Award

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

Home Based Care Services - Open Framework

Portsmouth City Council

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

30 Jun 2026 at 09:29

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
TenderUpdate

01 Dec 2025 at 22:43

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

12 Nov 2025 at 23:42

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

31 Oct 2025 at 16:55

UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
Planning

26 Sep 2025 at 09:20

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Portsmouth City Council has completed the award stage of a competitive tender process to establish an Open Framework for Home-Based Care Services, targeting a start on 20th July 2026. The procurement process, following the Procurement Act 2023 regulations, included a comprehensive two-stage procedure. The Council aims to enhance home-based care services across Portsmouth and surrounding areas, segmented into three lots: Standard Home-Based Care, Complex Home-Based Care, and Take a Break Services. The framework has a duration of eight years and may be reopened to applications within its term to adapt to market conditions and strategic needs.

This tender establishes significant potential for business growth, particularly for firms specializing in domiciliary and complex care services. With approximately 60,000 to 65,000 monthly home care hours commissioned, businesses are poised to benefit from a large and consistent demand. The framework, by supporting flexible pricing and quality management through the PAMMS system, caters to diverse providers including SMEs and VCSEs, encouraging active participation in public service contracts. Firms with a local presence and capacity to meet the rigorous service standards are ideally positioned to leverage these opportunities.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Home Based Care Services - Open Framework

Notice Description

Following completion of the stage 2 tender assessment process the Council has issued assessment summaries to the successful and unsuccessful suppliers as required under Section 50 of the Procurement Act 23 (the 'Act'). Issuing of this Award Notice will now instigate a voluntary standstill period which will not be less than eight-working days (the Standstill Period), inline with section 51 of the Act. The Council reserves the right to amend (extend) the Standstill Period if needed; if this right is exercised, the Contract Award Notice will be updated and affected suppliers will be notified accordingly. After the Standstill Period has expired, and provided no legal challenge has been made by the end of the Standstill Period or any agreed extension, the Council intends to enter into contracts with the Successful Suppliers. Following this, the Council also intends to publish a Contract Details Notice. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCUREMENT Following completion of the standstill period referred to above, the Council will proceed to establish an Open Framework to provide home-based care services, ordinarily in Portsmouth, but occasionally in the surrounding area. Domiciliary care services support people to remain living successfully in their own homes. The service will help maintain an individual in a reasonable manner of health, hygiene, safety and ease in their own home. The level and type of support service required will be determined in line with each individual's support plan. Support service packages will vary in size based on the individual needs and may range from minimal support up to highly specialised and complex needs. The framework agreement will commence on 20th July 2026. The framework will operate for a term of 8 years. It will be an Open Framework which will reopen once within the first 3-year period, and the Council will open it again at least once in the remaining 5-year contract term as required under Regulation 49 of the Procurement Act 23. The Council may opt to open the framework for applications earlier than required, although not likely to be ever more than once per year. Re-opening may be in relation to the framework agreement in its entirety or in relation to specific lots. Earlier re-opening could be triggered by a range of factors, which may include but are not limited to: * Supply & demand changes * Changes to requirements * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to pricing structures * Changes to qualitative assessment * Changes to framework management * Addition of new framework lots * Changes to demand, volumes, values and geographical coverage due to impact of Local Government Re-organisation The framework agreement will be split into 3 Lots as follows: * Lot 1 - Standard Home-Based Care * Lot 2 - Complex Home-Based Care * Lot 3 - Take a Break (formerly Sitting Service) The Council currently commissions approx. 60,000 - 65,000 hours of home care per month across 1,000 - 1,200 clients. Approximately 68% of these hours are for Lot 1 Standard Home-Based Care services with the remaining 28% for Lot 2 Complex Home Based Care services and 4% for Lot 3 Take a Break Services. The Council spend on year to date (November 24 - November 2025) comes to approx. PS22.8M on home-based care services over financial year 2025-26. Spend on Lot 1 Standard Home-Based Care services over this period equates to PS15.9M / 69.6%. Spend on Lot 2 - Complex Home-Based Care equates to PS6.3M / 27.8%. Spend on Lot 3 - Take a Break services is expected to equate to PS600k / 2.6%. Year on year spend over term of the framework cannot be accurately estimated to precise figures but is likely to increase year on year due to predicted increases in inflation, employee wage increases and increases in demand due to changing population demographics, increased life expectancies, continuing strategic focus on increasing home based care delivery and impacts of Local Government Reorganization, which could increase the annual value by approximately 50% from year 3 onwards following vesting day for the new unitary authority which the framework agreement will transfer to.

Lot Information

Standard Home-Based Care

Options: Year on year spend over term of the framework cannot be accurately estimated to precise figures but is likely to increase year on year due to predicted increases in inflation, employee wage increases and increases in demand due to changing population demographics, increased life expectancies, continuing strategic focus on increasing home based care delivery and impacts of Local Government Reorganization, which could increase the annual value by approximately 50% from year 3 onwards following vesting day for the new unitary authority which the framework agreement will transfer to. In order to ensure that the framework agreement will continue to provide an effective sourcing route in view of likely changes to requirements and strategies the Council reserves the right to make modifications to the framework agreement, which may include for but are not limited to: * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to minimum and maximum number of suppliers appointed onto framework lots * Changes to pricing structures including for moving to and from market led pricing to price setting strategies, for instance * Changes to qualitative assessment including for on-going development & deployment of PAMMS assessment tool * Changes to framework management including for call off procedures, KPIs & monitoring * Changes to conditions of participation requirements (technical, financial standing, insurance, etc.) due to legislative, policy and best practice developments * Addition of new framework lots and sub-lots * Increased geographical coverage and potential inclusion of sub-lot zoning options due to impact of Local Government Re- organisation As set out within the above section should the Council decide to make material modifications, of which the above would likely qualify, the Council will likely re-open the framework agreement after providing notice of its intention to do so via publication of a Planned Procurement Notice.

Renewal: The framework will operate for an initial term of 8 years. It will be an Open Framework which will reopen once within the first 3-year period, and the Council will open it again at least once in the remaining 5-year contract term as required under Regulation 49 of the Procurement Act 23. The Council may opt to open the framework for applications earlier than required, although not likely to be ever more than once per year. Earlier re-opening could be triggered by a range of factors, such as: * Supply & demand changes * Changes to requirements * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to pricing structures * Changes to qualitative assessment * Changes to framework management * Addition of new framework lots * Changes to demand, volumes, values and geographical coverage due to impact of Local Government Re-organisation

Complex Home-Based Care

Options: Year on year spend over term of the framework cannot be accurately estimated to precise figures but is likely to increase year on year due to predicted increases in inflation, employee wage increases and increases in demand due to changing population demographics, increased life expectancies, continuing strategic focus on increasing home based care delivery and impacts of Local Government Reorganization, which could increase the annual value by approximately 50% from year 3 onwards following vesting day for the new unitary authority which the framework agreement will transfer to. In order to ensure that the framework agreement will continue to provide an effective sourcing route in view of likely changes to requirements and strategies the Council reserves the right to make modifications to the framework agreement, which may include for but are not limited to: * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to minimum and maximum number of suppliers appointed onto framework lots * Changes to pricing structures including for moving to and from market led pricing to price setting strategies, for instance * Changes to qualitative assessment including for on-going development & deployment of PAMMS assessment tool * Changes to framework management including for call off procedures, KPIs & monitoring * Changes to conditions of participation requirements (technical, financial standing, insurance, etc.) due to legislative, policy and best practice developments * Addition of new framework lots and sub-lots * Increased geographical coverage and potential inclusion of sub-lot zoning options due to impact of Local Government Re- organisation As set out within the above section should the Council decide to make material modifications, of which the above would likely qualify, the Council will likely re-open the framework agreement after providing notice of its intention to do so via publication of a Planned Procurement Notice.

Renewal: The framework will operate for an initial term of 8 years. It will be an Open Framework which will reopen once within the first 3-year period, and the Council will open it again at least once in the remaining 5-year contract term as required under Regulation 49 of the Procurement Act 23. The Council may opt to open the framework for applications earlier than required, although not likely to be ever more than once per year. Earlier re-opening could be triggered by a range of factors, such as: * Supply & demand changes * Changes to requirements * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to pricing structures * Changes to qualitative assessment * Changes to framework management * Addition of new framework lots * Changes to demand, volumes, values and geographical coverage due to impact of Local Government Re-organisation

Take a Break

Options: Year on year spend over term of the framework cannot be accurately estimated to precise figures but is likely to increase year on year due to predicted increases in inflation, employee wage increases and increases in demand due to changing population demographics, increased life expectancies, continuing strategic focus on increasing home based care delivery and impacts of Local Government Reorganization, which could increase the annual value by approximately 50% from year 3 onwards following vesting day for the new unitary authority which the framework agreement will transfer to. In order to ensure that the framework agreement will continue to provide an effective sourcing route in view of likely changes to requirements and strategies the Council reserves the right to make modifications to the framework agreement, which may include for but are not limited to: * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to minimum and maximum number of suppliers appointed onto framework lots * Changes to pricing structures including for moving to and from market led pricing to price setting strategies, for instance * Changes to qualitative assessment including for on-going development & deployment of PAMMS assessment tool * Changes to framework management including for call off procedures, KPIs & monitoring * Changes to conditions of participation requirements (technical, financial standing, insurance, etc.) due to legislative, policy and best practice developments * Addition of new framework lots and sub-lots * Increased geographical coverage and potential inclusion of sub-lot zoning options due to impact of Local Government Re- organisation As set out within the above section should the Council decide to make material modifications, of which the above would likely qualify, the Council will likely re-open the framework agreement after providing notice of its intention to do so via publication of a Planned Procurement Notice.

Renewal: The framework will operate for an initial term of 8 years. It will be an Open Framework which will reopen once within the first 3-year period, and the Council will open it again at least once in the remaining 5-year contract term as required under Regulation 49 of the Procurement Act 23. The Council may opt to open the framework for applications earlier than required, although not likely to be ever more than once per year. Earlier re-opening could be triggered by a range of factors, such as: * Supply & demand changes * Changes to requirements * Changes to framework lotting structure * Changes to pricing structures * Changes to qualitative assessment * Changes to framework management * Addition of new framework lots * Changes to demand, volumes, values and geographical coverage due to impact of Local Government Re-organisation

Planning Information

The Council are inviting interested providers to attend an in-person Home Care Re-Commissioning Consultation event in the Menuhin Room in Portsmouth Central Library on 13th October 2025 from 10:00 to 13:00 to explore the future for home care in Portsmouth. The in-person event is to give providers another opportunity to contribute to shaping the future of home care services in our community. This is the second event and will focus on quality following feedback from attendees at the first event which was held on 12th February 2025. The event will explore what "quality" looks like in practice across several key themes and reflect on how we collectively recognise and support excellence in care. This session will also help shape future approaches to quality assurance in Portsmouth, informed by provider experiences and insights. The Council are restricting attendance to one person from each provider as the Council can only accommodate 60 places at the event. The event will be on a first come first served basis. In the event that the Council exceeds the maximum occupancy for the event, the Council reserves the right to run an additional online event to engage further with providers who could not attend the in-person event. Places for the event can be reserved using the following link - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/portsmouth-city-council-home-care-recommissioning-consultation-event-tickets-1658655325729?aff=oddtdtcreator Providers who cannot make the event will be able to share feedback using the correspondence function on Intend, and should do so at the earliest opportunity to allow the Council to review and collate the information when drafting the report of the findings. In addition, providers can find the link to the event and details of this SMT event on the Councils e-sourcing platform - Intend. Should providers have any questions around the SMT event, then suppliers should use the correspondence function on Intend. Providers can register on Intend using the following link - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home. The outcomes of the SMT event will be collated and a report will be shared with any supplier who attends the event or expresses an interest in the scheme via Intend. Procurement Administration The Council will administrate the procurement process using the Council's e-sourcing system, In-tend, which will be used for: • Access to and issue of procurement information and documentation • Pre-tender submission clarification requests and response • Tender submission • Tender opening & access to responses • Post-tender submission clarification requests and response • Award decision notification and feedback The In-tend system can be accessed free of charge via the following web link: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/Home Details and outcome of first Soft Market Testing Event The Council previously issued the following Prior Information Notice on find a tender service - • Portsmouth City Council Home Care Re-Commissioning Consultation - Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001408-2025?origin=SearchResults&p=1 Whilst the previous notice was issued under the Public Contract Regulations 2015, the process was designed to align with the principles under the Procurement Act 2023 and the subsequent procurement will be published under the requirements of the new act. The Council's first SMT event on Wednesday 12th February 2025 reviewed the Council's current delivery options for Domiciliary Care and understand providers approaches to the following - • Quality • Approach to pricing • Lot Structure • No of Providers • Tendering Strategy • Referrals • Innovation The Council published the following information through the Council's e-tendering platform, Intend, to all interested providers who expressed an interest in the project - • PIN150125 - Home Care Re-Commissioning Consultation • Home Care Consultation Event - Background Information • PIN Conflict of Interests Statement • PIN Conflict of Interest Declaration • Home Care Provider Consultation Event 120225 - PowerPoint Presentation • Home Care Provider Event 12th February 2025 - Summary Information As part of the subsequent SMT exercise, the Council will be re-publishing the original information from the first SMT event to ensure any new/existing providers will have access to the same information. Conflicts Assessment The Procurement Act 2023 requires the Council to identify and keep under review actual and potential conflicts of interest. The Council must also mitigate conflicts of interest and address circumstances which the Council considers are likely to cause a reasonable person to wrongly believe there to be a conflict or potential conflict of interest. A conflict of interest arises when an individual's personal interests, relationships, or activities have the potential to interfere with their impartiality or the integrity of the procurement process. This may include financial, personal, familial, or business interests that could improperly influence, or be perceived to influence, their decisions or actions. Interested providers should review the Conflicts of Interest Statement, available through Intend, for further details of the Council's duty regarding conflict of interests. To meet current and future conflict of interest obligations, the Council requires that, where appropriate, all providers participating in the SMT process to complete a Conflicts of Interest Declaration as a condition of participating in the in-person event. These will be made available at the in-person event. Additional information Existing Domiciliary Care Contract Awards The Council previously established a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) on 1st February 2020 and subsequently decided following a review of the DPS capacity, issued a modification notice on the 17 November 2023 to close the DPS for new applicants following a 30-day application period. The Council closed the DPS on the 18th of December 2023, following a review of applications received. The DPS was initially awarded on the basis of a 5-year term, with the option to extend beyond the initial term by a minimum of 1-year intervals for an indefinite period. In order to deliver ongoing services across the Portsmouth region, the Council extended the existing DPS by an initial period of 12 months to 31st January 2026, to develop the procurement and contracting strategy. However, the Council will be extending this term further by an additional 12-months to 31st January 2027 to allow the Council has successfully commissioned the new delivery model. Full details in relation to the closing and extension of the DPS can be found in the previous PIN notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001408-2025?origin=SearchResults&p=1 Known current supply and demand There are currently 62 providers on the DPS. Supply of domiciliary care in the City currently exceeds demand, resulting in multiple offers of care for most referrals. The situation is not unique to Portsmouth and seems to be a picture found in many urban areas. It is a recent development, which has emerged gradually over the past 3 years or so. To ensure fairness and transparency with providers that are on the DPS, packages of care are allocated to those achieving 100% via the brokerage portal and then filtered to the provider that has been awarded the least number of hours during the current month. The average number of bids achieving 100% per package of care is between 5 and 15. Client preference may apply to Tier 1. As of July 2025, there were 1073 clients in receipt of 62,888 hours of domiciliary care per month. This includes standard domiciliary care, sitting services, social inclusion and sleeping/waking nights.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a2b6
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061029-2026
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
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85312000 - Social work services without accommodation

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£181,033,735 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
£181,033,735 £100M-£1B
Awards Value
£212,456,638 £100M-£1B
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
30 Jun 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
22 Dec 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
11 Nov 2025Expired
Award Date
25 Jun 20262 months ago
Contract Period
20 Jul 2026 - 19 Jul 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
2028-11-10

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Portsmouth City 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
PORTSMOUTH
Postcode
PO1 2AL
Postcode Area
Portsmouth
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ31 Portsmouth
Delivery Location
TLJ31 Portsmouth, TLJ35 South Hampshire
Local Authority
Portsmouth
Electoral Ward
Charles Dickens
Westminster Constituency
Portsmouth South

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
45
Supplier Names

ALL CARE (GB) LIMITED

ALTERS RECRUITMENT LIMITED

APEX PRIME CARE LTD

APPLETREE SUPPORT LIMITED

APPROVE SERVICES LIMITED

ASTER CARE LIMITED

B S CARE LIMITED

BEST AT HOME DOMICILIARY CARE SERVICES LTD

BRIDGECARE SOLUTIONS LTD

CARE SOLUTION BUREAU CIC

CARENEST SOLUTIONS LTD

CAREVILLE LIMITED

CLIENTELE CARE LTD

COMPASSION CARE 24/7 SUPPORTED LIVING SERVICES LIMITED

CRESCENT COMMUNITY CARE SERVICES LIMITED

CRESTA HEALTHCARE LTD

CRISPLEN HEALTHCARE LTD

EXCEPTIONAL CARE AT HOME LIMITED

F&A CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES LTD

FIRST IN CARE SERVICES LTD

FOUR DOZEN LIMITED

HANDLE WITH CARE (PORTSMOUTH) LIMITED

HAVESTERS CARE LTD

IVY HOMECARE LIMITED

LONE CARE SERVICES LTD

MALMO HEALTHCARE SPECIALISTS LIMITED

MAXLIFE CARE LTD

MAYFAIR HOMECARE LIMITED

MCO HEALTHCARE LIMITED

MUSHAVI PRIVATE LIMITED

NIGHTINGALES GOLDENCARE LIMITED

PARRY HEALTHCARE LIMITED

PERFECT CALL HEALTHCARE LTD

PLATINUM CARE SOLUTIONS GROUP LIMITED

PURPLE LILAC HEALTHCARE LIMITED

QUALITCARE 24-7 LTD

RECRUIT 4CARE LTD

ROYAL MENCAP SOCIETY

ST RONANS HOME CARE LIMITED

THE HEALTH CARE GROUP(THCG) LTD

TRIPLE M HEALTHCARE LTD

TRUSTMARK CARE LIMITED

Trustline Care Ltd

ULTIMATE CARE AGENCY LIMITED

WE CARE 24X7 LIMITED

Further Information

Notice Documents

Notice URLs

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...