Official UK procurement notice
Experts at Hand: Occupational Therapy, Inclusion and Participation Service
Authority: Norfolk County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement description'Experts at Hand' is designed to transform how support for children and young people with SEND is delivered, by bringing specialist expertise directly into mainstream early years, primary, secondary and post-16 settings. By embedding 'expert roles', such as occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, and specialist teachers, alongside setting staff. The offer supports earlier identification of need, strengthens workforce confidence and capability, and provides timely, evidence-based support within everyday learning environments.
The Experts at Hand offer will support mainstream settings across early years, primary, secondary and post-16, to better identify and meet the needs of children and young people with emerging or identified SEND. It will provide dedicated professional expertise tailored to the needs of individual children and young people, through observation, assessment, and identifying appropriated targeted support to help more children and young people flourish within their settings.
Norfolk County Council (NCC) is undertaking a procurement exercise and is inviting suitably qualified and experienced applicants to submit offers to deliver the Occupational Therapy, Inclusion and Participation Service.
The procurement is being conducted under regulation 11 of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) in accordance with the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (the Regulations).
As the Council's funding is currently confirmed until 31 March 2029, any initial contract term will end on 31 March 2029. The Authority may, at its sole discretion, extend the Contract for up to three (3) years should additional funding become available. Any decision to extend the contract will be subject to the availability of future national funding and internal governance approval.
Accordingly, there is no guarantee that any extension will be offered. Any extension will be subject to a further Key Decision in accordance with the Authority's governance arrangements.
The value of the initial term is £3,829,100 split as follows:
- Financial Year 2026/27 - £835,260
- Financial Year 2027/28 - £1,474,800
- Financial Year 2028/29 - £1,519,040
It is anticipated that the Contract will be awarded on 20 January 2027, with service delivery commencing on 22 February 2027.
CPV: Community health services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The procurement route adopted is a competitive process with dialogue in accordance…Renewal
The procurement route adopted is a competitive process with dialogue in accordance with regulation 11 PSR.
The procurement will be conducted in the following stages:
Applicants must complete the Basic Selection Criteria (BSC) - Form A and the Key Criteria (which includes pricing) - Form B and submit them in accordance with the timetable set out in the procurement documents.
Applicants must pass the Basic Selection Criteria (Form A) - before their Key Criteria (Form B) are considered. Applicants who fail Form A will not be considered any further and will be notified at this stage if they are unsuccessful.
Applicants that pass Form A will be evaluated against their responses in their Form B and price.
Contract award will be based on the information set out within the procurement documents.
The Council reserves the right to make adjustments to the structure of the Competitive Process, provided that any such adjustments do not alter the overall nature of the procurement, and are communicated transparently and applied equally to all applicants.
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 sub-criteria (4)
- Quality & Innovation: 40%
- Improving Access and Reducing Inequalities: 25%
- Social Value: 10%
- Integration, Collaboration and Sustainability: 25%
Published award criteria (5)
- Quality & Innovation: 40%
- Integration, Collaboration and Sustainability: 25%
- Improving Access and Reducing Inequalities: 25%
- Social Value: 10%
- Price: Value - Pass/Fail
- Suitability
All details are contained in the procurement documents available on the e-procurement platform - In-tend.
- Economic & financial standing
All details are contained in the procurement documents available on the e-procurement platform - In-tend.
Minimum: All details are contained in the procurement documents available on the e-procurement platform - In-tend.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Norfolk County Council buys Social services (CPV 8532), and who usually turns up
Norfolk County Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Social services (CPV 8532) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East of England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 42 days of the bid deadline.
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.
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.
1 bid11% / 21%
2–311% / 11%
4–658% / 53%
7+21% / 16%
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.
Below estimate36% / 21%
Within ±2%59% / 79%
Above estimate5% / 0%
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.
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 #1The procurement route adopted is a competitive process with dialogue in accordance…CPV 8532Estimate not published
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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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid22%
2–319%
4–644%
7+16%
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.
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.
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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £690m36 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 9 live · £270m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=16 | |
Barnardo'sLarge | £167m83 awards in 36m · last this month | 31 live · £87m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=38 |
| £1.0bn31 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 4 live · £199m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=8 | |
| £132m34 awards in 36m · last this month | 7 live · £61m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs | |
The Forward TrustLarge | £146m16 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 6 live · £41m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=8 |
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 earlier-work matches 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.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 9 Oct 2026, 15:04 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Oct 2026, 15:04 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 13 Nov 2026 – …
- Authority reference
NCCT43502- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095752- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0784f0Find a Tender
- Performance terms
All details are contained in the procurement documents available on the e-procurement platform - In-tend.
Publisher note: The procurement will be conducted using the Competitive Process under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) 2023. This is not a procurement under the Public Contracts Regulations 2024. The full specification and procurement documents will be available upon In-tend. Applicants must register for free to access the documents. The estimated total value of the contract including any potential extension(s) is £8,400,000.00. This figure has been calculated using the 2026 prices and excludes inflation.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via In-tend- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 13 Nov 2026, 10:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 180 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 13 Nov 2026, 11:00 GMT
Timeline
9 Oct 2026 → 13 Nov 2026 · 3 dates- Notice published18 days ago9 Oct 2026, 15:04 BST
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Submission deadlinein 15 days13 Nov 2026, 10:00 GMT
- Bids openedin 15 days13 Nov 2026, 11:00 GMT
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
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Independent patient choice and procurement panel LondonReview body
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Technical selection criteria