 85) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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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 supplier sizes published for this authority.
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 registered in East Midlands.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in East Midlands.
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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 71 days of the bid deadline.
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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.
No awards recorded for this authority in this market.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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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 bid0% / 4%
2–30% / 10%
4–60% / 22%
7+100% / 64%
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 #1Independent Fostering ArrangementsCPV 85000000Estimate not published
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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. The bar shows 124 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–310%
4–622%
7+64%
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.
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.
No supplier with a record in this category fits this lot yet.
Lot #2Children's HomesCPV 85000000Estimate not published
i
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. The bar shows 124 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–310%
4–622%
7+64%
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.
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.
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.
No supplier with a record in this category fits this lot yet.
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 match score 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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
52% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
52% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (52% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Northamptonshire Children's Trust - Independent Fostering Agency and Children's Homes for Children in Care Framework, winner not published; no contract end date published.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Dynamic market
- Who may use the vehicle
- Any qualifying supplier may apply while the market is open
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 15 Oct 2026, 11:50 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Oct 2026, 11:50 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097398- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07885fFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Admission period ends
- —
Timeline
15 Oct 2026 → 28 Oct 2026 · 2 dates- Notice published4 days ago15 Oct 2026, 11:50 BST
- Today19 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 9 days28 Oct 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.