Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 18 Jun 2026, 11:57 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Swindon Home Care - Pre Market Engagement

Authority: Swindon Borough Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdLight touch regime
Planned pipeline value£160,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 10 yrsends 16 Jan 2038 · starts 17 Jan 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Swindon Borough Council invites you to contribute to the Preliminary market engagement in relation to the provision of Homecare and would welcome the views of suppliers on the questions set out in the questionnaire. The intention is to invite supplier feedback to help shape the model options and specification and to ensure the tender delivers the optimum outcomes for the Council.

It is anticipated that further Preliminary Market Engagement events will take place and the Council reserves the right to issue further questions at a future date.

Background

Swindon Borough Council would like to understand the market’s ability to respond to a range of delivery models that are being considered in the recommissioning of home care in readiness for a new contract being in place to start in January 2028. The Council is keen to understand what the market would wish to respond to and to understand any barriers and issues that the market is aware of, or where issues or risks could emerge as a result of taking any one approach.

The term of the contract is yet to be determined; however, it is likely to be of a similar duration to the current ten- year contract currently in place.

CPV: Other community, social and personal services · Social work and related services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How Swindon Borough Council buys Social work and related services (CPV 8530), and who usually turns up

Swindon Borough Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Social work and related services (CPV 8530) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerSwindon Borough Council · division 85
The marketSocial work and related services (CPV 8530) · South West England
What 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.

Buyer: 2 of 4 known-size awards · market: CPV 8530 · South West England, n=34
2 of 456%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 12 known-location awards · market: CPV 8530 · South West England, n=60
42%32%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 6 decided notices · market: CPV 8530 · South West England, n=13
65 days55 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 65 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.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 4 of 12 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8530 · South West England, n=53
33%49%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

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.

This buyer7 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 85
29% had one bid
The market26 lots with bid counts · CPV 8530 · South West England
12% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid29% / 12%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 26 lots with published bid counts.
2–314% / 54%
Buyer: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 14 of 26 lots with published bid counts.
4–629% / 19%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 26 lots with published bid counts.
7+29% / 15%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 26 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.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer6 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 85
17% below estimate
The market16 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8530 · South West England
19% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate17% / 19%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 16 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%67% / 81%
Buyer: 4 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 13 of 16 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17% / 0%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 0 of 16 lots with an estimate and award.
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 8530120 monthsPublished estimate£160m
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 26 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 26 similar lots
1 bid12%
3 of 26 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–354%
14 of 26 similar past lots received 2–3 (54%).
4–619%
5 of 26 similar past lots received 4–6 (19%).
7+15%
4 of 26 similar past lots received 7+ (15%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £160m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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
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
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
18 Jun 2026, 11:57 BST
Last source update
18 Jun 2026, 11:57 BST
Authority reference
1
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-057501
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Other community, social and personal servicesSocial work and related services
Delivery area
South West (UKK14)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b7e8 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

18 Jun 2026 → 17 Jan 2028 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published130 days ago
    18 Jun 2026, 11:57 BST
  2. Market engagement101 days ago
    16 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST

    Home care in Swindon

    Swindon Borough Council invites you to contribute to the Preliminary market engagement in relation to the provision of Homecare and would welcome the views of suppliers on the questions set out in the questionnaire. The intention is to invite supplier feedback to help shape the model options and specification and to ensure the tender delivers the optimum outcomes for the Council.

    It is anticipated that further Preliminary Market Engagement events will take place and the Council reserves the right to issue further questions at a future date.

    Background

    Swindon Borough Council would like to understand the market’s ability to respond to a range of delivery models that are being considered in the recommissioning of home care in readiness for a new contract being in place to start in January 2028. The Council is keen to understand what the market would wish to respond to and to understand any barriers and issues that the market is aware of, or where issues or risks could emerge as a result of taking any one approach.

    The term of the contract is yet to be determined; however, it is likely to be of a similar duration to the current ten- year contract currently in place.

    More details can be found in the documents on the portal DN819598

    Engagement Process Description

    To participate in this Preliminary Market engagement Suppliers will need to Register as a Supplier with ProContract, www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk ↗, then Register an Interest before obtaining access to the Preliminary Market Engagement documents.

    Responses to the Preliminary Market Engagement Questionnaire are required to be submitted no later than 16th July 2026 midday ( 12 noon) UK Local time via ProContract tender portal - www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk ↗

    Contract Start, End and Extension End Date:

    Anticipated January 2028 end date to be ascertained unlikely to be less than 10 years

  3. Today
    26 Oct 2026
  4. Contract starts
    17 Jan 2028

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Jun 2026, 11:57 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

Swindon Borough Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PNPT-6195-XDWV Swindon Borough Council, Civic Offices, Euclid Street, Swindon, South West, SN1 2JHContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure