Official UK procurement notice
End-to-end Best Interests Assessor Service Court of Protection (CoP) Deprivation of Liberties Service (DoL) and Care Act 2014 Assessment and Reviews
Authority: Staffordshire County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Council is looking to commission a supplier to provide a managed, 'end-to-end' Service for the required number of DoL assessments and COP DoL assessments set by the Council specifically the Age Assessment, No Refusals Assessment, Mental Capacity Assessment and Best Interests Assessment. The supplier will also be required to deliver where required:
a. Care Act assessments
b. Care and support planning
c. Planned and unplanned reviews of existing care and support arrangements
d. Mental Capacity Assessments and Best Interest Decisions where required
e. Carers' assessments when identified
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Oct 2028, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£3,500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Please see the Invitation to Tender (ITT) Procurement Specific Questionnaire ('PSQ').
- Technical & professional ability
Please see the Invitation to Tender (ITT) Procurement Specific Questionnaire ('PSQ').
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).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality: Experience 15% Capacity 8% Recording Information 8% Consultation 6% Representation 6% Support and Professional Development 8% Allocation of cases 7% Quality Assurance 8% Social Value 4% Total 70%
- Price
- Economic & financial standing
Please see the Invitation to Tender (ITT) Procurement Specific Questionnaire ('PSQ').
- Technical & professional ability
Please see the Invitation to Tender (ITT) Procurement Specific Questionnaire ('PSQ').
- 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
- Open 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Oct 2028
- First published
- 29 Jan 2026, 09:25 GMT
- Last source update
- 7 May 2026, 10:22 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 17 Aug 2026
- Authority reference
IA3824- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-041771- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-061183Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Please see the Terms and Conditions.
Upon expiry of the Agreement the Authority shall
consider Schedule 5 Direct Award Justifications, Additional or
repeat goods, services or works.
Section 8 where is it the authorities intention to
carry out a subsequent procurement of similar
services in reliance of this direct award justification.
- Risks
Risk: Annual discretionary fee review
Probability: High Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Council
Impact: May result in change to the amount paid to Suppliers.
Modification required: The Contract has a clause allowing for an annual discretionary price review to be provided for in contract terms. The total value of the contract terms will need to account for any potential increase to the budget.
Risk: Provider failure
Probability: Medium Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Supplier & Council
Impact: May result in having to source alternative service provision at short notice.
Modification required: There are clauses within the contract to serve notice and terminate the contract. The Council has an effective process in place that is managed by the Quality Assurance team when Supplier failure is identified.
Risk: Local Government Re-organisation means that the Contract can no longer be operational within some parts of the geographical districts of Staffordshire
Probability: High Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Council
Impact: This will impact of the geographical areas of Staffordshire and within the new contract area.
Modification required: LGR will be provided for in the Contract terms.
Risk: IT systems and development
Probability: Low Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Council/Supplier
Impact: The Council recognises there is a risk that system updates and/or integration may impact IT system resulting in system failures, data breaches, compromised client confidentiality, cyber security etc.
Modification required: The Supplier will be required where applicable to complete an updated TPSQ. Any modifications will be captured through the relevant clauses and schedules within the contract.
Risk: Cost, Budget and Contractual requirements
Probability: High Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Council/Supplier
Impact: The Council acknowledges there is a risk that increased employee costs due to government changes to National Insurance (NI) and related employee contributions will have an impact.
Modification required: The contract has a Change in Law clause to ensure the Service remains compliant with all Applicable Laws.
Risk: Training
Probability: Low Rating: Known Unknown
Responsibility: Council
Impact: The risk of a lack of skilled workforce.
Modification required: The Service Specification includes the level of qualification required for staff. The contract will have relevant clauses and schedules to enable the Council to serve notice if the service is unable to operate safely.
Risk: Quality
Probability: Medium Rating: Known Unknown
Responsibility: Council/ Supplier
Impact: There is a risk that increasing costs, staff shortage etc may impact on the quality of the Service.
Modification required: The Council will have quality and monitoring clause and schedule within the Contract. Quarterly Contract Review Meetings will be held which will review issues around quality of reviews.
Risk: Operational
Probability: Medium Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Council/Supplier
Impact: The Council is aware there could be operational risks which could impact Service delivery.
Modification required: The Contract has a specific clause which will require the Supplier to develop a Business Continuity Plan which complies with the applicable provisions of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Risk: LPS (Liberty Protection Safeguards)
Probability: Low Rating: Known unknown
Responsibility: Council
Impact: High
Mitigation required: The commissioner will ensure any relevant information is communicated to the Supplier and will work in partnership to consider any implications relating to a decision in relation to the introduction of LPS.
The predicted future modifications including known 'known' risks to a contract not being performed in the future will be captured in the Tender Notice.
These measures are to future proof against any modifications needed to compensate for such risks arising during the term. The Council accepts the possibility that the contract may require modification if one of the identified risks materialise.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 16 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 9 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Suppliers should register on the Councils'
eProcurement system, Proactis.
supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗
Suppliers will need to log in and select
"Opportunities" then enter the tender reference
"IA3824" in the box and select "Search".
All tender documents will be found in the request
document section.
Please see clause 16 of the Terms and Conditions
with regards to further information on the Local
Government Re-Organisation.
Timeline
29 Jan 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 7 dates- Planning notice published274 days ago29 Jan 2026, 09:25 GMT
- Market engagement245 days ago27 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
The Council wishes to commission a Best Interests Assessments and Community DoLs service for eligible Individuals across Staffordshire.
The Council is keen to understand the following supplier views from the market, particularly from a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) point of view:-
- What do you think will be the barriers for suppliers, particularly SME's, during the tender process? For example the length of time the tender advert is out to the market, tender documentation etc.
- What risks or challenges do you think might affect your organisation during the delivery of the Service? For example, legislative changes, IT systems, changes to standards, resource, value for money and operational considerations.
Please send your responses in a word document marked IA3824 PME RESPONSE to peter.hampton@staffordshire.gov.uk by Friday 27 February 2026.
The Council anticipates issuing a tender notice on Friday 8 May 2026 and currently envisages the tender closing 12 noon Tuesday 16 June 2026.
It is anticipated that a bidder event may be held on Wednesday 13 May 2026 (date dependent on the actual tender live date).
As well as completing the required tender documents Suppliers will be required to register on the Central Digital Platform (CDP), to find out more please access the following information:
www.gov.uk/government/collectio… ↗
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67bdf4e489b4a5… ↗
The tender will be issued via the Council's e-tendering system Proactis and you must be registered to participate in the procurement opportunity. You can register expressions of interest via the Councils e-tendering portal
supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Default.aspx ↗
Please search for IA3824 Best Interests Assessments and Community Dols.
- Tender notice published176 days ago7 May 2026, 10:22 BST
- Clarification questions by143 days ago9 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline136 days ago16 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected by74 days ago17 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts30 days ago1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
6 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Jan 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published29 Jan 2026, 09:25 GMTUK2
- Tender notice published7 May 2026, 10:22 BSTUK4
- Published value published: £3,500,0007 May 2026, 10:22 BST
- Status changed to active7 May 2026, 10:22 BST
- Procurement method changed7 May 2026, 10:22 BST
- Deadline published: 16 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST7 May 2026, 10:22 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender