Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 7 Aug 2026, 10:16 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Supported Accommodation for Separated Migrant Children (SMC)

Authority: Birmingham Children's Trust

Dynamic marketServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Market period 4 yrsends 28 Feb 2031 · up to 28 Feb 2035 with extensions · starts 1 Mar 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Birmingham Children's Trust is undertaking preliminary market engagement in relation to the proposed procurement of supported accommodation services for Separated Migrant Children (SMC).

The purpose of the engagement is to help the Trust understand the current market, provider capacity and capability, and to obtain feedback to inform the development of the service requirements and proposed procurement approach.

The proposed requirement covers supported accommodation for separated migrant children and young people, including:

Under 18 SMC Supported Accommodation – Ofsted-registered supported accommodation for separated migrant children aged 16–17; and

18+ Former SMC Supported Accommodation – supported accommodation for young people who have previously been accommodated through children's services and continue to require accommodation and support following their eighteenth birthday.

Providers are invited to participate in the market engagement exercise by completing the market sounding questionnaire.

Feedback received through the exercise will be considered by the Trust when developing the final service requirements and procurement approach. Participation in the market engagement does not form part of the evaluation of any subsequent procurement.

CPV: Social work services with accommodation

How this dynamic market works

From the published notice
Type
Dynamic market
Market period
4 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 1 Mar 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 4 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Mar 2027 – 28 Feb 2031 (4 yrs) · up to 28 Feb 2035 with extensions
Delivery: West MidlandsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
What this means for your bid
  • “Supported Accommodation for Separated Migrant Children (SMC)” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

Competition for Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up

Birmingham Children's Trust has too little published record in this market to describe on its own. Published market evidence for the same work stands beside whatever it has. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bidWhat to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 8531 · West Midlands, n=7
57%

Across this market, small firms won 57% of awards with a known supplier size.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in West Midlands.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 8531 · West Midlands, n=9
44%

Across this market, 44% of winners were registered in the delivery region.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 8531 · UK-wide, n=33
75 days

Half of these awards were announced within 75 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 8531 · UK-wide, n=39
10%

Across this market, at least 10% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.

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.

Last 36 months.

The market9 lots with bid counts · CPV 8531 · West Midlands
11% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid11%
Market: 1 of 9 lots with published bid counts.
2–311%
Market: 1 of 9 lots with published bid counts.
4–633%
Market: 3 of 9 lots with published bid counts.
7+44%
Market: 4 of 9 lots with published bid counts.

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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.

2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 853148 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
Expected competition
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 88 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet7% single-bid risk
Past bids on 88 similar lots
1 bid7%
6 of 88 similar past lots received 1 bid (7%).
2–313%
11 of 88 similar past lots received 2–3 (13%).
4–617%
15 of 88 similar past lots received 4–6 (17%).
7+64%
56 of 88 similar past lots received 7+ (64%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 15.5 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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.

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.

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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Dynamic market
Who may use this agreement
Any qualifying supplier may apply while the market is open
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
7 Aug 2026, 10:16 BST
Last source update
12 Oct 2026, 11:11 BST
Authority reference
2612SEPABO
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095979
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Social work services with accommodation
Delivery area
West Midlands (UKG31)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dec3 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Admission period ends
—

Timeline

7 Aug 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published75 days ago
    7 Aug 2026, 10:16 BST
  2. Tender notice expected19 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Latest notice published9 days ago
    12 Oct 2026, 11:11 BST
  4. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  5. Market engagementin 3 days
    24 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST

    We are keen to hear from providers to better understand market capacity and capability, potential delivery models and any opportunities or challenges that we should consider when developing our future requirements.

    We are particularly interested in hearing from Birmingham-based and regional providers with experience and expertise in supporting both under-18s and over-18s.

    Please find attached a Market Engagement Questionnaire - Market Engagement Questionnaire – Fill in form. We would be grateful if you could complete and return this by noon 23rd October 2026 to [email protected].

    This exercise is for market engagement purposes only and does not form part of a formal procurement process. The feedback received will be used to help inform the Trust’s future approach.

    Thank you for taking the time to contribute.

  6. Contract startsin 131 days
    1 Mar 2027

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Aug 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    7 Aug 2026, 10:16 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Oct 2026, 11:11 BST
    UK2

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

BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S TRUST COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: 10762047 · GB-PPON: PCJW-7359-HTYM 1 Avenue Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, B6 4DUContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure