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Appropriate Adult Service for Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and Isle of Wight

Hampshire County Council

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

31 Jul 2026 at 16:51

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

24 Jun 2026 at 11:55

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Hampshire County Council is procuring an Appropriate Adult Service in collaboration with Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council, Isle of Wight Council, and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The service provides trained appropriate adults for children, young people and vulnerable adults held at police stations or other locations, where a parent, guardian, carer or suitable adult is unavailable. It also covers appropriate adults for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children requiring disputed-age assessments for Hampshire Children’s Services. Delivery covers Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. The service is a specialist support and safeguarding provision, classified as guidance services (CPV 85312310), with each collaborating authority responsible for its own contract and payments.

The open procedure is complete and the contract was awarded on 27 July 2026 to The Appropriate Adult Service Limited. Five separate awards were made: Hampshire County Council £522,500 excluding VAT; Isle of Wight Council £19,841; Portsmouth City Council £251,104; Southampton City Council £92,810; and the Police and Crime Commissioner £1,369,953. The estimated procurement value was £2,353,333 excluding VAT (£2,823,999.60 including VAT). The contract period is 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2029, with one possible two-year extension to 30 June 2031. A future signature date of 1 September 2026 was scheduled, with the standstill ending on 14 August 2026. The tender closed on 20 July 2026 at 14:00, and enquiries closed on 7 July 2026 at 17:00. Evaluation weighted price at 30% and quality at 70%, covering delivery, mobilisation, safeguarding, service model, recruitment and retention, and trauma-informed practice. Three years’ appropriate-adult-service experience was required.

This procurement demonstrates established demand for a specialist appropriate adult provider operating across several local-authority and policing partners. A credible competitor would need experience delivering appropriate adult services, with systems that can coordinate provision across multiple areas and contracts. Relevant capability includes recruiting, managing and training appropriate adults; staffing shifts reliably; and maintaining an effective service model for both children and vulnerable adults in custody settings. Strong safeguarding arrangements are central, including the ability to identify, manage and escalate suspected safeguarding concerns affecting service users or staff. Providers would also need to demonstrate compliance with National Appropriate Adult Network standards and current legislation, alongside a trauma-informed approach that recognises adverse childhood experiences. Experience supporting age assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children would be relevant to the Hampshire element. The evaluation also shows the importance of mobilisation planning, quality assurance and retention of a suitably trained workforce.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Appropriate Adult Service for Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and Isle of Wight

Notice Description

Hampshire County Council in collaboration with Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council, Isle of Wight Council, and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight are looking to establish contracts with a single provider to deliver an Appropriate Adult Service for children and vulnerable adults across Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth, and the Isle of Wight The Service will provide persons acting as an Appropriate Adult (AA) for children and young people (in the absence of the parent, guardian or, if the child/young person is in the care of a local authority or voluntary organisation, a person representing that authority or organisation, or a Social Worker) and vulnerable adults (in the absence of a relative, guardian, other person responsible for their care or any appropriate friend or other suitable adult) in custody at a police station or other place. The Service will be required in Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. The Service will also provide AA for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children who are requiring an age assessment to be undertaken by Children's Services in situations where the age is in dispute. Requirements for Age Assessments are only relevant for Hampshire County Council. In the last 12 months the Council has had 80 age assessments where an appropriate adult was required. To support interested suppliers the Authorities are sharing the most recent annual volumes to act as a guide to the indicative levels of demand for this service. .This is an indicative figure and the Authorities offer no guarantee around any levels of work. The successful supplier will meet the demand inline with the requirements of the specification for the tendered price. Total Usage 10,450 hours of which Vulnerable Adults Portsmouth City Council - 1,574 hours Police and Crime Commissioner (covering Southampton, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight) 6,636 hours (this has since increased by approximately 400 hours a year) Children Portsmouth City Council YJS - 529 hours Southampton City Council YJS - 501 hours Isle Of Wight Council YJS - 107 hours Hampshire County Council YJS - 1,081 hours Governance The Service is commissioned in collaboration by Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council, Isle of Wight Council, and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Hampshire County Council will tender the Service on behalf of the collaborating authorities. Contracts will be issued by each Local Authority and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and Isle of Wight, i.e. there will be five contracts. Each collaborating authority will use the Document 3 - terms and conditions as its template for terms and conditions. The tender documents use the term contract or contracts meaning the resulting five separate contracts that the successful Tenderer will enter into with each contracting authority. For the purposes of this award notice the number of legal entities submitting tenders was only three but these relate to 5 separate individual contracts, hence it displays as 15 tenders received.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: There is 1 contract extension with a maximum duration of 2 years and 0 month, and a value ex VAT of PS 990,877

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06bc01
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072902-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
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
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85312310 - Guidance services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,353,333 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,353,333 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£2,256,208 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
31 Jul 20263 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
20 Jul 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 Jul 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
Hampshire County Council
Additional Buyers

Isle of Wight Council

Portsmouth City Council

Southampton City Council

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
FAREHAM
Postcode
SO23 8UJ
Postcode Area
Southampton
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ36 Central Hampshire
Delivery Location
TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Local Authority
Winchester
Electoral Ward
St Michael
Westminster Constituency
Winchester

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

THE APPROPRIATE ADULT SERVICE LIMITED

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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