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Published 28 Nov 2025, 12:19 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Therapeutic Residential Home Services with Education for Children with Complex Needs (Cross Regional Project)

Official notice

Authority: Oxfordshire County Council (Local council)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitableAccelerated
Sectors: Health & Social Care (85) Delivery: East of England (UKH2)South East (UKJ1)
Published estimate£172,000,000≈ £34m / year · £206,400,000 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 13 May 2026
Next notice expected 21 Apr 2026
Contract term 5 yrsends 31 Jul 2032 · up to 31 Jul 2037 with extensions · starts 1 Aug 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Cross Regional contract on behalf of Councils Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes, Reading, Bedford and Oxfordshire to offer residential and educational provision for Children We Care For (CWCF) with complex social, behavioural and educational needs.

Cross Regional Project (CRP) delivers therapeutic residential care and educational services for children aged 11–17 with complex needs, operating across 11 homes in partner counties offering 36 placements. A registered special school, commissioned under a block contract, provides education for pupils aged 11–17—including those without EHCPs—across Key Stages 3 to 5.

The new service will launch on August 1, 2027, starting with 36 placements and potentially expanding by 24 more.

Following the contract commencement date, Partners can buy extra placements at any time during the contract.

  • How the procedure runs: This is a two stage procedure where stage 1 is on conditions of participation and focus is on potential suppliers passing the procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ). Following publication of the tender documents, Stage 1 will involve an assessment of bidders' responses to mandatory conditions of participation questions. These responses will be evaluated using a Pass/Fail model. The successful bidders of Stage 1 will be invited to bid in Stage 2. Stage 2 evaluation assess bidders' responses to quality questions relevant to the provision of service requirement. Shortlisted bidders may be invited to attend an interview with a panel from the Consortium, which will form part of the quality assessment.

CPV: Health and social work services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Renewal 5 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£172,000,000
Contract period: 1 Aug 2027 – 31 Jul 2032 (5 yrs) · up to 31 Jul 2037 with extensionsValue: £172,000,000 exc. VAT · £206,400,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: East of England, South EastEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: There is the option to increase placements up to 24 (+ 3 optional for Milton Keynes) individual placements during the lifetime of the contract. · Extension period is up to 5 years in aggregate when agreed by all parties.Second stage: 1–10 candidates invited to tender
85000000 Health and social work services
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)3
  • Economic & financial standing

    Financial assessment on publicly available full accounts of providers for the last 2 years will be conducted.

  • Technical & professional ability

    Details of up to 3 contracts to meet the technical and professional ability criteria set out in the procurement documents will be required.

  • Condition of participation

    Pass on mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds including debarment checks

    Economic and Financial standing.

    Technical and Professional Ability

    OFSTED registration

    Mobilisation

    shortlisting

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
How bids were scored
Quality: 70%Price: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
  • Quality: Quality includes Social Value
  • Price: Pricing Schedule
Conditions of participation3
  • Economic & financial standing

    Financial assessment on publicly available full accounts of providers for the last 2 years will be conducted.

  • Technical & professional ability

    Details of up to 3 contracts to meet the technical and professional ability criteria set out in the procurement documents will be required.

  • Condition of participation

    Pass on mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds including debarment checks

    Economic and Financial standing.

    Technical and Professional Ability

    OFSTED registration

    Mobilisation

    shortlisting
What this means for your bid
  • 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
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Closed
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
28 Nov 2025, 12:19 GMT
Last source update
21 Apr 2026, 12:35 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 12 Oct 2026
Authority reference
I-4287
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-036049
Accelerated
Light touch contract
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Health and social work services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH2)South East (UKJ1)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05eafe Find a Tender
Contract terms summary

Payment of valid invoice will be 30 days after receipt.

How it runs

This is a two stage procedure where stage 1 is on conditions of participation and focus is on potential suppliers passing the procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ).

Following publication of the tender documents, Stage 1 will involve an assessment of bidders' responses to mandatory conditions of participation questions. These responses will be evaluated using a Pass/Fail model.

The successful bidders of Stage 1 will be invited to bid in Stage 2.

Stage 2 evaluation assess bidders' responses to quality questions relevant to the provision of service requirement. Shortlisted bidders may be invited to attend an interview with a panel from the Consortium, which will form part of the quality assessment.

