Award

Careline Service for North East Essex

TENDRING DISTRICT COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

01 Aug 2025 at 15:35

Award

31 Jul 2025 at 16:08

Summary of the contracting process

This procurement process involves Tendring District Council, which has initiated a direct award contract for the "Careline Service for North East Essex". The procurement is classified under the services category, focusing on administration services and community support. The buying organisation is Tendring District Council, with Essex County Council acting as the procuring entity, situated in Clacton-on-Sea and Chelmsford, respectively. The contract has been awarded to Amphora and commenced on 1 August 2025, with a projected completion date of 31 March 2028. The procurement process followed a direct award route due to exclusive rights held by Amphora, necessitating its selection for providing integrated health and support services, involving a contract value of approximately £473,200 GBP.

This tender represents significant business growth opportunities, particularly for businesses involved in community service provision, CCTV monitoring, and emergency response solutions. Given the nature of the award, businesses capable of delivering comprehensive, integrated service packages, which align with public health priorities and support local government restructuring, would be well-suited to engage with similar opportunities in the future. Additionally, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have the potential to benefit, particularly those familiar with public sector partnerships and possessing the necessary technical capabilities to meet stringent service delivery standards.

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Notice Title

Careline Service for North East Essex

Notice Description

The transfer of Tendring Careline's Service, circa 1,200 existing service-users to the expanded Helpline service provided by Amphora on 1 August 2025.

Procurement Information

Direct Award Justification: Colchester Amphora Trading Limited Tendring District Council ('the Council') has a requirement for a monitoring, response, and lifting service to be provided to fee-paying Tendring residents and the tenants of its own sheltered housing schemes; along with a CCTV monitoring service and Out of Hours call-handling service that together maintain the range of services currently and previously provided by the Council's 'Careline' service. As a member of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance, working in partnership with fellow local authorities and health bodies, the Council requires the provision of these services to align with the Alliance's aims and objectives for an integrated health system approach. Colchester Amphora Trading Limited (Amphora) is a subsidiary of Colchester City Council's wholly-owned arms length trading company Colchester Commercial (Holdings) Limited. It provides the 'Helpline' service which is identical to Careline in respect of its combined provision of a monitoring, response, and lifting service; CCTV monitoring; and Out of Hours call-handling service. As a local-authority owned company, Amphora has established relationships with key public sector partners engaged in the activity of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance, as well as the Police in respect of CCTV monitoring and Colchester City Council in the provision of Out of Hours call-handling - which are integral in respect of future proposals for Local Government Reorganisation which, by 2028, will see Tendring District Council, Colchester City Council, Essex County Council and potentially other neighbouring district Councils merge to form a new Unitary authority with statutory responsibilities, amongst other things, for adult social care. Through market analysis at the time for determining the award of the contract, Amphora was found to be the only provider capable of delivering the full range of services to the required standard and within an appropriate timeframe that would align with the aims and objectives of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance and the direction of travel in respect of Local Government Reorganisation. The Council's view is that the services cannot be disaggregated and provided separately; significant inefficiencies and negative staff resourcing implications would arise for the Council from disaggregation. The delivery of the Service must be in place by 1 August 2025 to ensure uninterrupted service continuity to the older and vulnerable residents (Service Users). Accordingly the Council has decided to make a direct award to Amphora pursuant to Paragraphs 5 and 6, Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act, in that the Council has determined accordingly that a) competition for the Services is absent for technical reasons and b) due to exclusive rights held by Amphora including its relationship to Colchester City Council and, by extension, the North East Essex health and Wellbeing Alliance, only Amphora can supply the full range of services to the required standard and within the required timescales.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-056aa5
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/045376-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

98 - Other community, social and personal services


CPV Codes

75100000 - Administration services

75200000 - Provision of services to the community

79622000 - Supply services of domestic help personnel

92222000 - Closed circuit television services

98513310 - Home-help services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£473,200 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
1 Aug 20256 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
30 Jul 20256 months ago
Contract Period
31 Jul 2025 - 31 Mar 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
TENDRING DISTRICT COUNCIL
Additional Buyers

ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
procurement@tendringdc.gov.uk, procurementsanda@essex.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
CLACTON-ON-SEA
Postcode
CO15 1SE
Post Town
Colchester
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
Not specified

Local Authority
Chelmsford
Electoral Ward
Moulsham and Central
Westminster Constituency
Chelmsford

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

AMPHORA

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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