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AT1467 Holiday Activity Food Programme for Children

Luton Council

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

14 Aug 2026 at 14:26

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

21 May 2026 at 16:06

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

17 Jan 2026 at 11:19

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Luton Council commissioned an active partnership to manage and deliver a Holiday Activity and Food Programme for children in Luton who receive free school meals. The service covers children’s holiday-camp activities, nutritious meals, physical activity and healthy lifestyles. The appointed lead partner is responsible for coordinating the programme, promoting activities, managing bookings and reporting performance. It must also run delivery directly, including staffing, training, marketing, equipment and catering, and commission and manage external community providers through subcontracting. The work is delivered in Luton and is grant-funded by the Department for Education. This is a public service opportunity combining programme management, children’s holiday provision, community-provider coordination, safeguarding and catering.

The procurement is complete following an open procedure, and Luton Council selected ACTIVE LUTON for the single lot. The award date is 14 August 2026, with an awarded value of £5,000,000 excluding VAT (£6,000,000 including VAT). The contract period runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2029, with a possible extension to 30 June 2031 and renewal subject to Department for Education grant funding and continued service need. The award is subject to a standstill period ending 26 August 2026, with signature scheduled by 1 September 2026. Evaluation was based entirely on quality, with a minimum quality score of 3. Participation required annual turnover of at least £2,000,000 and financial due diligence; technical requirements covered safeguarding, delivery costs, and management and administration costs.

This requirement shows demand for a sizeable, integrated holiday programme delivered through a lead partner rather than a standalone activity provider. A credible competitor would need experience managing children’s services at programme scale, coordinating multiple community organisations and subcontractors, and controlling bookings, promotion, reporting, staffing, training, equipment and catering. Strong safeguarding arrangements and the ability to demonstrate acceptable delivery and administration costs would be central to a future competition. The quality-led evaluation favours suppliers able to provide clear, evidenced service plans rather than competing on price alone. Financial resilience is also important: bidders must support substantial annual turnover and withstand financial due diligence. SMEs and voluntary, community or social enterprises were considered suitable, including organisations able to build a capable local delivery partnership in Luton.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

AT1467 Holiday Activity Food Programme for Children

Notice Description

To commission an active partnership to manage. deliver and commission external providers to run a Holiday Activity & Food programme. 1. Management - co-ordination, promotion, booking and reporting. 2. Main Provider - running costs, staffing, training, marketing, equipment and catering. 3. External community Providers commissioned and sub-contracted by lead Active Partner.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: Any goods or services which may be required to enable the service to be managed and delivered successfully which may become apparent during the term of the contract.

Renewal: Subject to grant funding being received from the DfE and requirement of service continuing. Currently only the funding for years 1-3 has been communicated with the Council.

Planning Information

Luton Council are hosting a supplier engagement event to provide further details for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme for children who receive free school meals in Luton. This is a grant funded project from the Department for Education and is to include management and delivery. One of the main objectives is to support children’s health and wellbeing, provide access to nutritious meals in school holidays and promote physical activity and healthy lifestyles. Service must be undertaken in Luton and the provider must undertake the management, co-ordination, promotion, booking, reporting, staffing, training, marketing, equipment and catering. If you would like to attend the supplier engagement event to take place on Friday 30 January 2026 @ 12 noon -1pm via Microsoft Teams then please email Caroline.Sturman@luton.gov.uk before 10am on Thursday 29 January 2026 and you will be sent an invite

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06083a
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077730-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

CPV Codes

55243000 - Children's holiday-camp services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£5,000,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£5,000,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£5,000,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Aug 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
22 Jun 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
20 Feb 2026Expired
Award Date
14 Aug 20261 months ago
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Jun 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Luton 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
LUTON
Postcode
LU1 2BQ
Postcode Area
Luton
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH21 Luton
Delivery Location
TLH21 Luton
Local Authority
Luton
Electoral Ward
Central
Westminster Constituency
Luton South and South Bedfordshire

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ACTIVE LUTON

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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