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Adoption and Kinship Specialist Support Services

Essex County Council

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

24 Jul 2026 at 14:52

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

05 Feb 2026 at 15:58

UK4 - Tender Notice
PlanningUpdate

27 Nov 2025 at 15:48

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

27 Nov 2025 at 15:41

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

26 Jun 2025 at 15:21

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Essex County Council and Suffolk County Council procured specialist adoption and kinship support services for children and families across Essex and Suffolk. The requirement covers therapeutic services, assessments and training to help adoptive and kinship families address the long-term effects of abuse and trauma. It is divided into three service areas: training for parents and carers; therapeutic interventions addressing emotional and behavioural challenges linked to adverse early experiences; and specialist assessments to identify children’s support needs and inform subsequent planning. The procurement is for health and social work services. Essex County Council is the contracting authority, with provision also supporting Suffolk County Council and any successor bodies that assume relevant local authority functions.

The procurement has reached award stage under an open procedure for a framework agreement using competitive call-offs. Awards were made on 24 July 2026. Lot 1, Training, was awarded to Families Empowered, Jump Start Centre and Kids Inspire for £768,000 excluding VAT (£921,600 including VAT). Lot 2, Therapeutic Intervention, was awarded to Ace Music Therapy CIC, Apricot Centre CIC, Barnardo’s, Families Empowered, J4L Associates, Jump Start Centre, Kids Inspire, Lindsay Wood Play Therapist & Child & Family Worker, Mind Right, N-Gage Therapeutic Care and Sensi for £3,696,000 excluding VAT (£4,435,200 including VAT). Lot 3, Specialist Assessments, was awarded to Apricot Centre CIC, Jump Start Centre, Kids Inspire, Mind Right and Sensi for £336,000 excluding VAT (£403,200 including VAT). Each lot has a contract period from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2029, with an option to extend by up to 12 months, to 31 August 2030. Evaluation was based entirely on quality.

This procurement demonstrates sustained local authority demand for specialist adoption and kinship support delivered by therapeutic, training and assessment providers. The framework is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community and social enterprises, and the awarded supplier mix includes both. Relevant competitors would need credible expertise in supporting adoptive and kinship families, including work with children and adults affected by abuse, trauma and adverse early experiences. Capability should align with at least one of the three service areas: developing parenting and caring skills, delivering therapeutic interventions, or carrying out specialist assessments and translating findings into support plans. The award results also show that the buyer values service quality above other stated criteria, while competitive call-offs will match providers to individual family needs across Essex and Suffolk.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Adoption and Kinship Specialist Support Services

Notice Description

Essex County Council and Suffolk County Council is seeking to procure a new framework for the provision of Adoption and Kinship Specialist Support Services. Local Authorities have a statutory duty to provide these services as outlined in the Children and Families Act 2014, and in the Kinship Care Statutory Guidance published in October 2024. The framework will meet this duty by providing adoptive and kinship families access to therapeutic services, assessment services and training to assist both children and adults to deal with the long-term effects of abuse, and trauma across Essex County Council and Suffolk County Council. The framework will be for an initial period of three (3) years and there will be an option to extend the framework for up to one year. The framework will have the following 3 Lots to support adoptive and kinship order families: * Lot 1 Training - To enable parent/carers to develop their skills to support their children effectively meet their full potential. * Lot 2 Therapeutic Intervention- To address emotional and behavioural challenges for children and their families stemming from negative early life experiences. * Lot 3 Specialist Assessments- To assess and identify a child's support needs that will enable the and subsequent planning to meet those needs. The contracting authority is Essex County Council and any Successor Body meaning one or more entities which assumes any of the Council's functions (as applicable) as a result of Local Government Reform (LGR). Such successor body or bodies may be, without limitation, a local authority, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a strategic authority or any other status determined pursuant to the Devolution and LGR Legislation.

Lot Information

Training

Renewal: The Authority may, at its sole discretion, extend the Term by a further period or periods of up to twelve (12) months (the "Extension Periods")

Therapeutic Intervention

Renewal: The Authority may, at its sole discretion, extend the Term by a further period or periods of up to twelve (12) months (the "Extension Periods")

Specialist Assessments

Renewal: The Authority may, at its sole discretion, extend the Term by a further period or periods of up to twelve (12) months (the "Extension Periods")

Planning Information

Essex County Council invites you to attend a market engagement event to update you on the future of adoption and kinship specialist support services. Date: 08/12/2025 Time: 10:30 - 12 Location: Microsoft Teams In this session we will: • Share details of the upcoming procurement process and the new framework structure • Explain the changes and adaptations we've introduced to improve service delivery and flexibility • Gather feedback to refine our requirements To reserve a place or express interest if you are unable to attend, please confirm on behalf of your organisation by emailing Isabelle.clarke@essex.gov.uk and jake.berridge@essex.gov.uk with the following details: • Organisation name • Name(s) of attendee(s) • Contact email address RSVP by Friday 5th December at 12 noon. We look forward to your participation and valuable input.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05545d
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/070371-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85000000 - Health and social work services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£4,800,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£4,800,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£4,800,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
24 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
9 Mar 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
24 Jul 20262 months ago
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active, Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Essex County Council
Additional Buyers

Suffolk County Council

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
CHELMSFORD
Postcode
CM1 1QH
Postcode Area
Chelmsford
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH3 Essex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH36 Heart of Essex
Delivery Location
TLH14 Suffolk CC, TLH3 Essex
Local Authority
Chelmsford
Electoral Ward
Moulsham and Central
Westminster Constituency
Chelmsford

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
11
Supplier Names

Families Empowered

Jump Start Centre

Kids Inspire

ACE MUSIC THERAPY CIC

Apricot Centre CIC

Barnardo's

J4L ASSOCIATES LIMITED

Lindsay Wood Play Therapist & Child & Family Worker

MIND RIGHT LIMITED

N-GAGE Therapeutic Care

SENSI LIMITED

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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