Official UK procurement notice
Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist Contract
Authority: Bolton Council (Local council)
The aim of the service is to recruit 1 Occupational Therapy (OT) and 5 Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) professionals. This is one of the key components of the Experts at Hand model, and guidance is clear that our Experts at Hand Team must consist of SLT, OT, Educational Psychology and specialist teachers. The Provider will need to mobilise at the beginning of November 2026 and meet the specification requirements. Contract Duration: One (1) year with the option for up to two (2) x one (1) year extensions.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe aim of the service is to recruit 1 Occupational Therapy (OT) and 5 Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) professionals. This is one of the key components of the Experts at Hand model, and guidance is clear that our Experts at Hand Team must consist of SLT, OT, Educational Psychology and specialist teachers.
The Provider will need to mobilise at the beginning of November 2026 and meet the specification requirements.
CPV: Health services
Open work like this
This notice no longer takes bids · live search, filters set
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1This is an intention to award a contract under the Most Suitable Provider Process to…Awarded
This is an intention to award a contract under the Most Suitable Provider Process to the incumbent Provider Bolton Foundation Trust.
Contract Duration: One (1) year with the option for up to two (2) x one (1) year extensions.
Contract value: £440,400 for year 1. Approximate value for total contract including the extension periods is £ 1,321,200
The aim of the service is to recruit 1 Occupational Therapy (OT) and 5 Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) professionals. This is one of the key components of the Experts at Hand model, and guidance is clear that our Experts at Hand Team must consist of SLT, OT, Educational Psychology and specialist teachers. Through early engagement with education settings and practitioners, SLTs can support the identification and management of speech, language and communication needs, helping to improve children's ability to access learning, develop relationships and participate fully in school life. By embedding SLT expertise within the Experts at Hand approach, schools and professionals will be better equipped to meet needs at an earlier stage, reducing escalation, strengthening ordinarily available provision and ensuring that children receive timely, coordinated support within their local communities.
Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) service supports children, young people and adults who experience difficulties with communication, speech, language, social communication or swallowing. They work in people's homes schools, nurseries, health centres, family hubs and at the hospital.
The Occupational Therapy Service provides intervention, support and/or advice to children, young people, and their families, where they have a difficulty which impacts on their performance and participation in activities of everyday life to help them to reach their full potential. This service will focus on mainstream school settings.
Phase one of Boltons Experts at Hand work will include the following, for which will need the expertise of SLT and OT colleagues:
- The delivery of speech and language training to all schools to improve their ability to identify speech and language needs early and how to support children with these needs effectively.
- Engagement with the senior leaders in schools to engage in strategic planning meetings to identify current school practice and gaps in provision, analyse the information gathered from these meetings and plan for Phase two of Experts at Hand.
- Support with the facilitation of solution circles for schools.
- Support with environmental audits of school estates to identify capital work needed to improve the inclusivity of schools both in terms of the physical environment and the communication environment. Additional information: Most suitable provider process with regard to the key criteria, 100% weighting.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton NHS Foundation Trust | £1,321,200 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist Contract · Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
- Signed
- 11 Nov 2026
- Value
- £1,321,200
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2bids | — | — | — |
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 11 Nov 2026, 20:53 GMT
- Last source update
- 11 Nov 2026, 20:53 GMT
- Authority reference
TC175- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-107343- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07ba1aFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
- Published justification
The 'Type of Procure' above is incorrect, The Authority had to select this in order to publish the notice. An F01 Notice was published on Find a Tender in respect of this Most Suitable Provider Process under Notice 2026/S 000-095767 on 9 October 2026, 3:26pm. The contracting Authority has been unable to associate that notice electronically with this F03: Contract Award Notice due to a technical issue with the Find a Tender Service. For the avoidance of doubt, the contracting authority does not consider that no prior notice was published. The earlier notice can be located on Find a Tender using the notice reference above. If the technical issue preventing issue preventing the Authority linking the notice is rectified, the Authority will endeavour to update this notice.
Contract: 1 year with the option for up to 2 x 1 year extensions
Contract value: £440,400 for year 1. Approximate value for total contract including the extension periods is £ 1,321,200
Additional Information (VI.3)
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.
Declarations of Conflict Forms were completed by all individuals involved in the decisions about the provider selection. No conflicts of interest were declared.
The award decision makers are members of the Inclusion Team, SEND Children's Services and Commissioning.
The submission was assessed and the provider selected against the following key criteria:
- Quality and innovation
- Value
- Integration, collaboration, and service sustainability
- Improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice
- Social value
Bolton Foundation Trust as the incumbent provider has met the satisfactory requirements for the current Speech and Language therapy service SaLT - Children and young people - Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and the Childrens Occupational Therapy service Paediatric Occupational Therapy - SEND Local Offer for a number of years. The Bolton Foundation Trust are fully engaged with full communications with positive working relationships. The Bolton Foundation Trust also meet Bolton Council's priorities and vision for children by providing the best start to life, as well as achieving long term goals, for children to live as independently as possible with a good education.
They reach out into the Bolton communities from health settings, educational setting and home settings, to provide the child and the family/carer the support they need. The Bolton Foundation Trust are integrated with NHS, meaning they have all access/knowledge to the correct systems and processes, to allow fast mobilisation at short notice. The service has been shown to provide good value for money in the running of the service when exploring the market, which has been recognised from option appraisal processes.
The Authority, using the key criteria under Most Suitable Provider PSR route, has determined the preferred provider using the ranked criteria of critical importance for integration, collaboration, and service sustainability. Bolton Foundation Trust have been identified as the provider who can mobilise, deliver, and integrate with Bolton health, social care, and mainstream education settings in the required time period, above other providers. In addition, Bolton Foundation Trust are embedded into local systems and council mechanisms on a wider core basis and have proven quality and innovation for a number of years.
The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by 23:59, Monday 23 November 2026 via email to [email protected].
This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High CourtReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Bolton NHS Foundation TrustAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.