Official UK procurement notice
School Counselling Service - Primary Schools
Authority: West Lothian Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionWest Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external service provider to provide Counselling Services to West Lothian Primary schools
CPV: Counselling services · Guidance and counselling services · Primary education services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1West Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external…AwardedRenewal
West Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external service provider to achieve the vision of an integrated and flexible service which would meet the need for building resilient children and young people (aged 10 years and up) in the upper primary age range (P6&7) across all 69 primary school settings in the authority.
It is envisaged that access to the service should be easy for schools and should feel seamless for children and young people and their families as part of the ongoing assessment and intervention planning process.
A focus on building resilience, especially in relation to the transition to secondary school will be a key element of the work. It is expected that the provider will work closely with colleagues in secondary schools to support transition specifically where this would be in the best interests of the child.
The provider would also be in a position to offer some specific transition intervention for particularly vulnerable P7 pupils in the summer term of each academic year. This would be closely aligned with the authority Cluster Assessment and Support for Transition (CAST) process.
The ability to support young people over summer holiday periods where this is desirable will be a key element of the contract.
In addition, the provider should consider how to support the local authority in building capacity in schools to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people through staff development and curriculum design.
It is also expected that the provider will work closely with the Educational Psychology Service to maintain a quality evaluation framework as a key element of the contract. This will enable West Lothian Council to gather and report on council wide evaluation information and to meet the reporting requirements set by Scottish Government. Additional information: The council may wish to utilise the 24 month available extension in any combination e.g. 2 periods of 12 months.
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).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality: 80
- Price: 20
- Suitability
There is a mandatory requirement that all providers must be registered with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and/or Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland “COSCA.” or equivalent.
In the event that another organisation is stipulated, the service provider must be able to demonstrate that this is at least equivalent to the aforementioned.
Serious and Organised Crime
Where required, contracts that fall within the specific risk sectors as defined by Police Scotland, or, where there is a suspicion that risk may be present, WLC will provide Police Scotland information on the representatives of the bidder (SPD Part 2B) to allow Police Scotland to review and provide feedback on information provided.
Please note: when completing SPD section 1.11/12 Part 2B, this should be completed using personal information as follows: your full name including any middle names as it appears on your birth and/or marriage certificate; the day date and month you were born and the location of your birth; and your home address and postcode. The name entered must be consistent with any birth certificate, marriage certificate etc. Failure to provide the correct information may result in your bid being excluded from the tender process or an offer of contract being withdrawn should the information prove to be incomplete or incorrect at a later stage.
- Economic & financial standing
Re SPD question 4B.6 West Lothian Council will use Dun and Bradstreet’s DBAi financial reporting system to assess the financial stability of tenderers. Tenderers with a Failure Score of 50 or above on the DBAi system will be deemed to have evidenced satisfactory financial stability. Please note that 49 or less will not be considered as having met this criteria. If a tenderer has a Failure Score of less than 50, the tenderer may be required to submit their last three years accounts.
In the event that the tenderer is not required to publish accounts and therefore does not have a Dun & Bradstreet or equivalent rating, tenderers should be able to provide financial accounts when requested. The council will then conduct an analysis of the accounts to ensure that there is no significant financial risk. Please note that if you intend on attaching 2 years accounts, these must include financial data over a 3-year period.
It is recommended that candidates review their own Dun & Bradstreet Score in advance of submitting their tender. If following this review tenderers consider that the Dun & Bradstreet Score does not reflect their current financial status, details of this should be provided, complete with evidence of a good high street credit rating (the equivalent of Dun & Bradstreet score 50) from a recognised credit referencing agency. The council will review any such information as part of the evaluation of Tenderer’s financial status.
In the event that a firm does not meet the finan…
Minimum: 10m Employers Liability (5 Million GBP Legal minimum would be acceptable for SME) 5 Million GBP Public Liability 2m Million GBP Professional Indemnity - Technical & professional ability
Providers will be required to provide a minimum of two examples of previous experience.
Minimum: Providers Must be registered with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and/or Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland “COSCA.” or equivalent. In the event that another organisation is stipulated, the service provider must be able to demonstrate that t… - Technical & professional ability
Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 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 · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 30 Mar 2026, 15:28 BST
- Last source update
- 2 Sept 2026, 10:24 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 30 Apr 2026 – …
- Authority reference
CC14620- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-082947- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067811Find a Tender
- Performance terms
The provider must follow the requirements set out in the service specification and comply with all statutory requirements in the delivery of the service. Notwithstanding any conditions agreed in the service specification (including activity reporting), all terms and conditions set out in the main full contract will apply.
Publisher note: Re: SPD Q3D.1, 3D.2 and 3D.3 Bidders should answer these questions on Environmental, social and labour law in relation to compliance with the regulations covering Scotland and the UK. TUPE – The incoming Contractor is responsible for obtaining legal and professional advice about relevant TUPE implications. CONFIDENTIALITY - All information supplied by the Authority must be treated in confidence and not disclosed to third parties except insofar as this is necessary to obtain sureties or quotations for the purpose of submitting the tender. All information supplied by you to the Authority will similarly be treated in confidence except: (i) for any information required to be disclosed or otherwise provided by the Authority to any person in order to comply with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and any codes of practice applicable from time to time relating to access to public authorities’ information. The Tenderer shall co-operate, facilitate, support and assist the Authority in the provision of this information. In the event the Authority is required to provide information to any person as a result of a request made to it under such Act and/or codes, the Authority shall adhere to the requirements of such Act and/or codes in disclosing information relating to this Agreement, the Project documents and the Contractor. (ii) that references may be sought from banks, existing or past clients, or other referees submitted by the tenderers; (iii) for the disclosure of such information with regard to the outcome of the procurement process as may be required to be published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union in accordance with EU directives or elsewhere in accordance with the requirements of UK government policy on the disclosure of information relating to government contracts. (SC Ref:841849)
How it was run
Official noticeTender documents are also served through a separate tool: https://www.publictendersscotland.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk ↗
- Submission deadline
- 30 Apr 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 90 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 30 Apr 2026, 12:00 BST
Timeline
30 Apr 2026 → 2 Sept 2026 · 4 dates- Submission deadline177 days ago30 Apr 2026, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened177 days ago30 Apr 2026, 12:00 BST
- Contract starts84 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Notice published52 days ago2 Sept 2026, 10:24 BST
Notice history
1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender- Status changed to complete2 Sept 2026, 10:24 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place2BeSME | £560,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 082947-2026-CC14620-1 · Place2BeSME
- Signed
- 20 Aug 2026
- Value
- £560,000
- Period
- … – 31 Jul 2028
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7bids · 7 electronic · 7 from abroad | 7 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Livingston sheriff courtReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Place2BeAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.