Official UK procurement notice
Provision of a Fitness to Practise Emotional Support Line
Authority: Social Work England (Central government)
Sectors: Health & Social Care (85) Delivery: UK
Published estimate£483,333≈ £161k / year · £580,000 inc. VAT40% below published estimate
Submissions closed 11 Apr 2026awarded 24 Apr 2026
Awarded to Work Stress Management Limited (Trading as Wellbeing Solutions)
Contract term 3 yrsends 17 May 2029 · up to 17 May 2031 with extensions · starts 18 May 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSocial Work England is looking to contract with an external Service Provider ("the Successful Bidder") to deliver an emotional support service to those affected by fitness to practise proceedings. The Successful Bidder will be required to deliver the service in full compliance with the specification, standards and Terms & Conditions.
Social Work England requires an emotional support service for social workers, witnesses and complainants (those that raise fitness to practise concerns) and others affected by the fitness to practise process.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Mar 2031, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: This Procurement will be carried out using the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023. It will consist of a two-stage tender, with no restrictions on who can participate. a. Stage One: Invitation to Tender & Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) b. Stage Two: Interview Stage
- No preliminary market engagement: Market Engagement was undertook as part of our initial bid ref: SWE10530.
CPV: Counselling services · Guidance and counselling services · Guidance services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£483,333
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
- Economic & financial standing
N/A
- Technical & professional ability
- The bidder must demonstrate a minimum of three (3) years' experience in delivering helpline or counselling services, preferably within environments involving professional regulation, fitness to practise, or other similarly sensitive investigative contexts.
- The bidder must confirm that the service operates established policies and procedures for supporting individuals experiencing significant stress, anxiety, or suicidal ideation.
- The bidder must confirm that the service has the operational capacity to provide nationwide coverage across England, including sufficient staffing levels and appropriate technological infrastructure.
- The bidder must confirm that all employees delivering the service hold current training in safeguarding, suicide prevention, and the management of trauma related calls.
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).
How bids were scored
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Quality: 55%
- Interview stage: 5%
- Price: 40%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality
- Price
- Interview stage
Conditions of participation2
- Economic & financial standing
N/A
- Technical & professional ability
- The bidder must demonstrate a minimum of three (3) years' experience in delivering helpline or counselling services, preferably within environments involving professional regulation, fitness to practise, or other similarly sensitive investigative contexts.
- The bidder must confirm that the service operates established policies and procedures for supporting individuals experiencing significant stress, anxiety, or suicidal ideation.
- The bidder must confirm that the service has the operational capacity to provide nationwide coverage across England, including sufficient staffing levels and appropriate technological infrastructure.
- The bidder must confirm that all employees delivering the service hold current training in safeguarding, suicide prevention, and the management of trauma related calls.
What this means for your bid
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Mar 2031
- First published
- 17 Mar 2026, 09:46 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Apr 2026, 10:43 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 May 2026
- Authority reference
SWE10617- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-023839- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066bbfFind a Tender
- How it runs
This Procurement will be carried out using the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023. It will consist of a two-stage tender, with no restrictions on who can participate.
a. Stage One: Invitation to Tender & Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ)
b. Stage Two: Interview Stage
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: In-tend · Who buys & how to bid on In-tend
Access & registration note: Free · one account per buying organisation's portal · reCAPTCHA on signup
- Submission deadline
- 11 Apr 2026, 09:30 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 1 Apr 2026, 14:30 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Submissions may be made here: in-tendhost.co.uk/socialworkengland/as… ↗
Timeline
17 Mar 2026 → 18 May 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published226 days ago17 Mar 2026, 09:46 GMT
- Clarification questions by210 days ago1 Apr 2026, 14:30 BST
- Submission deadline201 days ago11 Apr 2026, 09:30 BST
- Assessment summaries sent188 days ago24 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published185 days ago27 Apr 2026, 10:43 BST
- Award decision expected by180 days ago1 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts164 days ago18 May 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Mar 2026- Tender notice published17 Mar 2026, 09:46 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published27 Apr 2026, 10:43 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete27 Apr 2026, 10:43 BST
- Contract signature expected17 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 1
Awarded value £290,0001 award exc. VAT
Bids received 54 from SMEs
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work Stress Management Limited (Trading as Wellbeing Solutions)1 Jun 2026 – 31 May 2029 · up to 31 May 2031Extensions: This contract may be extended up to 24 months in total via two (2) twelve month extensions. | £290,000 | 24 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders | 4 | 4 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- WORK STRESS MANAGEMENT LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender