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Experts at Hand: Occupational Therapy Inclusion & Participation Service

Norfolk County Council

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Planning

12 Aug 2026 at 11:56

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

12 Aug 2026 at 11:45

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Norfolk County Council is planning an Occupational Therapy, Inclusion and Participation Service as part of its zone-based, multidisciplinary Experts at Hand model. The service will support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities across mainstream early years, primary, secondary and post-16 settings in Norfolk. It will bring specialist expertise into everyday learning environments, working alongside setting staff and wider professionals. Activities are expected to include observation, assessment, early identification of need and recommendations for targeted, evidence-based support. The service is intended to improve staff confidence and capability, help settings identify and meet emerging or identified needs, and enable more children and young people to flourish in their educational environments. The procurement is classified as community health services (CPV 85323000) and is a service contract.

This procurement is at the planning stage: the Council has announced its intention to procure, but this is not an invitation to tender. The expected approach is an above-threshold open procedure, using the open procedure method, with a framework agreement involved. One planned lot is intended to be suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community and social enterprises. The anticipated contract period is 4 January 2027 to 31 March 2029. The anticipated value is £3,383,930 excluding VAT, or £4,060,716 including VAT. The Council expects to publish the next notice by 30 September 2026. Market engagement includes an online workshop on 20 August 2026, followed by a questionnaire and draft specification; responses are expected by 12 noon on 31 August 2026.

The work is likely to suit occupational therapy providers and multidisciplinary organisations experienced in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream education. Relevant capability includes delivering occupational therapy input across early years, primary, secondary and post-16 settings; carrying out observation and assessment; identifying appropriate targeted support; and embedding practical, evidence-based advice within everyday learning environments. Providers should be prepared to work collaboratively with education staff and wider professionals across zone-based services, while helping build workforce confidence and capability. The Council is using market engagement to understand current capacity, capability and innovation, and is inviting all interested providers to contribute. This is a preparation opportunity rather than a bid opportunity, so interested organisations can use the engagement to assess fit and inform their readiness for the future competition.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Experts at Hand: Occupational Therapy Inclusion & Participation Service

Notice Description

Norfolk County Council (NCC) proposes to procure an Occupational Therapy, Inclusion and Participation Service, which will form part of Norfolk's zone based, multidisciplinary Experts at Hand model. 'Experts at Hand' is designed to transform how support for children and young people with SEND is delivered, by bringing specialist expertise directly into mainstream early years, primary, secondary and post-16 settings. By embedding 'expert roles', such as occupational therapists alongside setting staff, and wider professionals. The offer supports earlier identification of need, strengthens workforce confidence and capability, and provides timely, evidence-based support within everyday learning environments. The Experts at Hand offer will support mainstream settings across early years, primary, secondary and post-16, to better identify and meet the needs of children and young people with emerging or identified SEND needs. It will provide dedicated professional expertise tailored to the needs of individual children and young people, through observation, assessment, and identifying appropriated targeted support to help more children and young people flourish within their settings. The contract is anticipated to start 4th January 2027 up to 31st March 2029 with an anticipated contract value of PS3,383,930 excluding VAT.

Planning Information

Norfolk County Council (NCC) is undertaking market engagement in relation to a proposed Occupational Therapy, Inclusion and Participation Service, which will form part of Norfolk's zone-based, multidisciplinary Experts at Hand model. This engagement is being conducted through a soft market testing exercise designed to gather feedback on the proposed service model and to better understand current market capacity, capability and innovation. The exercise will consist of: 1) An online market engagement workshop to be held via Microsoft Teams on 20 August 2026, from 10:00am to 11:00am. The session will include an overview of the proposed service scope and provide an opportunity for providers to ask questions and engage in discussion. 2) A market engagement questionnaire, which will be published following the workshop alongside a draft service specification on the Council's In-Tend portal. Interested providers are invited to review the draft specification and complete the questionnaire. Completed questionnaires must be returned via In-Tend by 12:00 noon on 31 August 2026. The purpose of this market engagement is to obtain feedback on the proposed service and gather relevant market intelligence that may help inform the final service specification, workforce model, commissioning strategy and procurement approach. This engagement is open to all interested providers. Participation is entirely voluntary and is for information-gathering purposes only. Information provided through this exercise will not form part of, nor influence, the evaluation of any future procurement process. Participation, or non-participation, in this market engagement will not affect a provider's ability to participate in any future procurement opportunity. Equally, information submitted as part of this process will not place any provider at an advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement exercise. Providers participate in this engagement at their own expense. NCC will not reimburse any costs incurred in attending the workshop, reviewing documentation, preparing responses or participating in any aspect of the market engagement process. To ensure consistency and transparency, the Council has established designated points of contact for this exercise. Providers are requested not to contact other Council officers, teams or advisors regarding this engagement. All enquiries and responses must be submitted through the messaging facility within In-Tend. Providers wishing to participate should register on In-Tend at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc/aspx/Home Registration is free of charge. Once registered, providers can express their interest in the market engagement. Following the market engagement event on 20 August 2026, the questionnaire will be made available for download within the Clarifications section of the In-Tend portal. Completed questionnaires should be returned via the Correspondence section by 12:00 noon on 31 August 2026. Providers interested in attending the online market engagement workshop should register on In-Tend and submit a message including their name and organisation details. The Council will respond with the Microsoft Teams meeting details.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e264
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076678-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85323000 - Community health services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£3,383,930 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
30 Sep 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
4 Jan 2027 - 31 Mar 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
Norfolk 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
NORWICH
Postcode
NR1 2DH
Postcode Area
Norwich
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH5 Norfolk
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH51 Norwich and East Norfolk
Delivery Location
TLH15 Norwich and East Norfolk, TLH16 North and West Norfolk, TLH17 Breckland and South Norfolk
Local Authority
Norwich
Electoral Ward
Lakenham
Westminster Constituency
Norwich South

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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