Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Community Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities and their Families in Bedford Borough 2026
Authority: Bedford Borough Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionBedford Borough Council provides a range of Short Break Services that are designed to assist individuals who provide care for CYP with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). The provision of short breaks is a statutory requirement under the Children and Families Act 2014. Local authorities are required to provide access to services that are designed to assist individuals who provide care for children with SEND to continue to do so, or to do so more effectively, by giving them breaks from caring. Local authorities must offer short breaks as part of a preventative model in keeping families together, preventing family breakdown and preventing CYP with SEND becoming children looked after.
Short Breaks Services have been defined as services that give CYP with SEND enjoyable experiences away from their primary carers, thereby contributing to their personal and social development and reducing social isolation; and services that provide parents and families a necessary and valuable break from their caring responsibilities.
Short Breaks Services can include day-time or overnight care in the homes of CYP with SEND or elsewhere, educational or leisure activities outside their homes, or services available to assist carers in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays.
CPV: Child daycare services · Daycare services · Daycare services for disabled children and young people · Other community, social and personal services · Social services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Bedford Borough Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up
Bedford Borough Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East of England (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 82 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
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 bid27% / 27%
2–353% / 18%
4–613% / 30%
7+7% / 25%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate46% / 48%
Within ±2%31% / 40%
Above estimate23% / 12%
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 #1CPV 85Estimate not published
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 85. The comparison uses that group.
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 266 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid19%
2–329%
4–630%
7+22%
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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
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 earlier-work matches 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.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 26 Nov 2025, 10:55 GMT
- Last source update
- 26 Nov 2025, 10:55 GMT
- Authority reference
BBC CH 04069- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-077133- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e8efFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
26 Nov 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published334 days ago26 Nov 2025, 10:55 GMT
- Market engagement319 days ago10 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
Invitation to Market Engagement Event – Activities in the Community (Short Breaks) Recommissioning
Since 1 April 2011, local authorities have had a duty to provide Short Breaks for children and young people with SEND who meet the eligibility criteria within this duty.
Short Breaks are opportunities for children and young people with a disability to spend time away from their primary carers, contributing to their personal, social and emotional development. They also provide families, parents/carers and siblings with valuable time for rest and other responsibilities.
Activities in the Community (Short Breaks) is Bedford Borough Council’s offer to children and young people with SEND who reside within the Borough. These activities take place during evenings, weekends and school holidays, providing educational and leisure opportunities outside the home. Current services are delivered by SSG, Autism Bedfordshire and Embrace, with contracts due to end in March 2026.
As part of our recommissioning process, we are pleased to invite you to an Activities in the Community (Short Breaks) Market Engagement Event:
Date: Monday 15th December
Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
Location: Committee Room 1, Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AP
This session will introduce our vision for the future of community-based activities (short breaks) and outline our intentions for the upcoming recommissioning process.
We welcome attendance from current providers, prospective providers, voluntary and community organisations, and any organisation interested in delivering high-quality support for children and young people with SEND.
During the session, we will:
- Share Bedford Borough’s vision and priorities for the next commissioning cycle
- Present insights from local families, young people, and recent engagement work
- Outline the proposed commissioning and procurement timeline leading up to April 2026
- Invite providers to share their insights, experiences and innovative ideas
- Explore how different organisations may contribute to a varied, high-quality local offer
- Begin shaping the future model for Activities in the Community (Short Breaks)
What to expect
The session will include a short presentation followed by discussion and Q&A. Providers will leave with a clearer understanding of the future direction for short breaks, the likely commissioning approach, and forthcoming opportunities to engage in the process.
If you have accessibility needs or require adjustments to participate, please let us know when booking.
For further information and to register your organisation’s place please email: [email protected] and cc [email protected]
Please note there will be a maximum of 2 attendees per organisation if attending Borough Hall. If you are unable to attend in person this session will also be held virtually, please specify your attendance route when registering interest.
- Contract starts208 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published26 Nov 2025, 10:55 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender