Find a TenderPlanned procurementPlanned procurement notice
Published 31 Mar 2026, 09:16 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) Support Services

Authority: Home Office (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Health & Social Care (85) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£4,500,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 18 May 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Dec 2029 · up to 31 Dec 2030 with extensions · starts 1 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Support Services for UASC ensure that their immediate needs are met upon arrival in Kent, or elsewhere, prior to entering the care of a local authority. Additionally, there is a need to ensure UASC have access to information and support to help them navigate the asylum process.

The services will operate alongside, and in collaboration with the Authority and a range of other services and Authority suppliers to enable the effective operation of the system to manage and support UASC.

It is recognised that service users may require only one, or a combination of these services at any given time. Therefore, all services areas must be available but would be delivered on an as-required basis, according to the needs of each individual case.

The core service areas are:

Service Area 1: Deliver Services at Kent Intake Unit (KIU)

Service Area 2: Delivery of Future Orientation Sessions

The content of this Notice, including the estimated contract value and indicative contract timelines, is subject to change.

CPV: Administrative social services · Social work services · Social work services without accommodation · Welfare services for children and young people · Welfare services not delivered through residential institutions

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£4,500,000
Contract period: 1 Jan 2027 – 31 Dec 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Dec 2030 with extensionsValue: £4,500,000 exc. VAT · £5,400,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: The Home Office may require, at a later date, that the winning Bidder provide the below services and all participating Bidders will be required to demonstrate capability to deliver the below in line with Schedule 2 Specification: Additional Service Area 3: Signposting, Advice and/or Referral Services. · The Authority may. at its sole discretion, choose to exercise a future 12-months extension option if it deemed in its commercial best interests to do so.
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    The Authority will require Bidders to demonstrate their economic and financial standing as part of qualification criteria .

  • Technical & professional ability

    Exact qualifications and standards for any personnel delivering the contract will be outlined in Schedule 2 Specification which interested suppliers willl have access to following signing of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

    Further qualifications and standards at an organisational levle will be set out in qualification questions as part of the tender.

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
Conditions of participation2
  • Economic & financial standing

    The Authority will require Bidders to demonstrate their economic and financial standing as part of qualification criteria .

  • Technical & professional ability

    Exact qualifications and standards for any personnel delivering the contract will be outlined in Schedule 2 Specification which interested suppliers willl have access to following signing of a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

    Further qualifications and standards at an organisational levle will be set out in qualification questions as part of the tender.

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Home Office buys Social work services (CPV 8531), and who usually turns up

Home Office’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) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerHome Office · division 85
The marketSocial work services (CPV 8531) · UK-wide
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 of 10 known-size awards · market: CPV 8531 · UK-wide, n=824
40%53%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 6 of 9 known-location awards · market: CPV 8531 · UK-wide, n=1,114
67%75%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 decided notices · market: CPV 8531 · UK-wide, n=247
227 days52 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 227 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 7 of 10 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8531 · UK-wide, n=1,067
70%60%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer27 lots with bid counts · all categories
11% had one bid
The market477 lots with bid counts · CPV 8531 · UK-wide
27% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid11% / 27%
Buyer: 3 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 127 of 477 lots with published bid counts.
2–337% / 35%
Buyer: 10 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 168 of 477 lots with published bid counts.
4–641% / 22%
Buyer: 11 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 106 of 477 lots with published bid counts.
7+11% / 16%
Buyer: 3 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 76 of 477 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer35 lots with estimate and award · all categories
46% below estimate
The market308 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8531 · UK-wide
24% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate46% / 24%
Buyer: 16 of 35 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 75 of 308 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%34% / 68%
Buyer: 12 of 35 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 208 of 308 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate20% / 8%
Buyer: 7 of 35 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 25 of 308 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 8536 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£4.5m

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 85. The comparison uses that group.

Expected competition
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 2,291 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet24% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 2,291 similar lots
1 bid24%
561 of 2,291 similar past lots received 1 bid (24%).
2–334%
780 of 2,291 similar past lots received 2–3 (34%).
4–624%
546 of 2,291 similar past lots received 4–6 (24%).
7+18%
404 of 2,291 similar past lots received 7+ (18%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £4.5m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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.

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.

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
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
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
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
31 Mar 2026, 09:16 BST
Last source update
31 Mar 2026, 09:16 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 30 Sept 2026
Authority reference
Project 19042
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-029410
Latest notice
Planned procurement notice (UK3)
Classification (CPV)
Administrative social servicesSocial work servicesSocial work services without accommodationWelfare services for children and young peopleWelfare services not delivered through residential institutions
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067887 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
19 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Jaggaer e-sourcing portal

Timeline

31 Mar 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published210 days ago
    31 Mar 2026, 09:16 BST
  2. Tender notice expected162 days ago
    18 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Submission deadline130 days ago
    19 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Award decision expected by27 days ago
    30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Today
    28 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 64 days
    1 Jan 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Planned procurement notice published
    31 Mar 2026, 09:16 BST
    UK3

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

Home Office

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PWGC-6513-PQLZ 2 Marsham Street, London, London, SW1P 4DFContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure