Award

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

Learning Disabilities Short Breaks and Emergency Support RBKC

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

21 Oct 2026 at 13:30

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

20 Oct 2026 at 17:27

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

11 Sep 2026 at 15:18

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Planning

15 Oct 2025 at 09:41

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea jointly commission short breaks and emergency support for adults with learning disabilities. The service provides planned and crisis respite care, including support for people with autism and complex health conditions, from two accommodation sites: Kingsbridge Road and Alison House. The sites operate as an integrated service with shared capacity across the boroughs. The work is residential social care and support with accommodation, delivered in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, London. Kingsbridge Road is undergoing plans for redevelopment, so the service also needs to maintain care continuity while building work is carried out.

The contract has been awarded to Learning Disability Network by direct award. The council relied on the supplier’s exclusive rights to the two premises and the absence of suitable alternative accommodation; it also cited the need to maintain continuity during redevelopment. The contract is valued at £2,489,300 excluding VAT (£2,987,160 including VAT) for the full term, including the optional extension. The stated service period runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031, comprising three years with an optional two-year extension. The award is recorded as active. This is a single, integrated requirement shared across both sites, rather than separate lots. The council expects a competitive procurement after the Kingsbridge Road building works are complete.

For suppliers considering comparable work for these councils, credibility depends on being a CQC-registered residential care provider with existing, suitable premises in the boroughs and the ability to deliver both planned respite and crisis support. The accommodation needs sufficient capacity to serve people with learning disabilities, autism and complex health conditions, including physical disabilities. Individual private rooms and communal areas are essential; level access or good lift access is preferred, and space for staff meetings is an advantage. Experience managing shared capacity across more than one site and maintaining stable care while premises are redeveloped would be relevant to this requirement. This award shows the councils used a direct award where the incumbent controlled the necessary properties, so a future competitor would need a credible alternative premises solution as well as the specialist care capability.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Learning Disabilities Short Breaks and Emergency Support RBKC

Notice Description

The direct award of a contract for Learning Disability Short Breaks and Emergency Support provision for Adults to Learning Disability Network London for a period of up to 60 months (3 years + 2 year optional extension) from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. This is to provide service continuity whilst building plans are being developed and implemented to re-design the Kingsbridge Road site. Once building works are completed a full competitive tender process will follow. The Council's previous contract with the supplier ended on 31 March 2026. The supplier has continued to deliver the short breaks services for the Council since that date. It is intended that the contract will be formerly awarded to the supplier following publication of the Contract Award Notice. In order to regularise the position, the start date of the contract will be backdated to 1 April 2026 to encompass services provided since the expiry of the previous contract. This notice is intended to provide visibility of the Council's intention to formally award the contracts and regulate the arrangements with the supplier by entering into the contracts on or around 26 October 2026 with retrospective effect. Note that this is an indicative date for signing/entering into the contract and is subject to change. The contract between Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and LDN London is PS2,489,300 (excl. VAT) PS2,987,160 (incl. VAT) for the full term including extension.

Planning Information

Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea are reviewing the current respite / short breaks service provision for adults with a learning disability in the boroughs. As part of the process, we are looking to hear from care and support providers which are CQC Registered Residential providers and which support adults with learning disabilities, autism, and complex health conditions and are able to provide both crisis and planned care to support families and carers. You will need to have suitable premises in the borough(s) which are comparable and can supplement our current level of provision. We are interested in hearing from organisations that already have property in the borough with capacity for a minimum of 10 people in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and minimum of 5 people in the City of Westminster. This will need to be of a high standard to support complex needs, including physical disabilities. Individual private rooms (preferably level access or with good lift access), and communal areas are essential. An additional space for staff to have meetings is preferable. Please find link to a questionnaire below that will be used to gather information about existing properties in the area that are suitable for delivering the service from: https://forms.office.com/e/x9z4qnWfAF

Procurement Information

The Council has statutory duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the Care Act 2014 and other legislation, relating to the health, wellbeing and care of certain individuals. The Council is required to maintain access to supported and residential accommodation for adults with a learning disability. Paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 provides a justification for the direct award of public contracts where a particular supplier has exclusive rights which means that only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or work. RBKC and WCC work together to commission bed-based short breaks from two different premises - Kingsbridge Road and Alision House. The services operate as an integrated bi-borough model, with shared capacity across both premises The supplier has exclusive property rights to both Kingsbridge Road and Alision House: - The Kingsbridge Road premises were purchased by RBKC in March 2024, the supplier was the existing tenant at the point of acquisition. RBKC is regularising that lease arrangement with the supplier to align with the proposed contracts. - The supplier owns Alison House. The supplier has confirmed it will not make these premises available to another supplier to deliver the services. Market engagement and a supplier property survey have been undertaken by the Council which has confirmed that no alternative, suitable premises are currently available. Accordingly, there is no reasonable alternative to the services being provided by the supplier from the existing premises. Additionally, the premises at Kingsbridge Road needs significant development work. Capacity at Kingsbridge Road will be significantly reduced during redevelopment works. Having one supplier operating from both premises will provide flexibility enabling the Council to manage capacity and maintain stability and service continuity during the redevelopment period. This further supports that there is no reasonable alternative. The proposed three-year contract, with an optional two-year extension, will maintain service continuity and enable the Council to meet its statutory duties while the refurbishment works are completed at Kingsbridge Road; as well as providing time for the Council to further explore alternative premises. Further information can be found in the Council's decision paper https://rbkc.moderngov.co.uk/committees/documents/s35671/KD1013631R.pdf

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ccef
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099480-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, 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, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85311000 - Social work services with accommodation

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£2,987,160 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Oct 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
12 Aug 20262 months ago
Contract Period
26 Oct 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Additional Buyers

Westminster 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
LONDON
Postcode
W8 7NX
Postcode Area
West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI33 Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham
Delivery Location
TLI3 Inner London - West
Local Authority
Kensington and Chelsea
Electoral Ward
Campden
Westminster Constituency
Kensington and Bayswater

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Learning Disability Network

Further Information

Notice Documents

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...