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Best Start Family Hubs

Worcestershire County Council

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Tender

12 Aug 2026 at 15:52

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

18 May 2026 at 10:39

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

15 May 2026 at 09:36

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

15 May 2026 at 08:36

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

21 Oct 2025 at 08:19

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Worcestershire County Council is commissioning Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies services across Worcestershire. The service will expand and strengthen the existing Family Hubs model, bringing together health, education, early years, parenting and community support. It is intended to provide a welcoming route into early identification, prevention, family navigation, outreach and coordinated support, particularly during pregnancy and the early years. The universal offer will support families from conception to age 19, or to age 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities, with priority for babies and young children. Delivery will cover two geographical areas: Bromsgrove, Redditch, Wyre Forest, Great Witley and Tenbury Wells; and Worcester City, Wychavon and Malvern Hills, excluding Great Witley and Tenbury Wells.

The procurement has reached tender: the Council invited offers through an open procedure. Enquiries were due by 15 September 2026 at 16:00:59, and tenders by 28 September 2026 at 16:00:59. The intended award date is 2 December 2026. The initial contract period is 1 April 2027 to 30 March 2029, with extensions potentially taking it to 31 March 2033. The total value is £14.4 million excluding VAT, or £17.28 million including VAT. Lot 1 is valued at £7.1424 million excluding VAT (£8.57088 million including VAT), and Lot 2 at £7.2576 million excluding VAT (£8.70912 million including VAT). Each lot is evaluated on quality: parenting and home-learning interventions 25%, outreach and network sites 25%, community insight 20%, innovation, added value and quality assurance 20%, and social value 10%.

This opportunity suits organisations delivering family, children’s welfare, community, health, early-years or parenting services, including SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. Strong bidders will be able to expand evidence-based parenting and home-learning interventions, operate core hubs alongside outreach and network sites, and work effectively with health, education, early-years, VCSE and other community partners. The service requires family navigation, inclusive engagement with vulnerable and digitally excluded families, rural communities and families with SEND, and coordinated support across the wider 0–19 offer. Applicants must demonstrate relevant experience and the capacity to recruit, deploy and retain suitably qualified staff across multiple locations. Selection also covers financial accounts, insurance, GDPR, supply-chain payment terms, IT security, data protection, equality, diversity and inclusion, safeguarding, health and safety, modern slavery and occupational standards.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Best Start Family Hubs

Notice Description

The national Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies programme sets a refreshed direction for family and health support from April 2026 to March 2029. It builds on the learning from Sure Start, Family Hubs and Start for Life, with a clear expectation that local areas bring together health, education, early years, parenting and community support so that families can access help earlier, more easily and in places they already know and trust. The programme places strong emphasis on early identification, prevention and reducing inequalities, particularly during pregnancy and the early years when the foundations for lifelong health, learning and development are laid. Best Start Family Hubs should provide a welcoming and inclusive front door for families, supported by a wider network of linked local services and outreach locations, so that families can receive the right support at the right time and are not left to navigate services on their own. The updated national guidance describes Best Start Family Hubs as a key part of the Government's wider Best Start in Life strategy, supporting the ambition for more children to achieve a good level of development by age five. The model remains universal and open to families from conception to age 19, or up to 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities, while prioritising support for families with babies and young children. Locally, Worcestershire already has an established Family Hubs offer across the county. This procurement will support the expansion and strengthening of the current model so that it aligns with the additional national expectations for Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies, including improved access, outreach, partnership working and support for families during pregnancy and the early years. Full details of the requirement can be found in Appendix 1a - Service Specification_Lot 1 and Appendix 1b - Service Specification_Lot 2. This procurement is split into two Lots: Lot 1 covers the districts of Bromsgrove, Redditch, Wyre Forest, as well as Great Witley and Tenbury Wells. Lot 2 covers the districts of Worcester City, Wychavon and Malvern Hills (excluding Great Witley and Tenbury Wells)

Lot Information

Lot 1

Covers the districts of Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest (including Great Witley and Tenbury Wells).

Renewal: Up to six years - an initial two year term with the option to extend on a two plus two basis.

Lot 2

Covers the districts of Worcester City, Wychavon and Malvern Hills (excluding Great Witley and Tenbury Wells).

Renewal: Up to six years - an initial two year term with the option to extend on a two plus two basis.

Planning Information

*This notice is for market awareness, engagement and request for information only* Worcestershire County Council is undertaking preliminary market engagement (PME) to gain an understanding of the potential level of market interest and to gain further insight to inform the planned procurement of the Family Hubs provision. The Family Hub contracted offer will provide Worcestershire’s locality based provision for support and early intervention for families. Family Hubs act as “one-stop shops” where families can access a wide range of support, services and information together under one roof. The commissioned Family Hub model will also continue to support the provision of locality networks to enhance partnership working between community based support and information for families. Worcestershire County Council would like to invite interested organisations to provide feedback on the proposed service via an MS Forms survey (click link or copy this into your browser); https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/vLWV4M8S16 Your views and feedback will not be used for any part of the tender process and will only be used for the development of the service. Please note that this Notice was previously published on 15/05/26 however the links in the earlier notices did not work. If you are not already registered with in-tend, you will need to register your organisation to view and apply for any opportunities in Worcestershire. To complete your registration go to https://www.in-tendhost.co.uk/worcestershire/aspx/Home

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05d050
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076925-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

98 - Other community, social and personal services

CPV Codes

85140000 - Miscellaneous health services

85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people

98000000 - Other community, social and personal services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£14,400,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£14,400,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
28 Sep 20262 months to go
Future Notice Date
10 Aug 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Apr 2027 - 30 Mar 2029 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Worcestershire 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
WORCESTER
Postcode
WR5 2NP
Postcode Area
Worcester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLG West Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLG1 Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLG12 Worcestershire CC
Delivery Location
TLG12 Worcestershire CC
Local Authority
Worcester
Electoral Ward
Nunnery
Westminster Constituency
Worcester

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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