Official UK procurement notice
Tender for the Provision of Connect to Work Programme Sep 2025
Authority: Buckinghamshire Council (Local council)
Sectors: Education & Training (80) Delivery: South East (UKJ13)
Published estimate£6,410,387≈ £1.6m / year · £7,692,465 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 4 Nov 2025awarded 26 Nov 2025
Awarded to Intuitive Thinking Skills Ltd
Contract term 3 yrs 11 moends 1 Mar 2030 · starts 1 Apr 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAs part of the UK Government’s Get Britain Working agenda, Buckinghamshire Council has been working in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop the key supported employment programme Connect to Work.
Connect to Work will depend on successful partnerships with referral partners, employers, employability providers and community services. The support to be made available aligns with local work, health and skills provision to enable individuals to reach their potential through different opportunities, and for employers to grow.
Through this tender, we seek to appoint one delivery partner with a proven track record of delivering effective supported employment programmes so that participants with complex barriers can access sustainable employment, employers may access a new pool of talent, and through this, our economy will thrive.
CPV: Education and training services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£6,410,387
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).
How bids were scored
- Simple description: Evaluation Criteria Weighting 40% Organisations experience, facilities, expertise and qualifications to deliver the Connect to Work programme. Participant support This should include: 1. Organisational experience of delivering employment support programmes utilising the IPS and/or SEQF fidelity framework, including any fidelity assessments undertaken to date including Case studies of previous experience of participant support in supported employment programmes must be included. 2. Named personnel and their experience in delivering supported employment opportunities – including IPS/SEQF qualifications including a plan to gain IPS/SEQF qualification if required, or how this will be supported. Outline of the programme of support for: o Out of work participants on the IPS pathway o Out of work participants on the SEQF pathway o In-work (retention) participants on the IPS pathway o In-work (retention) participants on the SEQF pathway 3. Outline of the wrap-around support to sustain the participant throughout the programme. 4. Approach to ensuring that Buckinghamshire residents are targeted and supported with the focus within the Opportunity Bucks wards. 30% Organisations experience, facilities, expertise and qualifications to deliver the Connect to Work programme. Employer support This should include: 1. Organisational experience of delivering employment support programmes with job matching to employers for live, competitive vacancies including the Case studies of previous experience of employer support in supported employment programmes. 2. Named personnel and their experience in engaging employers to deliver outcomes. Also outline of the available support to upskill the employer in supporting individuals with complex barriers throughout the programme. 3. Approach to engaging the Buckinghamshire employers with the focus within the Opportunity Bucks wards. Proposed Approach and Methodologies, including: 30% 1. Project plan which details scoping the project, preparing materials, meeting deadlines including the following: • Named project manager within the team • Delivery partners where known/anticipated (List all known subcontractors anticipated to be involved in the delivery of programme) • Approach to engaging participants and employers • Approach to meeting participant numbers and ability to ramp up delivery to meet peak demand. Number of participants to be engaged on: o Out of work participants on the IPS pathway o Out of work participants on the SEQF pathway o In-work (retention) participants on the IPS pathway o In-work (retention) participants on the SEQF pathway 2. Number of participants to be sustained to outcome 3 3. Customer journey 4. Risk register Pricing The expected funding allocation for the services is set out in the Specification. (Not Scored)
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
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Oct 2025, 11:09 BST
- Last source update
- 1 May 2026, 15:51 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 8 Jan 2026
- Authority reference
DN759424- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-061219- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a5a5Find a Tender
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: In-tend · Who buys & how to bid on In-tend
Access & registration note: Free · one account per buying organisation's portal · reCAPTCHA on signup
- Submission deadline
- 4 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 15 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Through the In-Tend portal, in-tendhost.co.uk/buckinghamshire-coun… ↗
Timeline
1 Oct 2025 → 1 May 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published380 days ago1 Oct 2025, 11:09 BST
- Clarification questions by366 days ago15 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline346 days ago4 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent325 days ago26 Nov 2025
- Standstill ends312 days ago8 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected by281 days ago8 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts199 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published168 days ago1 May 2026, 15:51 BST
Notice history
7 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Oct 2025- Tender notice published1 Oct 2025, 11:09 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published26 Nov 2025, 18:44 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete26 Nov 2025, 18:44 GMT
- Contract signature expected19 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published20 Feb 2026, 11:44 GMTUK7
- Contract details notice published20 Feb 2026, 11:49 GMTUK7
- Contract details notice published1 May 2026, 15:51 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-11: 1 release · 26 Nov 2025
- 2025-10: 1 release · 1 Oct 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 1
Awarded value £6,410,3871 award exc. VAT
Bids received 1
Named bidders 1published on the award notice
Contracts signed 1latest 26 Jan 2026
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Thinking Skills LtdSMETender for the Provision of Connect to Work Programme 20251 Apr 2026 – 1 Mar 2030 | £6,410,387 | 26 Nov 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Tender for the Provision of Connect to Work Programme 2025 · Intuitive Thinking Skills LtdSME
- Signed
- 26 Jan 2026
- Value
- £6,410,387
- Period
- 1 Apr 2026 – 1 Mar 2030
- Status
- active
3 agreed KPIs: 50% of out of work participants to achieve job starts · 40% of out of work participants to achieve a lower-threshold job outcome · 80% of in-work participants achieve a higher-threshold job outcome
- 50% of out of work participants to achieve job starts, DWP mandated KPI
- 40% of out of work participants to achieve a lower-threshold job outcome, DWP mandated KPI
- 80% of in-work participants achieve a higher-threshold job outcome, DWP mandated KPI
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders · 5 at stage one | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonIntuitive Thinking Skills · North West England
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Intuitive Thinking SkillsAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (7)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- 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