The Adult Social Care Big Conversation Listening Events

WEST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

18 Jun 2026 at 10:34

Summary of the contracting process

West Northamptonshire Council has completed the procurement process for the "Adult Social Care Big Conversation Listening Events", under the industry category of social work and related services. Located in West Northamptonshire, UK, this project is part of the council's strategy to engage effectively with service users and carers, especially those from seldom-heard groups. The initiative was executed through a tender process under a light-touch regime and was valued at £25,000. The contract, active from 15 April 2026 to 30 September 2026, was awarded to the Social Care Institute for Excellence, which will design and deliver the programme in collaboration with various stakeholders.

This tender provides significant opportunities for businesses with expertise in social care consulting and community engagement. It is particularly suited for companies experienced in working with diverse and hard-to-reach populations, providing a platform for such businesses to contribute to meaningful social conversations and influence strategic priorities. Entities that can offer innovative ideas on large-scale program delivery, particularly in a co-production framework, would be well-positioned to benefit and potentially establish long-term partnerships with the council and its collaborative board. The Social Care Institute for Excellence, as a small to medium-sized enterprise, exemplifies how an organisation with the right skillset can successfully secure such contracts, highlight its expertise, and expand its footprint in public sector engagement.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

The Adult Social Care Big Conversation Listening Events

Notice Description

The consultant shall deliver the Adult Social Care Big Conversation Listening Events across West Northamptonshire. The aims and objectives: a) design and deliver the programme in close collaboration with the Coproduction Board, Council staff and partners, including: i. finding and engaging people who draw upon social care, especially seldom heard people / diverse groups / 'hard to reach' groups ii. communicating with and involve unpaid carers iii. bringing creative ideas and thoughts on the best way to engage more people to get them involved. b) deliver the programme across June to August2026, that will: i. capture feedback that is a true reflection of what is said during the programme. ii. focus on what people and their carers are saying. iii. create a safe and empathetic environment for people and carers to share their views. c) develop methods to obtain the views of Council staff regarding the current priorities and what they are doing to meet them. d) develop methods to obtain the views of the Council's external providers and partners about Adult Social Care and the current priorities. e) Gather views on the recent Care Quality Commission assessment of the council f) analyse the findings and produce a report that helps the Council set its priorities for the next Local Account 2026. Engagement: a) provide the capacity and expertise to coproduce and work alongside people with lived experience, colleagues including: i. Strategic Commissioning to support co-production and engagement with people and unpaid carers who draw on social care. ii. Quality Market Management for engagement with external care providers. iii. Principal social worker and the practice development team. iv. Locality and Community Development Managers v. Community Development and Inclusion Officers vi. Communications team b) provide knowledge and experience of engaging seldom heard groups/people, explicitly those groups that have not normally engaged with the Council in the past, for example: i. people living in residential care settings including working age residents. ii. people living in Supported Living and Shared Lives accommodation. iii. people who have experienced safeguarding situations. iv. people with complex needs for example people with learning disability, autism, mental health needs or people with multiple disadvantages. v. sensory disability groups vi. faith and community groups vii. People from ethnic minorities viii. Traveller & Roma community ix. global majority communities x. street homeless c) use the council's Big Conversation project group, as a source to identify seldom heard groups/people and work with WNC and Expert's by Experience to gain feedback. d) engage and work with our external providers to plan and deliver the programme e) provide experience of different ways to engage people including surveys, face-to-face and one-to-one conversations. Delivery of the listening events: a) work with people who have lived experience and make this central to the delivery of the programme. b) produce a project plan, detailing values, approach, timeline, activity and making coproduction central to delivery. c) design and deliver large scale programme across West Northamptonshire in at least each of the Local Area Partnerships (LAPS), creating safe place for people to be open and honest about their experience of social care. d) ensure the programme is inclusive and accessible. e) ensure the venues for the programme support wide scale engagement including consideration for location, accessibility, parking facilities, public transport. f) create an environment for the programme so that people can be open and honest. g) arrange smaller listening events to capture people with a range of needs and diversity. h) consider ways of capturing people's feedback on their safeguarding experience. i.e. anonymous Safeguarding Survey already in existence. i) respond to people feedback at the events appropriately with empathy and understanding. j) ask people how the Council is doing against delivering the priories set out in council strategies k) have the ability to widen questions on a specific topic, for example, housing can include adaptations, mental health support and other areas of support.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b7dd
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057479-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - unknown
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

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£25,000 Under £100K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
18 Jun 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
14 Apr 20262 months ago
Contract Period
14 Apr 2026 - 30 Sep 2026 1-6 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
WEST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 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
NORTHAMPTON
Postcode
NN1 1ED
Post Town
Northampton
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLF East Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLF24 West Northamptonshire
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
West Northamptonshire
Electoral Ward
Castle
Westminster Constituency
Northampton North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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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