Review and risk notes
Risks

The availability of properties in the right locations.

Lengthy Ofsted registration processes due to recently introduced priority matrix which could be 18 -24 months for registration in an area saturated with children’s residential provision.

Recruiting staff in the current market.

Increased possibility of disputes

Too much growth (scaling up) may lead to voids due to some young people being placed in these residential settings as the preferred option if a fostering placement is not available.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: ProContract (Due North) · Who buys & how to bid on ProContract
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · short registration with manual review; public opportunity list
Requests to participate (first stage)
13 May 2026, 16:00 BST
Submission deadline
13 May 2026, 16:00 BST
Clarification deadline
11 May 2026, 23:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

sebp.due-north.com ↗

Timeline

28 Nov 2025 → 1 Aug 2027 · 8 dates
  1. Planning notice published335 days ago
    28 Nov 2025, 12:19 GMT
  2. Market engagement314 days ago · met
    19 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT

    This is a preliminary market to seek views from potential providers on how best to deliver Cross Regional Project that offers residential, educational and therapeutic services for children aged 11 to 17 inclusive with complex needs.

    To partake in this preliminary market engagement, potential providers can register on and access the Council's e-tendering system - Proactis on: procontract.due-north.com/ProjectManagement/Pr… ↗ then clicking on the "Opportunities" tile to search for the pre-market engagement project (reference:DN798997).

    A preliminary market engagement questionnaire will be available on this project for providers to download and respond to by the end of Friday 19th December 2025.

    Please note that any commercially sensitive information supplied by providers will be stored confidentially and will not be disclosed to any third party.

    Also note that this is neither a call for competition nor a procurement exercise.

  3. Tender notice published191 days ago
    21 Apr 2026, 12:35 BST
  4. Next notice expected191 days ago
    21 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Clarification questions by171 days ago
    11 May 2026, 23:00 BST
  6. Submission deadline169 days ago
    13 May 2026, 16:00 BST
  7. Award decision expected by17 days ago
    12 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  8. Today
    30 Oct 2026
  9. Contract startsin 274 days
    1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

15 events · 12 releases on Find a Tender · since 28 Nov 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    28 Nov 2025, 12:19 GMT
    UK2
  2. Pipeline notice published
    16 Mar 2026, 14:25 GMT
    UK1
  3. Status changed to planned
    16 Mar 2026, 14:25 GMT
  4. Planned procurement notice published
    16 Mar 2026, 14:32 GMT
    UK3
  5. Procurement method changed
    16 Mar 2026, 14:32 GMT
  6. Pipeline notice published
    17 Mar 2026, 11:27 GMT
    UK1
  7. Planned procurement notice published
    2 Apr 2026, 11:52 BST
    UK3
  8. Pipeline notice published
    2 Apr 2026, 12:02 BST
    UK1
  9. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    2 Apr 2026, 12:13 BST
    UK2
  10. Pipeline notice published
    15 Apr 2026, 14:11 BST
    UK1
  11. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Apr 2026, 14:12 BST
    UK2
  12. Planned procurement notice published
    15 Apr 2026, 14:18 BST
    UK3
  13. Planned procurement notice published
    17 Apr 2026, 14:06 BST
    UK3
  14. Tender notice published
    21 Apr 2026, 12:35 BST
    UK4
  15. Status changed to active
    21 Apr 2026, 12:35 BST
Published amendments (5)

The correct tender publish date is 2nd April 2026.

New tender publish date.

New tender publish date

Change to tender publish date, clarification deadline and tender submission date

Dates on tender submission changed as approval is required from Consortium members on updated required insurance levels.

Routine re-releases (12)
  • 2026-04: 5 releases · 2 Apr 2026, 15 Apr 2026
  • 2026-03: 3 releases · 16 Mar 2026, 17 Mar 2026
  • 2025-11: 1 release · 28 Nov 2025

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Oxfordshire County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PZNW-8281-MHNM County Hall, Oxford, South East, OX1 1NDContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (13)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Bidding documents and specificationstenderBidding documents and specificationsAccess: Documents will be uploaded on the portal, https://sebp.due-north.com/

Notices published for this procedure

Show 4 more notices
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Planned procurement notice planningPlanned procurement noticeUK3Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Preliminary market engagement notice planningPreliminary market engagement noticeUK2Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender