Official UK procurement notice
Market engagement for Specialist Speech and Language Therapy (AAC) for school age children
Authority: West Northamptonshire Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionFairfields School (Northampton) has been awarded the commission to deliver the local High-Tech Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) service for children across Northamptonshire.
As part of our service development, we are inviting independent Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapy organisations with specialist AAC expertise to join an online market engagement event.
We are seeking specialist Speech and Language Therapy support to work alongside our multidisciplinary team in delivering the local High-Tech AAC service.
The initial requirement is anticipated to be:
- 2 days per week
- 40 weeks per year (term time only)
- Potential for extension subject to service demand and contract continuation
We are interested in engaging with providers who can demonstrate:
- Qualification as a Speech and Language Therapist with specialist AAC knowledge and experience (Band 6 or above equivalent)
- Experience undertaking comprehensive assessments and recommending appropriate communication pathways, devices and software solutions
- The ability to produce clear assessment reports and evidence-based recommendations
- Experience of working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams across education, health and social care
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a varied caseload
- Knowledge and application of Therapy Outcome Measures (TOMs) to evidence impact
- Experience delivering training and support to professionals, families and carers
- The ability to contribute to robust reports that demonstrate outcomes and impact through data and evidence
- A person-centred approach that actively involves children, young people and families in communication planning and goal setting
- The ability to motivate, engage and support young people throughout their communication journey
Essential Requirements
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration
- Membership of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)
CPV: Special education services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How West Northamptonshire Council buys Special education services (CPV 8034), and who usually turns up
West Northamptonshire 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: Special education services (CPV 8034) →
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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 55 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 bid2% / 14%
2–35% / 29%
4–69% / 57%
7+85% / 0%
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 estimate16% / 8%
Within ±2%53% / 69%
Above estimate32% / 23%
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 #1CPV 8034Estimate not published
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 77 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid16%
2–334%
4–629%
7+22%
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 8 Oct 2026, 14:03 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Oct 2026, 14:03 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095238- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0783d0Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
8 Oct 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published20 days ago8 Oct 2026, 14:03 BST
- Today29 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 38h30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
As part of our service development, we are inviting independent Speech and Language Therapists and Speech and Language Therapy organisations with specialist AAC expertise to join an online market engagement event.
This session is an opportunity to learn more about the service, understand the requirements of the role, and explore potential opportunities to support the delivery of a high-quality AAC provision for children and young people across Northamptonshire.
We would particularly welcome expressions of interest from:
- Independent Speech and Language Therapists
- Speech and Language Therapy companies and organisations
- Professionals with specialist knowledge and experience in Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC)
- Therapists passionate about supporting children and young people with complex communication needs
The purpose of the session is to:
- Provide an overview of the Northamptonshire High-Tech AAC service
- Outline the specialist support requirements
- Discuss service delivery expectations
- Understand market capacity and capability
- Allow potential providers to ask questions and explore future opportunities
Date: Tuesday 20th October 2026
Time: 4-5pm
Platform: Microsoft Teams teams.microsoft.com/meet/3280658678697594 ↗
To register your expression of interest in attending, please email:
- Contract startsin 32 days1 Dec 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Oct 2026, 14:03 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender