Official UK procurement notice
Provision of a Fitness to Practise Emotional Support Line
Authority: Social Work England (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSocial Work England is looking to Contract with an external Service Bidder who can support us to deliver against our objectives and achieve our ambitions by delivering an emotional support telephone line to those affected by Fitness to Practise proceedings.
We require an emotional support telephone line for social workers, witnesses and complainants (those that raise Fitness to Practise concerns) and those affected by the Fitness to Practise process, that they can access by phone, and other methods, such as email or live chat/web chat 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
While the service will be open to all involved in Fitness to Practise and their family members, and some may need to use the service once or regularly, the provider will ensure that usage is appropriate and managed in a way that ensures callers don't develop a dependency upon the service and contact ends at an appropriate stage (for example 3 months after the Fitness to Practise matter has concluded).
- How the procedure runs: Stage 1: Conditions of Participation • Stage 1 involves assessing suppliers against minimum eligibility and compliance requirements. This includes checks on: o Legal status o Financial standing o Technical capability o Exclusion grounds • Suppliers who meet the conditions of participation will be shortlisted and invited to Stage 2. Stage 2: Invitation to Tender • Shortlisted suppliers from Stage 1 will be invited to submit a detailed written tender and pricing proposal. • Submissions will be evaluated based on the criteria and weightings outlined below in Section 14.3. • Each submission will be scored on both quality and price, with a maximum of 95% of the total available marks allocated at this stage o Up to 55% for quality. o Up to 40% for price. Following the evaluation of Stage 2: • The top three scoring suppliers (based on the combined quality and price scores) will be provisionally shortlisted. • If either the second or third highest-scoring suppliers are within five percentage points of the highest-scoring supplier, an interview stage (Stage 3) will be conducted for those suppliers. • If no supplier falls within five percentage points of the highest-scoring bidder, Stage 3 will not be conducted, and final scores from Stage 2 (out of 95%) will determine the successful bidder. Stage 3: Interview Stage • The interview stage consists of a MS Teams interview with Social Work England. o Further details may be found in Section 14.4. • Submissions will be evaluated in line with Section 14.3. • The interview will be evaluated separately and will account for 5% of the total available marks. o Scores from Stage 2 (both quality and price) will be carried forward, and the interview score will be added to produce a final total score out of 100%.
- No preliminary market engagement: Prior notice and market engagement has occurred. Please see supporting documents for further information.
CPV: Guidance and counselling services · Guidance services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1CancelledRenewalPublished value£333,333
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 (3)
- Quality: 55%
- Interview: 5%
- Price: 40%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality
- Price
- Interview
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Cancelled
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 6 Aug 2025, 15:29 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Jan 2026, 10:23 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 9 Feb 2026
- Authority reference
SWE10530- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-052423- Latest notice
- Procurement termination notice (UK12)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0582adFind a Tender
- How it runs
Stage 1: Conditions of Participation
- Stage 1 involves assessing suppliers against minimum eligibility and compliance requirements. This includes checks on:
o Legal status
o Financial standing
o Technical capability
o Exclusion grounds
- Suppliers who meet the conditions of participation will be shortlisted and invited to Stage 2.
Stage 2: Invitation to Tender
- Shortlisted suppliers from Stage 1 will be invited to submit a detailed written tender and pricing proposal.
- Submissions will be evaluated based on the criteria and weightings outlined below in Section 14.3.
- Each submission will be scored on both quality and price, with a maximum of 95% of the total available marks allocated at this stage
o Up to 55% for quality.
o Up to 40% for price.
Following the evaluation of Stage 2:
- The top three scoring suppliers (based on the combined quality and price scores) will be provisionally shortlisted.
- If either the second or third highest-scoring suppliers are within five percentage points of the highest-scoring supplier, an interview stage (Stage 3) will be conducted for those suppliers.
- If no supplier falls within five percentage points of the highest-scoring bidder, Stage 3 will not be conducted, and final scores from Stage 2 (out of 95%) will determine the successful bidder.
Stage 3: Interview Stage
- The interview stage consists of a MS Teams interview with Social Work England.
o Further details may be found in Section 14.4.
- Submissions will be evaluated in line with Section 14.3.
- The interview will be evaluated separately and will account for 5% of the total available marks.
o Scores from Stage 2 (both quality and price) will be carried forward, and the interview score will be added to produce a final total score out of 100%.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 15 Oct 2025, 12:30 BST
- Submission deadline
- 15 Oct 2025, 12:30 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 3 Oct 2025, 12:30 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Further instructions are available via the In-tend e-portal.
Timeline
6 Aug 2025 → 13 Apr 2026 · 8 dates- Planning notice published6 Aug 2025, 15:29 BST
- Tender notice published29 Aug 2025, 12:30 BST
- Next notice expected392 days ago1 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Clarification questions by390 days ago3 Oct 2025, 12:30 BST
- Submission deadline378 days ago15 Oct 2025, 12:30 BST
- Latest notice published286 days ago15 Jan 2026, 10:23 GMT
- Award decision expected by261 days ago9 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts199 days ago13 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
6 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 6 Aug 2025- Planned procurement notice published6 Aug 2025, 15:29 BSTUK3
- Tender notice published29 Aug 2025, 12:30 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £333,33329 Aug 2025, 12:30 BSTwas £333,333
- Status changed to active29 Aug 2025, 12:30 BST
- Procurement termination notice published15 Jan 2026, 10:23 GMTUK12
- Status changed to cancelled15 Jan 2026, 10:23 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| supplier not published | — | 15 Jan 2026 | CancelledThe contracting authority has decided to terminate the procurement procedure as insufficient suitable tenders were received. |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: Documents may be found via Social Work England's In-Tend e-portal. https://in-tendhost.co.uk/socialworkengland
Notices published for this procedure
- Procurement termination notice Procurement termination notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender