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Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent Placement

Lincolnshire County Council

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Tender

21 Sep 2026 at 14:55

Tender Notice
Award

11 Nov 2025 at 14:52

Award Notice
Tender

29 Sep 2025 at 11:36

Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Lincolnshire County Council commissioned an open select list for independent placements for children and young people. The scope covers independent non-maintained special schools, independent residential children’s homes, independent foster care, supported accommodation, domiciliary care for children with disabilities, short breaks for children with disabilities and alternative provision. This is children’s social care and related support services (CPV 85300000), delivered for Lincolnshire Children’s Services in the UK. The arrangement is intended to support referrals for individual placements: suppliers accepted onto the list can receive suitable placement referrals and submit offers that are assessed on their merits. The council is the buying organisation, based in Lincoln. The requirement is broad, spanning education, residential care, fostering, supported living, disability care and alternative provision rather than a single service line.

The procurement has reached award stage under an open procedure and the light-touch regime. One lot was awarded jointly to Action for Children, Annicare, Bleep 360 Care Limited, Bright Lives Care, Canaries Solutions Limited, Cavalry Healthcare, Cedars Childcare, Cera Care Operations Ltd, Fidelis Healthcare Ltd, Firbanks Supported Living, Fosse Support Services, Joy Tender Loving Care Ltd, Meadows Care Ltd, Care Plas Services Ltd, Nightingale Noble Ltd, Priority Care Services Ltd, Rabah Concept Limited, Silomarg Ltd, T-Junction Children’s Services, Vera Chilly Consultancy Services Ltd and Young People First. The award decision period began on 21 October 2026. The active contract runs from 22 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, with an awarded value of £1,000,000. Twenty-seven bids were recorded. Submissions were electronic, in English, with an electronic catalogue required and variants not allowed.

This award demonstrates demand from Lincolnshire County Council for a wide, multi-disciplinary independent-placement market rather than a single specialist intervention. Suppliers well placed for comparable work include organisations able to provide regulated children’s residential care, fostering, supported accommodation, disability domiciliary care and short-break services, as well as specialist education and alternative provision. The successful supplier group includes both national organisations and many SMEs, showing that smaller providers can participate alongside larger children’s-services operators. Credibility would require an appropriate placement offer, the operational capacity to respond to individual referrals, suitable safeguarding and care expertise, and the ability to submit structured electronic offers through an electronic catalogue. Providers whose service covers only one category may still be relevant where their capability matches a future placement referral.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent Placement

Notice Description

Lincolnshire Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent Placements. This procurement is under the Light Touch Regime established pursuant to Regulations 74-76 and Regulation 76(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for the purposes of commissioning an Open Select List for the provision of placements for all Independent Placements; * Independent Non-Maintained (Special) Schools (INMS) * Independent Residential Children's Homes * Independent Foster Care (IFA) * Supported Accommodation * Domiciliary Care for Children with Disabilities (CWD) * Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities (CWD) * Alternative Provision This is the final re-opening in the current 5-year cycle, which started on 1st September 2027, and will run to 31st August 2027. The Open Select List procurement is itself no guarantee of business; suppliers who are evaluated as eligible to join the list will be sent appropriate independent placement referrals before the rest of the market and are able to submit their response/offer which is then evaluated on it's merits (see document 1a which details the process).

Lot Information

Lot 1

Lincolnshire Children's Services Re-Opening of the Open Select List 2026 for all Independent Placements. This procurement is under the Light Touch Regime established pursuant to Regulations 74-76 and Regulation 76(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for the purposes of commissioning an Open Select List for the provision of placements for all Independent Placements; * Independent Non-Maintained (Special) Schools (INMS) * Independent Residential Children's Homes * Independent Foster Care (IFA) * Supported Accommodation * Domiciliary Care for Children with Disabilities (CWD) * Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities (CWD) * Alternative Provision This is the final re-opening in the current 5-year cycle, which started on 1st September 2027, and will run to 31st August 2027. The Open Select List procurement is itself no guarantee of business; suppliers who are evaluated as eligible to join the list will be sent appropriate independent placement referrals before the rest of the market and are able to submit their response/offer which is then evaluated on it's merits (see document 1a which details the process).

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a3d7
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/089255-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

98 - Other community, social and personal services

CPV Codes

85300000 - Social work and related services

98000000 - Other community, social and personal services

Notice Value(s)

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

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Sep 2026Today
Submission Deadline
21 Oct 20265 weeks to go
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
22 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Lincolnshire 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
LINCOLN
Postcode
LN1 1YL
Postcode Area
Lincoln
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLF East Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLF3 Lincolnshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLF30 Lincolnshire CC
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Lincoln
Electoral Ward
Carholme
Westminster Constituency
Lincoln

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
21
Supplier Names

Action for Children

Annicare

Bleep 360 Care Limited

Bright Lives Care

Canaries Solutions

Cavalry Healthcare

Cedars Childcare

Cera Care Operations Ltd

Fidelis Healthcare

Firbanks Supported Living Ltd

Fosse Support Services

Joy Tender Loving Care Ltd

Meadows Care Ltd.

Care Plas Services Ltd

NIGHTINGALE NOBLE LTD

PRIORITY CARE SERVICES LIMITED

Rabah Concept Limited

SILOMARG LTD

T-JUNCTION CHILDRENS SERVICES LTD

Vera Chilly Consultancy Services Ltd

Young People First

Further Information

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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