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Soft Market Testing - Reg 44 Inspections

Buyer: St Helens Council →

BuyerSt Helens Council
Statusplanning
DeadlineNot published
Value£17,700
Published11 Dec 2025

What is being bought

St Helens Council is undertaking soft market testing ahead of a forthcoming procurement for an Independent Regulation 44 Visitor Service. The Council currently commissions Regulation 44 inspections for two of its children's homes. However, due to recent service expansion, Regulation 44 inspections are now required for five children's homes, with a potential sixth home expected to open in the near future. Further expansion of provision is also possible during the lifetime of the contract.

Delivery location

UKD7, GB

Categories

Health and social work services 85000000

Lot details

Lot 1

No lot description published.

Statusplanning
Contract periodFrom 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Mar 2029
SME suitabilitySuitable for SMEs

What is included

ItemCategoryQuantity
1Health and social work servicesNot published

Comparable-procurement analytics

Benchmarked against retained Find a Tender procedures with CPV division 85. The category anchor is Health and social work services (85000000); this is a deliberately broad market comparator. The comparison is shown at several levels rather than pretending one company or region is always the best benchmark.

Comparison setProceduresReported bids per procedureNamed award suppliersPrice evidence
Market: CPV division 8514,3881 median · 36.7 average (6,328 of 14,388 with a bid count)2.1 average (7,178 of 14,388 with named award suppliers)10 comparable price pairs
Same buyer7Not publishedNot publishedNot published
Delivery region: UKD7871 median · 2.9 average (66 of 87 with a bid count)2.4 average (68 of 87 with named award suppliers)Not published
Similar published value (0.5×–2×)811 median · 4.8 average (4 of 81 with a bid count)1.8 average (4 of 81 with named award suppliers)2 comparable price pairs

“Reported bids” is an official aggregate, sometimes reported per lot; it is the closest available competition measure. “Named award suppliers” are winners, not all applicants.

Indicative price outcome

£11,516 is the median lowest-valid-bid benchmark for the broad CPV market sample, against this procedure’s published value of £17,700.

This is a historical comparator, not a bid-price forecast or a guaranteed saving. It excludes records where the published values cannot be sensibly compared and does not adjust for lot structure, quality weighting, framework terms or scope.

Procurement strategy & market signals

Framework agreementNot published
Dynamic purchasing systemNot published
Competitive procurementNot published
Recurring requirementNot published
Procurement method rationaleNot published
Rationale classificationsNot published
Special regimelightTouch
Covered byNot published
Submission policyNot published
Selection criteriaNot published
Risk detailsNot published

Planning & early market engagement

BudgetValue not published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Planning documents1
Planning milestones1
MilestoneTypeDueStatus
Providers will be asked to complete a Soft Market Testing Documentengagement23 Dec 2025scheduled

Related procurements

No linked framework, prior procurement or reprocurement published.

Documents & submission route

Source data inventory

Diagnostic view. “Not published” means this current release does not provide a value.

OCIDocds-h6vhtk-05f422
Latest release ID082131-2025
Latest release timestampThu Dec 11 2025 15:33:07 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Sourcefind-a-tender
Official notice URLNot published
Tender statusplanning
Procurement methodNot published
Procurement method detailsNot published
Main procurement categoryservices
Above thresholdNo
Legal basis2023/54
Tender period: startNot published
Tender period: endNot published
Expression of interest deadlineNot published
Enquiry deadlineNot published
Award period: startNot published
Award period: endNot published
Submission method detailsNot published
Submission languagesNot published
Electronic catalogue policyNot published
Total tender value£17,700
Tender lots in source1
Tender items in source1
Tender documents in source0
Awards in latest release0
Contracts in latest release0
Parties in latest release2

Notice history

DateEventReference
11 Dec 2025planning082131-2025

All source data

Unmodified official OCDS data retained by Tenderline for this procurement process.

