Official UK procurement notice
Parent Chat - Digital Parenting Support
Authority: Leicester City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionLeicester City Council (LCC) is seeking to commission a Parent Chat service to enhance the parenting support available to Leicester-based parents and carers of children and young people aged 0 to 19 years, or up to 25 years for those with SEND. The service forms part of the Council’s Family Hubs and Start for Life programme and is intended to provide a digital parenting support offer for families across the city. The proposed contract is expected to commence on 14th January 2027 and run until 13th January 2029. The Parent Chat service will provide access to information, advice and guidance on parenting topics including behaviour management, routines, infant feeding, school issues, developmental stages, relationships, becoming a parent, and speech and communication. The service will also provide access to 1:1 support from trained workers through channels such as telephone, text, email or webchat, offering advice, signposting and support to help families access appropriate local and national services. The provider will be expected to work with Leicester City Council and partners to promote the service through a Leicester-focused digital marketing approach and ensure the service is accessible to all parents and carers, taking account of language needs, literacy levels and accessibility requirements. The service must also provide data insights and reporting, maintain appropriate safeguarding arrangements, and ensure the security and confidentiality of service-user information.
CPV: Guidance and counselling services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£124,000
- Condition of participation
Leicester City Council (LCC) is seeking to commission a Parent Chat service to enhance the parenting support available to Leicester-based parents and carers of children and young people aged 0 to 19 years, or up to 25 years for those with SEND. The service forms part of the Council’s Family Hubs and Start for Life programme and is intended to provide a digital parenting support offer for families across the city. The proposed contract is expected to commence on 14th January 2027 and run until 13th January 2029.
The Parent Chat service will provide access to information, advice and guidance on parenting topics including behaviour management, routines, infant feeding, school issues, developmental stages, relationships, becoming a parent, and speech and communication. The service will also provide access to 1:1 support from trained workers through channels such as telephone, text, email or webchat, offering advice, signposting and support to help families access appropriate local and national services.
The provider will be expected to work with Leicester City Council and partners to promote the service through a Leicester-focused digital marketing approach and ensure the service is accessible to all parents and carers, taking account of language needs, literacy levels and accessibility requirements. The service must also provide data insights and reporting, maintain appropriate safeguarding arrangements, and ensure the security and confidentiality of service-user information.
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
- Price
- Condition of participation
Leicester City Council (LCC) is seeking to commission a Parent Chat service to enhance the parenting support available to Leicester-based parents and carers of children and young people aged 0 to 19 years, or up to 25 years for those with SEND. The service forms part of the Council’s Family Hubs and Start for Life programme and is intended to provide a digital parenting support offer for families across the city. The proposed contract is expected to commence on 14th January 2027 and run until 13th January 2029.
The Parent Chat service will provide access to information, advice and guidance on parenting topics including behaviour management, routines, infant feeding, school issues, developmental stages, relationships, becoming a parent, and speech and communication. The service will also provide access to 1:1 support from trained workers through channels such as telephone, text, email or webchat, offering advice, signposting and support to help families access appropriate local and national services.
The provider will be expected to work with Leicester City Council and partners to promote the service through a Leicester-focused digital marketing approach and ensure the service is accessible to all parents and carers, taking account of language needs, literacy levels and accessibility requirements. The service must also provide data insights and reporting, maintain appropriate safeguarding arrangements, and ensure the security and confidentiality of service-user information.
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £123,830 (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 Leicester City Council buys Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up
Leicester City 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 work services (CPV 8531) →
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 Midlands.
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 52 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 bid0% / 21%
2–350% / 24%
4–617% / 32%
7+33% / 24%
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 estimate29% / 21%
Within ±2%71% / 69%
Above estimate0% / 10%
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 8531Published estimate£124k
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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 bid27%
2–330%
4–625%
7+18%
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.
Based on 16 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£113k–£124k
Estimate£124k
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCHOOLS HEALTH EDUCATION UNIT LIMITEDWorked for this buyer | Leicester Children and Young People's Health and Wellbeing Survey 2025/26runs to Jan 2027 | — | £50k | Similar wording and category |
| Mosaic 1988 LtdWorked for this buyer | ASC0322 - Participation Servicenotice published Jun 2026 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
| Alzheimer's SocietyWorked for this buyer | SCE0045 Dementia Support Serviceruns to Sept 2029 | Lot 2 - City Services | £1.1m | Similar wording and category |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £260k1 award in 36m · last 6 months ago | 1 live · £260k 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 | |
Alzheimer's SocietyLarge | £103m41 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago | 6 live · £8.3m 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. | 3% below n=15 |
Family ActionLarge | £24m37 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 21 live · £22m 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=12 |
| £366k7 awards in 36m · last 9 months ago | 4 live · £264k 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=1 | |
| £1.5m8 awards in 36m · last 7 months ago | None on file | at estimate n=2 |
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- Procedure method
- Below threshold - open competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 Oct 2026, 11:58 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Oct 2026, 11:58 BST
- Authority reference
SCE0071- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096017- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07857bFind a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via ProContract (Due North)- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 9 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 26 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
Timeline
12 Oct 2026 → 14 Jan 2027 · 4 dates- Tender notice published14 days ago12 Oct 2026, 11:58 BST
- Clarification questions by14h ago26 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Submission deadlinein 13 days9 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Contract startsin 78 days14 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published12 Oct 2026, 11:58 BSTUK4
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
Official documents & specifications (9)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Tender Response Document
- Bidding documents and specifications TCs of Participation
- Bidding documents and specifications The Council's Detailed Requirements
- Bidding documents and specifications Tender Instructions
- Bidding documents and specifications Parental Chat Service Agreement
- Bidding documents and specifications Tupe Part 1
- Bidding documents and specifications Tupe Part 2
- Bidding documents and specifications Service Levels and KPIs
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender