Official UK procurement notice
Suffolk county-wide support service for young carers aged up to 18 years
Authority: Suffolk County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSuffolk County Council have awarded a contract to deliver a service that will effectively identify and engage Young Carers aged up to 18 years. The Provider will complete Statutory Assessments with Young Carers and provide appropriate Information, Advice and Guidance to ensure their needs are properly supported. The Provider will keep an up to date register of all Young Carers who have accessed the service, and the support they require to maintain their caring responsibilities. The service will ensure that the Council is able to meet its statutory requirements under both the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Care Act 2014.
The contract has been awarded for an initial two-year period. The contract value shown in this notice includes the optional 24-month extension period.
Please note, the contract was not signed and sealed until the 3rd August 2026. However, for the avoidance of doubt, the date the contract was entered into was 1st July 2026.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£828,000
- Economic & financial standing
Financial Capacity
- Confirmation that the Tenderer has a minimum Creditsafe credit reference agency score of 50 at the time of evaluation. If this threshold is not met (or a Creditsafe score cannot be obtained), the contracting authority may conduct a more detailed assessment - such as ratio analysis - using other financial information.
Financial capacity
- Confirmation that the Tenderer has, or can commit to obtain, prior to the award of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated in the Procurement Specific Questionnaire, and that the cost of insurances has been included in the costs/prices submitted within the Tender submission.
- Technical & professional ability
UK General Data Protection Regulations
- Tenderer does not pose a Data Protection risk to the Council (that cannot be mitigated).
Relevant experience and contract examples
- Tenderer provides evidence demonstrating technical ability to perform the services as defined in the tender documentation.
Experience of sub-contractor management
- Tenderer provides evidence demonstrating how they have previously maintained healthy supply chains with their sub-contractor(s) (if applicable).
Health and safety
- Tenderer provides their H&S Policy Statement together with an explanation of their H&S arrangements (which should follow a recognised H&S Management system).
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 sub-criteria (6)
- Implementation: 15%
- Service Delivery: 20%
- Pathways, Partnerships and Relationships: 10%
- Service User Involvement and Experience: 15%
- Price: 30%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (6)
- Price: As described in the tender documentation.
- Implementation: As described in the tender documentation.
- Service Delivery: As described in the tender documentation.
- Pathways, Partnerships and Relationships: As described in the tender documentation.
- Service User Involvement and Experience: As described in the tender documentation.
- Social Value: As described in the tender documentation.
- Economic & financial standing
Financial Capacity
- Confirmation that the Tenderer has a minimum Creditsafe credit reference agency score of 50 at the time of evaluation. If this threshold is not met (or a Creditsafe score cannot be obtained), the contracting authority may conduct a more detailed assessment - such as ratio analysis - using other financial information.
Financial capacity
- Confirmation that the Tenderer has, or can commit to obtain, prior to the award of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated in the Procurement Specific Questionnaire, and that the cost of insurances has been included in the costs/prices submitted within the Tender submission.
- Technical & professional ability
UK General Data Protection Regulations
- Tenderer does not pose a Data Protection risk to the Council (that cannot be mitigated).
Relevant experience and contract examples
- Tenderer provides evidence demonstrating technical ability to perform the services as defined in the tender documentation.
Experience of sub-contractor management
- Tenderer provides evidence demonstrating how they have previously maintained healthy supply chains with their sub-contractor(s) (if applicable).
Health and safety
- Tenderer provides their H&S Policy Statement together with an explanation of their H&S arrangements (which should follow a recognised H&S Management system).
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 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
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 3 Jun 2025, 15:20 BST
- Last source update
- 6 Aug 2026, 10:26 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 18 Feb 2026
- Authority reference
PA0028- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-076739- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-052bb7Find a Tender
- Risks
Suffolk County Council has joined the government's Devolution Priority Programme (DPP), a fast-track programme towards devolution and local government reorganisation.
Under the DPP it is proposed that:
a) a Mayoral Combined County Authority (MCCA) for Norfolk and Suffolk is established, with strategic powers and headed by an elected mayor ("Devolution").
b) the existing two-tier council structure in Suffolk is abolished and replaced with one or more unitary councils covering the current geographical boundary of Suffolk ("LGR").
It is possible that both, one or neither of these changes will happen. These changes are declared as known risks as we do not yet know the implications of Devolution and/or LGR.
As a result of LGR and Devolution, contract modifications may be necessary to novate, transfer or disaggregate the contract from the one you entered into to one or more successor authorities or the MCAA. Impacts could include changes to geographical boundaries, significant increases and/or decreases in the goods and/or services required due to the change in size/scope of any successor authority or the MCAA. This may also change the scope of the contract
Interested Parties should refer to the Invitation to Tender and Contract Terms for the Known Risks:
Contract novation, transfer or disaggregation to one or more Successor Authorities or the MCAA within the current geographical boundary of Suffolk.
Contract novation, transfer or disaggregation to one or more Successor Authorities or the MCAA outside the current geographical boundary of Suffolk.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 20 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 7 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
3 Jun 2025 → 6 Aug 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published3 Jun 2025, 15:20 BST
- Market engagement30 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
The primary purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to identify any suppliers who may be able to provide the services required (which will, in turn, inform our approach to the procurement).
To express an interest in this tender opportunity, please email [email protected] and [email protected] by 5pm on Monday 30th June. Your details will not be shared with anyone outside of Suffolk County Council.
Depending on the level of interest, we reserve the right to undertake further market engagement and/or change our approach to the procurement.
- Next notice expected384 days ago3 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published331 days ago25 Nov 2025, 10:19 GMT
- Clarification questions by287 days ago7 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadline275 days ago20 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by245 days ago18 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent218 days ago18 Mar 2026
- Standstill ends208 days ago27 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts114 days ago1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published77 days ago6 Aug 2026, 10:26 BST
Notice history
12 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 3 Jun 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published3 Jun 2025, 15:20 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published25 Nov 2025, 10:19 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £828,00025 Nov 2025, 10:19 GMTwas £850,000
- Status changed to active25 Nov 2025, 10:19 GMT
- Procurement method changed25 Nov 2025, 10:19 GMT
- Deadline published: 6 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT25 Nov 2025, 10:19 GMT
- Tender notice published31 Dec 2025, 15:17 GMTUK4
- Deadline moved to 20 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT31 Dec 2025, 15:17 GMT+14 days · was 6 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Contract award notice published18 Mar 2026, 11:24 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete18 Mar 2026, 11:24 GMT
- Contract signature expected2 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published6 Aug 2026, 10:26 BSTUK7
Published amendments (1)
The clarification and tender submission deadlines have been extended.
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-11: 1 release · 25 Nov 2025
- 2025-06: 1 release · 3 Jun 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk Family Carers LimitedSMEVCSE1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2028 · up to 30 Jun 2030Extensions: The contract can be extended by up to 24 months. | £983,540 | 18 Mar 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Suffolk Family Carers LimitedSMEVCSE
- Signed
- 1 Jul 2026
- Value
- £983,540
- Period
- 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2028 · up to 30 Jun 2030 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Contract can be extended by up to 24 months
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders · 5 at stage one | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- SUFFOLK FAMILY CARERS LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender