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School Counselling Service - Primary Schools

West Lothian Council

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

02 Sep 2026 at 10:24

Award Notice
Tender

30 Mar 2026 at 15:28

Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

West Lothian Council procured counselling services for its primary schools, focused on children and young people aged 10 and above in P6 and P7. The service covers all 69 primary-school settings across West Lothian, with easy access for schools, pupils and families. Its purpose is to build resilience and support mental health and wellbeing, particularly during the transition to secondary school. The provider is expected to support vulnerable P7 pupils during the summer term and, where appropriate, during summer holidays; work with secondary schools and the council’s CAST transition process; and help schools build their own capacity through staff development and curriculum design. The service also includes quality evaluation and reporting with the council’s Educational Psychology Service. The procurement is for counselling and related guidance services, delivered across West Lothian.

This completed procurement used a single-lot open procedure. Bids closed on 30 April 2026 at noon, with award evaluation beginning the same day and a 90-day bid-validity period. The initial estimated value was £464,000. The contract was awarded to Place2Be, with an awarded contract value of £560,000; the award was made on 1 August 2026 and the contract was signed on 20 August 2026. The contract period runs from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2028, with a council option to extend by up to 24 months in total. Quality accounted for 80% of the evaluation and price for 20%. Seven bids were received, all from SMEs and submitted electronically. The selected supplier holds an active contract for the requirement.

This opportunity is commercially relevant to established counselling organisations able to deliver a coordinated school-based service at authority-wide scale. A credible future provider would need qualified counselling professionals, experience supporting upper-primary children and young people, and the ability to work across 69 schools while maintaining accessible referral and intervention arrangements. Relevant capability includes resilience-building, mental-health and wellbeing support, secondary-school transition work, summer interventions for vulnerable pupils, and collaboration with educational psychology and school staff. Providers should be able to demonstrate at least two comparable examples of previous experience and employ staff whose names and qualifications can be supplied. Registration with BACP, COSCA or an equivalent body is required, alongside financial stability and substantial employers’, public-liability and professional-indemnity insurance. Strong evaluation, reporting and capacity-building skills would also be important.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

School Counselling Service - Primary Schools

Notice Description

West Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external service provider to provide Counselling Services to West Lothian Primary schools

Lot Information

Lot 1

West Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external service provider to achieve the vision of an integrated and flexible service which would meet the need for building resilient children and young people (aged 10 years and up) in the upper primary age range (P6&7) across all 69 primary school settings in the authority. It is envisaged that access to the service should be easy for schools and should feel seamless for children and young people and their families as part of the ongoing assessment and intervention planning process. A focus on building resilience, especially in relation to the transition to secondary school will be a key element of the work. It is expected that the provider will work closely with colleagues in secondary schools to support transition specifically where this would be in the best interests of the child. The provider would also be in a position to offer some specific transition intervention for particularly vulnerable P7 pupils in the summer term of each academic year. This would be closely aligned with the authority Cluster Assessment and Support for Transition (CAST) process. The ability to support young people over summer holiday periods where this is desirable will be a key element of the contract. In addition, the provider should consider how to support the local authority in building capacity in schools to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people through staff development and curriculum design. It is also expected that the provider will work closely with the Educational Psychology Service to maintain a quality evaluation framework as a key element of the contract. This will enable West Lothian Council to gather and report on council wide evaluation information and to meet the reporting requirements set by Scottish Government. Additional information: The council may wish to utilise the 24 month available extension in any combination e.g. 2 periods of 12 months.

Renewal: The contract may be extended for a period not exceeding a further 24 months in total at the sole discretion of the council.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-067811
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082947-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award 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

80 - Education and training services

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

80100000 - Primary education services

85312300 - Guidance and counselling services

85312320 - Counselling services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£464,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£560,000 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
30 Apr 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Aug 2026 - 31 Jul 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
West Lothian 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
LIVINGSTON
Postcode
EH54 6FF
Postcode Area
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM14 West Lothian
Delivery Location
TLM78 West Lothian
Local Authority
West Lothian
Electoral Ward
Livingston South
Westminster Constituency
Livingston

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Place2Be

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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