Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 13 Oct 2026, 14:27 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Youth Engagement Service/Integrated Settlement NEET

Authority: Manchester City Council (Local council)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Published estimate£1,040,000≈ £1.0m / year · £1,248,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 9 Nov 202611:00 GMT · 26d 9h left
Clarification cut-off 30 Oct 202611:00 GMT · questions to the authority
Contract term 1 yrends 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Youth Engagement Service/Integrated Settlement NEET is a service that will deliver targeted activity for young people who are NEET, at risk of becoming NEET, or not yet ready to access mainstream post-16 provision without additional preparation NEET prevention and reduction activity for Manchester residents aged 15-18.

The primary focus of this service is young people aged 16-18 who are NEET or at risk of disengagement, young people aged 15 who require earlier preventative support, and eligible young people up to age 25 where this relates to SEND with an Education, Health and Care Plan or Manchester Care Leavers. The service will support these young people to build confidence, readiness, skills and motivation; develop a clear destination plan; access high-quality information, advice and guidance; and move towards an appropriate EET outcome.

The service is a distinct targeted progression and re-engagement service which complements, but does not duplicate, the statutory NEET Prevention and Reduction Service (NPRS). The service will add capacity where young people require bespoke support, structured activity, employability development, mentoring, information, advice and guidance, or a staged pathway before they are able to enter or sustain an education, employment or training destination.

CPV: Guidance and counselling services · Training programme services · Youth education services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Renewal 1 yrSMEVCSEPublished value£1,040,000
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2028 (1 yr) · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensionsValue: £1,040,000 exc. VAT · £1,248,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: North WestEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleTurnover guideline: ~£2,074,317/yr≈ 2× annual value
Extensions: One year contract with the option to extend for an additional one year.
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    See tender documents.

  • Technical & professional ability

    See tender documents.

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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 are scored
Quality: 60%Price: 10%Social value: 20%Environmental: 10%
Published sub-criteria (4)
  • Quality: 60%
  • Price: 10%
  • Social Value: 20%
  • Environment: 10%
Published award criteria (4)
  • Quality
  • Social Value
  • Environment
  • Price
Conditions of participation2
  • Economic & financial standing

    See tender documents.

  • Technical & professional ability

    See tender documents.

What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 10 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 1 point. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
  • Turnover usually expected at this size: about £2,074,317 (twice the annual value).

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Manchester City Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up

Manchester City Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerManchester City Council · division 85
The marketSocial work services (CPV 8531) · North West England
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 10 of 25 known-size awards · market: CPV 8531 · North West England, n=80
40%45%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in North West England.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 31 of 41 known-location awards · market: CPV 8531 · North West England, n=146
76%50%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North West England.

How long to a decision?
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.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 13 decided notices · market: CPV 8531 · North West England, n=36
72 days38 days

Half of these awards were announced within 72 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 16 of 33 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8531 · North West England, n=120
48%56%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer26 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 85
15% had one bid
The market55 lots with bid counts · CPV 8531 · North West England
20% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid15% / 20%
Buyer: 4 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 55 lots with published bid counts.
2–350% / 38%
Buyer: 13 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 21 of 55 lots with published bid counts.
4–612% / 22%
Buyer: 3 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 12 of 55 lots with published bid counts.
7+23% / 20%
Buyer: 6 of 26 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 55 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer24 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 85
4% below estimate
The market42 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8531 · North West England
21% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate4% / 21%
Buyer: 1 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 42 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%96% / 79%
Buyer: 23 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 33 of 42 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 0%
Buyer: 0 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 0 of 42 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 853112 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.0m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 55 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet20% single-bid risk
Past bids on 55 similar lots
1 bid20%
11 of 55 similar past lots received 1 bid (20%).
2–338%
21 of 55 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–622%
12 of 55 similar past lots received 4–6 (22%).
7+20%
11 of 55 similar past lots received 7+ (20%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £1.0m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueMatch
Career ConnectEarlier contractIntegrated Settlement NEET Contractstarted May 2026—£520k55% match

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

No supplier with a record in this category fits this lot yet.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the match score are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

What this replaces
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

49% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (49% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Integrated Settlement NEET Contract — held by Career Connect; no contract end date published.

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
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
13 Oct 2026, 14:27 BST
Last source update
13 Oct 2026, 14:27 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 22 Dec 2026
Authority reference
P-1748
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096592
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Guidance and counselling servicesTraining programme servicesYouth education services
Delivery area
North West (UKD33)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0786a6 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via ProContract (Due North)
Submission portal named on this notice: 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)
—
Tender submission deadline
9 Nov 2026, 11:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
30 Oct 2026, 11:00 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

The Council is using the e-business portal known as the Chest. Applicants will need to register their details at the following link www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ . Once registered, applicants will be emailed a log-in and password which will allow them to gain access to the documentation relating to this opportunity. Applicants will need to electronically submit their completed tender documents, including procurement specific questionnaire, via the on-line portal by 11am on 9th November 2026 as referred to in the tender documentation. Any clarification queries must also be submitted via the Chest website by the date referred to in the tender documentation.

Please see the link to the advert on the Chest portal:

procontract.due-north.com/Procurer/Advert/Adve… ↗

Published estimate £1,040,000 excludes VAT (£1,248,000 including VAT).

Timeline

13 Oct 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Tender notice published1 day ago
    13 Oct 2026, 14:27 BST
  2. Today
    14 Oct 2026
  3. Clarification questions byin 16 days
    30 Oct 2026, 11:00 GMT
  4. Submission deadlinein 26 days
    9 Nov 2026, 11:00 GMT
  5. Award decision expected byin 70 days
    22 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 169 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    13 Oct 2026, 14:27 BST
    UK4

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Manchester City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PLNV-8798-LDMP Town Hall Extension, Manchester, North West, M60 2LAContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Bidding documents and specificationstenderBidding documents and specificationsThe Council is using the e-business portal known as the Chest. Applicants will need to register their details at the following link www.the-chest.org.uk . Once registered, applicants will be emailed a log-in and password which will allow them to gain access to the documentation r…

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender