Official UK procurement notice
Urgent and Specialist Support for Children and Young People
Authority: West Sussex County Council (Local council)
Sectors: Health & Social Care (85) Delivery: South East (UKJ2)
Contract value (direct award)£11,000,000≈ £7.3m / year · £13,200,000 inc. VAT
Awarded 1 Apr 2026no call for competition
Awarded to AG Family Support Ltd +7 more8 awards
Contract term 1 yr 6 moends 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2026
Re-procurement plannedUrgent and Specialist Support for Children and Young People · tender expected
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUrgent and Specialist Support Services provide rapid‑response staffing for children and young people with complex behavioural, medical, or mental health needs, helping stabilise placements and prevent escalation to secure or inpatient settings.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewal
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 11 Mar 2026, 12:56 GMT
- Last source update
- 20 May 2026, 07:49 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-045970- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066736Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Urgency; only one supplier could deliver (user choice)
- Published justification
This justifications apply because:
- This is a statutory and essential service; the Council must place Children and Young People requiring urgent and specialist support regardless of cost.
- Extreme urgency results from the Framework's expiry and the extension unpredictably being non-compliant. This is combined with a continuing number of high risk and complex placements.
- This event was unforeseen and occurred without prior warning, leaving the Council insufficient time to conduct a compliant competitive procedure.
The situation is unavoidable and demands immediate action to prevent serious harm to Children and Young People who the Council have a statutory responsibility to provide these services for.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
11 Mar 2026 → 1 Jun 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published228 days ago11 Mar 2026, 12:56 GMT
- Next notice expected223 days ago16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts208 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published159 days ago20 May 2026, 07:49 BST
- Standstill ends146 days ago1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
Notice history
8 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 Mar 2026- Pipeline notice published11 Mar 2026, 12:56 GMTUK1
- Transparency notice published27 Mar 2026, 12:03 GMTUK5
- Status changed to complete27 Mar 2026, 12:03 GMT
- Procurement method changed27 Mar 2026, 12:03 GMT
- Contract award notice published20 May 2026, 07:49 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected30 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract signature expected31 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract signature expected2 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 8
Awarded value £13,200,0005 awards exc. VAT · 3 list or panel totals repeated on several suppliers, not summed
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AG Family Support LtdSME1 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £40,000 | 1 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
| Airmid Staffing LimitedSME1 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £40,000 | 1 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
| anzuk Education LtdSME1 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £40,000 | 1 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
| BESPOKE GUARDIANS LTD3 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £7,000,000 | 1 Apr 2026standstill to 1 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
| BLUELIGHT HEALTHCARE RECRUITMENT LIMITEDSME1 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £500,000 | 1 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
| CARE FIRST 24 LTDSME3 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £700,000 | 1 Apr 2026standstill to 1 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
| Nursing Direct LtdSME3 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £2,000,000 | 1 Apr 2026standstill to 1 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
| VERVE HOMECARE SUSSEX LTD3 Jun 2026 – 30 Sept 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2028Extensions: Up to 6 month extension | £3,000,000 | 1 Apr 2026standstill to 1 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
8 commercial parties on the notice- AG FAMILY SUPPORT LTD.Awarded supplier
- AIRMID STAFFING LTDAwarded supplier
- ANZUK EDUCATION LTDAwarded supplier
- BESPOKE GUARDIANS LTDAwarded supplier
- BLUELIGHT HEALTHCARE RECRUITMENT LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- CARE FIRST 24 LTDAwarded supplier
- NURSING DIRECT HEALTHCARE LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- VERVE HOMECARE SUSSEX LTDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (17)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
Show 9 more notices
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender