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Independent Advocacy and Children's Rights Services: Looked After, Child Protection Processes and Continuing Care

The City of Edinburgh Council

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

28 Jul 2026 at 12:19

Award Notice
Tender

13 Mar 2026 at 11:13

Tender Notice
Planning

28 Nov 2025 at 15:36

Planning Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The City of Edinburgh Council procured independent advocacy and children’s rights services for children and young people. The service covers children involved in child protection processes, children looked after at home or away from home, and young people receiving continuing care. The requirement falls within social work and related services, including welfare and social work services for children and young people. Delivery is in Edinburgh. The appointed provider is expected to offer independent advocacy and uphold children’s rights across these situations, supporting children and young people who are involved with the Council’s safeguarding, care or continuing-care processes. This is a single-provider service rather than a collection of separate service packages.

The procurement has been awarded following an open procedure. One lot was used, with three bids received, including two from SMEs. Who Cares? Scotland was selected as the sole provider, and the contract is active. The contract was signed on 17 July 2026. Its estimated value is £1,290,000 for the full potential contract period, including extensions. The potential duration is up to six years: a three-year core period, followed by optional extensions of two years and one year at the Council’s discretion; the recorded contract period is 2,160 days. Bids had to be submitted by 21 April 2026 at 12:00. Mandatory pass/fail suitability checks were followed by evaluation of award criteria and pricing to identify the best overall value for money.

This requirement demonstrates recurring demand from Edinburgh for specialist independent advocacy and children’s rights provision, covering safeguarding, care and continuing-care settings. A credible future competitor would need practical technical and professional ability in these services, with systems to protect children and young people and to work effectively through formal child protection and care processes. The procurement also required relevant third-party registration, PVG or Disclosure Scotland checks, robust health and safety arrangements, and evidence of financial resilience. Suppliers would need to support prompt payment, pay the Real Living Wage and demonstrate an effective response to the climate emergency. The award attracted SME participation, indicating that a specialist organisation can compete where it can evidence these standards.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Independent Advocacy and Children's Rights Services: Looked After, Child Protection Processes and Continuing Care

Notice Description

Provision of an Independent Advocacy and Children's Right Service for Children and Young People (C&YP) involved in child protection processes, looked after both away from home and at home and those in continuing care.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Appointment of a sole Provider to deliver the specified service. An open procurement process was followed where by the Single Procurement Document (SPD) was utilised to identify suitable Tenderers through mandatory pass/fail questions and in terms of compliance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and/or the Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016/PR(S)A14 and the minimum standards and any other requirements set out in the Tender documents & Contract Notice. Thereafter an Award Criteria and Pricing evaluation was undertaken to select the tender which represented the best overall value for money. Additional information: The potential contract duration is up to 6 years, broken down as follows: - Core Contract Period: three years - Optional Extension(1): two years - Optional Extension(2): one year Extension options will be undertaken at the sole discretion of the Council.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05eb47
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071171-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Planning 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

CPV Codes

85300000 - Social work and related services

85310000 - Social work services

85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,290,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£1,290,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£1,290,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Jul 20264 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
21 Apr 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
2 Feb 2026Expired
Award Date
17 Jul 20261 months ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
The City of Edinburgh 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
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH8 8BG
Postcode Area
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM75 City of Edinburgh
Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
City Centre
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Who Cares? Scotland

Further Information

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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