Official UK procurement notice
The Integrated Community Equipment Loan Service
Authority: West Northamptonshire Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Invitation to Tender ("ITT") contains instructions and key information about the procurement process. This ITT constitutes the conditions of the procurement process and by participating, Potential Suppliers agree to these conditions.
West Northamptonshire Council ("Authority") wishes to invite tenders for the supply of goods in respect of this requirement.
This procurement is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 Section 9 Light Touch Contracts.
This procurement is being conducted through the Open procedure to identify the Potential Supplier(s) for the Authority's requirement.
The ICELS supports people to remain independent within their own homes, reduces health inequalities, promotes recovery, rehabilitation, and enables people to live more safely.
The ICELS will provide timely access to equipment that supports prevention, hospital avoidance, hospital discharge, intermediate care, rehabilitation, reablement, palliative and end-of-life care, continuing healthcare and long-term community support.
Privately purchased equipment shall be made available to self-funding people at the contract rates, and the Provider shall be responsible for liaising directly with a person in relation to assessment, supply, installation and aftercare.
Read the full description (490 more characters)
The Provider shall work collaboratively with Commissioners to develop and maintain a self-assessment model, including an accessible online assessment tool. This shall enable people and carers to complete a structured assessment of their needs, receive appropriate information, and signposting to suitable equipment options.
The Contract will be for an initial period of 5 years with the option to extend by a further 3 years (5+1+1+1). The contract is intended to commence on 1st April 2027.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 31 Aug 2031, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Social work and related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1RenewalPublished value£94,955,860
- Value
- £94,955,860 exc. VAT · £113,947,003 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- The Authority proposes to enter into one (1) contract for an initial period of 5 years with the preferred Supplier, with an option to extend for a further 3 x 1-year periods making 8 years in total.
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).
- QUALITY — The Award Criteria Questionnaire carries a total weight of 100%. This is split between Price 40% and Quality 60%
- Economic & financial standingAll the information has been provided in the documents
- Technical & professional abilityAll the information has been provided in the documents
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How West Northamptonshire Council buys Social work and related services (CPV 8530) — and who usually turns up
West Northamptonshire Council’s own published record, next to the East Midlands market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Social work and related services (CPV 8530) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
West Northamptonshire Council
contract notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 8530 · 32 in division 85 (2 without competition · 6 route not published) · 485 in all categories (45 without competition · 35 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 12 lots. 9 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 3 from older notices (bids received, middle 2).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 12 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 10 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 11 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.
Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 700 notices.
i
How often this buyer awards without a competition.
Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 85), last 36 months: 26 notices.
East Midlands · Social work and related services (CPV 8530)
contract notices delivered in East Midlands in 36 months: 74 in CPV 8530 (39 competed, 33 route not published) · 1,757 in division 85 (473 competed, 306 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8530), last 36 months: 20 lots. 15 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 5 from older notices (bids received, middle 3).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8530), last 36 months: 20 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8530), last 36 months: 16 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8530), last 36 months: 13 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8530), last 36 months: 16 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8530), last 36 months: 29 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
Based on this buyer’s own usual movement over 10 lots (division 85), applied to the £94,955,860 estimate on this notice.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Who you are likely to meet i
Who you may be up against.
Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.
A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.
i
Who you may be up against.
Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.
A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.
Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list
Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price i
Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.
Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.
A guess from the record, not a bidder list.
i
Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.
Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.
A guess from the record, not a bidder list.
| Supplier | Evidence | Last award | Their award vs estimate | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Support Large | 5 class wins · 3 lots for this buyer | 2 months ago | at estimate n=11 | 50% |
| POhWER Large | 4 class wins · 2 lots for this buyer | 2 months ago | at estimate n=8 | 48% |
| TURNING POINT (SERVICES) LIMITED Large | 6 class wins | this month | at estimate n=5 | 46% |
| Mears Supported Living Scotland Large | 4 class wins | 22 months ago | 12% above n=1 | 42% |
| Action for Children Large | 7 class wins | this month | at estimate n=11 | 41% |
Matched by the nightly worker on class wins, buyer history, delivery geography, scale and notice text; relevance is a 0–100% heuristic score, not a probability of bidding. “Their award vs estimate” is that supplier’s median on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 8530 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
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
- Open for tender
- 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
- Yes · next expected 31 Aug 2031
- First published
- 22 Sept 2026, 15:29 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Sept 2026, 15:29 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 15 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Authority reference
Ref Number:WNC000633- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0777c8Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via portal- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 20 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 6 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
5 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice published1 day ago22 Sept 2026, 15:29 BST
- Clarification questions byin 13 days6 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadlinein 27 days20 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected byin 83 days15 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 189 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published22 Sept 2026, 15:29 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
- Bidding documents and specifications
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender