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985_27 Occupational Health Services

Leicestershire County Council

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

28 Aug 2026 at 11:13

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

26 Jun 2026 at 09:44

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

07 May 2026 at 15:14

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO, intends to establish a public-sector framework for a range of occupational health services and Employee Assistance Programmes. The framework is intended to help participating organisations support employees’ physical and mental health, safety and welfare. The requirement is for health services, including occupational health provision and employee assistance support, delivered across the United Kingdom. ESPO is a public sector-owned professional buying organisation that provides procurement services and framework solutions for public sector organisations. The procurement is categorised as services and is being planned as a framework agreement. The arrangement is intended for organisations seeking external support for workforce health, wellbeing, safety and welfare, rather than for the purchase of general medical supplies or unrelated healthcare services.

This procurement is at the planning stage and is not yet a call for competition; tender documents are not available. ESPO expects to use an above-threshold framework agreement. The estimated value is £116,666,667 excluding VAT and £140,000,000 including VAT. The planned contract period is from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2029, with renewal provisions allowing the arrangement to extend to 30 June 2031. ESPO’s indicative date for the next notice is 8 January 2027. Preliminary market engagement has been undertaken through a request for information, with responses due by 10 July 2026. The engagement is expected to conclude by 2 October 2026, and ESPO intends to hold one-to-one meetings with a limited number of potential suppliers before publishing the engagement outcomes in any later tender documents.

The planned framework is likely to suit occupational health providers, employee assistance programme specialists and organisations able to deliver integrated physical and mental health support to public-sector employers. Small and medium-sized enterprises are identified as suitable for the planned lot, so the requirement may be accessible to specialist providers as well as larger national businesses. Suppliers should prepare evidence of the clinical, advisory and employee-support capabilities needed to protect workforce health, safety and welfare, together with the capacity to serve organisations across the United Kingdom. ESPO is seeking market insight on service scope, pricing, rebate structures, data controls, technology-enabled improvements, ease of use and the overall appeal of the framework. Providers with credible approaches in these areas will be well placed to respond when competition is launched.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

985_27 Occupational Health Services

Notice Description

ESPO is a public sector-owned professional buying organisation offering a comprehensive range of procurement services, including access to over 100 free-to-access framework solutions for the wider public sector. We are conducting preliminary market engagement with the intention of establishing a framework for the provision of a range of Occupational Health Services and Employee Assistance Programmes enabling organisations to support the physical and mental health, safety and welfare of their employees. This is not a call for competition. Tender documentation is not yet available.

Planning Information

ESPO is conducting market engagement to gain feedback and insight from potential suppliers to inform the development of a proposed framework for the provision of Occupational Health Services and Employee Assistance Programmes. The intended outcomes of the preliminary market engagement process are: * To alert the market to and encourage participation in the framework procurement. * To identify and explore opportunities to improve the framework offering in specific areas: - Market trends - Regulatory or legislative updates. - Opportunities for improvement through technology. - Framework scope - Framework pricing - Rebate structure - Data controls - Ease of use - Framework appeal * To communicate the outcomes of the engagement process to the market, ensuring fairness. Engagement is initially being undertaken initially via a Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire, details of which are captured on the EastMidsTenders eProcurement Portal (www.eastmidstenders.org). The deadline for responding to the RFI was 17:00 (5pm) on 10 July 2026. Market engagement is now expected to be completed in October (not September as originally estimated). Please note that the deadline for RFI responses has passed, meaning new responses (of the RFI) can no longer be considered as part of this market engagement exercise (with all remaining activity focusing on those responses already received). Suppliers wishing to participate in the engagement process MUST must first express an interest as follows: (a) Go to https://www.eastmidstenders.org/; (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for tender opportunity 985_27 (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); d) Express an interest. Suppliers can access the RFI in the 'Messages' section via the 'Activity' dashboard once an expression of interest has been registered. Any questions or clarifications should only be submitted to ESPO as a message on the eProcurement Portal. ESPO also intends to conduct 1-2-1 meetings with a limited number of potential suppliers to further explore points raised within their questionnaire responses requiring further detail or clarification. To ensure equal treatment of potential suppliers, and that participants in the preliminary market engagement process are not put at an unfair advantage, ESPO will publish market engagement outcomes within any subsequent ITT documentation.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0693a8
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082100-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85100000 - Health services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£116,666,667 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Aug 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
8 Jan 20275 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Jul 2027 - 30 Jun 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Leicestershire 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
LEICESTER
Postcode
LE19 1ES
Postcode Area
Leicester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLF East Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLF22 Leicestershire CC and Rutland
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Blaby
Electoral Ward
Enderby
Westminster Constituency
South Leicestershire

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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