Complete current OCDS release JSON
{
  "id": "082131-2025",
  "tag": [
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  ],
  "date": "2025-12-11T15:33:07Z",
  "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-05f422",
  "buyer": {
    "id": "GB-PPON-PPYM-6238-VHLR",
    "name": "St Helens Council"
  },
  "tender": {
    "id": "DN799261",
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        "contractPeriod": {
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          "startDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00+01:00"
        }
      }
    ],
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "1",
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        "deliveryAddresses": [
          {
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            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
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        ],
        "additionalClassifications": [
          {
            "id": "85000000",
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            "description": "Health and social work services"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "title": "Soft Market Testing - Reg 44 Inspections",
    "value": {
      "amount": 17700,
      "currency": "GBP",
      "amountGross": 17700
    },
    "status": "planning",
    "legalBasis": {
      "id": "2023/54",
      "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents",
      "scheme": "UKPGA"
    },
    "description": "St Helens Council is undertaking soft market testing ahead of a forthcoming procurement for an Independent Regulation 44 Visitor Service. The Council currently commissions Regulation 44 inspections for two of its children's homes. However, due to recent service expansion, Regulation 44 inspections are now required for five children's homes, with a potential sixth home expected to open in the near future. Further expansion of provision is also possible during the lifetime of the contract.",
    "specialRegime": [
      "lightTouch"
    ],
    "aboveThreshold": false,
    "mainProcurementCategory": "services"
  },
  "parties": [
    {
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      "address": {
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        "postalCode": "WA10 1HP",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "Town Hall"
      },
      "details": {
        "classifications": [
          {
            "id": "publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment",
            "scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
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      },
      "identifier": {
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      "contactPoint": {
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    },
    {
      "id": "GB-COH-Star Procurement",
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      "address": {
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        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "Waterside House"
      },
      "identifier": {
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      "contactPoint": {
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      "additionalIdentifiers": [
        {
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  ],
  "language": "en",
  "planning": {
    "documents": [
      {
        "id": "082131-2025",
        "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082131-2025",
        "format": "text/html",
        "noticeType": "UK2",
        "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
        "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
        "datePublished": "2025-12-11T15:33:07Z"
      }
    ],
    "milestones": [
      {
        "id": "engagement",
        "type": "engagement",
        "status": "scheduled",
        "dueDate": "2025-12-23T23:59:59Z",
        "description": "Providers will be asked to complete a Soft Market Testing Document"
      }
    ]
  },
  "initiationType": "tender"
}
Complete JSON history (1 releases)
11 Dec 2025 · 082131-2025 · planning
{
  "id": "082131-2025",
  "tag": [
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  "date": "2025-12-11T15:33:07Z",
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    "id": "GB-PPON-PPYM-6238-VHLR",
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          "vcse": true
        },
        "contractPeriod": {
          "endDate": "2029-03-31T23:59:59+01:00",
          "startDate": "2026-04-01T00:00:00+01:00"
        }
      }
    ],
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "1",
        "relatedLot": "1",
        "deliveryAddresses": [
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            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
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        ],
        "additionalClassifications": [
          {
            "id": "85000000",
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "description": "Health and social work services"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "title": "Soft Market Testing - Reg 44 Inspections",
    "value": {
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    },
    "status": "planning",
    "legalBasis": {
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      "scheme": "UKPGA"
    },
    "description": "St Helens Council is undertaking soft market testing ahead of a forthcoming procurement for an Independent Regulation 44 Visitor Service. The Council currently commissions Regulation 44 inspections for two of its children's homes. However, due to recent service expansion, Regulation 44 inspections are now required for five children's homes, with a potential sixth home expected to open in the near future. Further expansion of provision is also possible during the lifetime of the contract.",
    "specialRegime": [
      "lightTouch"
    ],
    "aboveThreshold": false,
    "mainProcurementCategory": "services"
  },
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      },
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      "identifier": {
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      }
    },
    {
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      "roles": [
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        "locality": "Sale",
        "postalCode": "M33 7ZF",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "Waterside House"
      },
      "identifier": {
        "id": "Star Procurement",
        "scheme": "GB-COH"
      },
      "roleDetails": "Shared Procurement Support",
      "contactPoint": {
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        {
          "id": "PMJL-3178-QZJH",
          "scheme": "GB-PPON"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "planning": {
    "documents": [
      {
        "id": "082131-2025",
        "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082131-2025",
        "format": "text/html",
        "noticeType": "UK2",
        "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
        "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
        "datePublished": "2025-12-11T15:33:07Z"
      }
    ],
    "milestones": [
      {
        "id": "engagement",
        "type": "engagement",
        "status": "scheduled",
        "dueDate": "2025-12-23T23:59:59Z",
        "description": "Providers will be asked to complete a Soft Market Testing Document"
      }
    ]
  },
  "initiationType": "tender"
}