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Section 19

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

14 Aug 2026 at 10:28

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

13 Aug 2026 at 16:44

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Planning

21 Jul 2026 at 12:01

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council commissioned Section 19 education provision for children and young people of compulsory school age who cannot access mainstream school places. The service covers permanently excluded pupils and pupils unable to attend mainstream education because of illness or other reasons. It is an education and training service for high-needs placements, intended to provide suitable education across Bolton and support the council’s statutory duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996. The provision is delivered by The Bolton Impact Trust, a Bolton-based small and medium-sized enterprise. The requirement is relevant to education providers able to operate suitable alternative provision, accommodate high-needs pupils and deliver across the borough, particularly organisations with premises capable of supporting the required placement numbers.

The procurement is complete and was awarded by direct award to The Bolton Impact Trust on 27 July 2026. The award value is £4,000,000, including gross value as stated, for the period from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027. The award remains recorded as pending, with contract signature scheduled by 31 August 2026 and a standstill period ending on 25 August 2026. The council used a direct award because it determined that, for technical reasons, only this supplier could provide the service within the required timescales and that there were no reasonable alternatives. The stated reasons include the size of premises needed for placements and the expectation to deliver the service across Bolton. The procurement was above threshold and used the light-touch regime.

This award demonstrates a substantial, borough-wide requirement for alternative education provision for pupils excluded from mainstream schools or unable to attend because of illness or other reasons. A credible future competitor would need to provide suitable education for compulsory-school-age children, manage high-needs placements and operate premises large enough to support the required capacity. Delivery capability across Bolton is central, as is the ability to meet the council’s annual planning requirements for high-needs places and provide provision within the education-year timetable. The successful supplier is a local SME, showing that a smaller specialist provider can satisfy the requirement. Organisations with established alternative-provision experience, appropriate premises, safeguarding and teaching capacity, and the operational scale to serve the whole borough are best placed to compete when the council next tests the market.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Section 19

Notice Description

Section 19 of the Education act 1996 is the statutory duty to provide suitable education for all children and young people of compulsory school age who cannot access mainstream school places. This includes, permanently excluded pupils, and pupils who, because of illness or other reasons, cannot attend mainstream. Bolton Council determine the number of high needs places required each year and submits the figures to the DfE by December 5th for the following academic year. These are finalised and published in February before September term starts. This process should reflect planned and predicted changes for the following academic year, so that schools and colleges receive an appropriate level of core funding, that enables them to make the special provision that is to be commissioned, particularly any expansion of that provision. The Authority intends to Direct Award this provision for one year to Bolton Impact Trust for the Academic Year 2026 to 2027 in accordance with section 41 and Schedule 5 clause 6(a) and (b) of the Procurement Act 2023: 6(a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and 6(b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. There is an absence of competition for technical reasons including size of premises to support placements, and the expectation to deliver the service for the whole of Bolton. Only this supplier can supply the services within the timescales required due to the specific requirements and there are no reasonable alternatives to provide this service. The intention is to run an Open Tender process for the 2027-2028 provision and to run a further process for the 2028 provision onwards.

Procurement Information

6The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract- (a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06cfbf
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077544-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

80000000 - Education and training services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£4,800,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£4,000,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Aug 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
31 Jul 2026Expired
Award Date
27 Jul 20261 months ago
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2027 6-12 months
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
Bolton Metropolitan Borough 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
BOLTON
Postcode
BL1 1RU
Postcode Area
Bolton
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD36 Greater Manchester North West
Delivery Location
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Local Authority
Bolton
Electoral Ward
Queens Park & Central
Westminster Constituency
Bolton North East

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

The Bolton Impact Trust

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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