VCSE Support & Deliver to NHS BRISTOL, NORTH SOMERSET AND SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE (BNSSG) INTEGRATED CARE BOARD (ICB)

This notice is placed as a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN) to inform the market of Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board's (ICB) (the Commissioner) intention to commission Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Support & Deliver service. The Commissioner would like to understand the level of provider and partner interest in delivering these services.

The Commissioner is seeking to secure a Provider that has the capability and capacity to deliver VCSE Support & Deliver service. The purpose of the VCSE Support & Deliver service is to enable and support a mature VCSE market that can deliver health and care services in the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care System (ICS). The objectives of the service are:

a. Enable and support VCSE collaborations to deliver in neighbourhoods and communities.

b. Test and provide approaches to targeted capacity building / market development support for priority VCSE organisations / communities.

c. Provide service that supports wellbeing / health programmes to reach diverse and mature VCSE market and VCSE organisations to make innovative proposals for delivery.

The Commissioner's intention is to source a single contract with a single contracting entity, for a service that will cover the entire BNSSG area.

The service will be for three years, with a possible extension of two years, and will start in the early part of the 2026/27 financial year.

The following should be noted:

a. The VCSE sector in BNSSG is estimated to number 8,000 independent, diverse VCSE organisations, 80% of which are micro and small (with annual turnover up to £100,000, employing up to 5 people).

b. The BNSSG VCSE Vision and its goals (culture, planning, decision-making, new models and innovation / improvement) provide the framework for the VCSE Support & Deliver services and the related VCSE Structure & Strategy service (a separate PMEN - www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068390-2025 ↗).

c. Activities similar to those to be commissioned are currently provided through a grant-funding arrangement between BNSSG ICB and the BNSSG VCSE Alliance. In particular, the third element of this service ('Provide service that supports wellbeing / health programmes to reach diverse and mature VCSE market and VCSE organisations to make innovative proposals for delivery') will further develop the VCSE Brokerage Framework test-and-learn pilot - a co-designed approach to enable a diverse range of VCSE organisations to deliver health and wellbeing improvements in local communities, through investment from Integrated Care System (ICS) health and social care partners. Further information about the pilot: bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk/voluntary-community-… ↗

Work is progressing to create the new ICB from the NHS BNSSG ICB and the NHS Gloucestershire ICB. The detail of the new ICB will become clear over time and it is possible that the VCSE Structure & Strategy service will need to include Gloucestershire as well as BNSSG.

This market engagement focusses on BNSSG coverage and functions. It does not supersede or replace the work currently underway to develop a Gloucestershire VCSE partnership model; and it builds on the VCSE collaborative approach in BNSSG.

Following publication of the NHS 10 Year Plan, which reframes the roles of ICBs to focus on strategic commissioning for population health, work is progressing to create a new ICB by merging the current NHS BNSSG ICB and NHS Gloucestershire ICB footprints.

The detail of the new ICB will become clear over time, but we know that both systems have established ways of working and collaborating with the VCSE sector over the existing footprints.

Over time we anticipate an integration of VCSE approach and collaboration across the two systems which builds on the strengths of both and does so in a way that retains the independence and uniqueness of each. We are clear that any integration will take time and need to be done in an open and transparent way with our VCSE partners.

It is not possible to state that TUPE will or will not apply at this stage, as the requirements of the VCSE Support & Deliver service will develop after this notice and market engagement.

Relating to this exercise, the BNSSG ICB has recently held pre-market engagement for another related service: the "VCSE Structure & Strategy service". In summary, the purpose (provisional) of the VCSE Structure & Strategy service is to provide structure within the VCSE sector so that it can be an equal partner in the BNSSG Integrated Care System (ICS).

The objectives (provisional) of the service are:

a. Provide VCSE structure / interface with VCSE sector and ICS - through culture, planning, decision-making, new models and innovation / improvement.

b. Support co-design and implementation of strategic commissioning and strategic developments, including the BNSSG VCSE Vision, Healthier Together 2040 and neighbourhood health.

9. Early estimate envelope of c. £120,000 per annum, for a term of three years, with a possible extension of two years, totalling £600,000. These figures are provided as a means for providers to ascertain scale and are highly liable to change before any formal procurement process is undertaken.
10. The Commissioner is seeking for all interested parties to register their interest and provide responses to a supplementary market engagement questionnaire. Access details have been included in the "Engagement" section of this notice. The Commissioner encourages all interested parties to engage with this process, be it potential prime providers, interested subcontractors or even parties who do not wish to bid but believe they may be impacted by this service.

This exercise is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner.