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GMCA 2201: NW Regional Children's Services Contract

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

12 Oct 2026 at 14:29

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

09 Oct 2026 at 12:55

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

08 Oct 2026 at 19:38

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is developing new regional purchasing arrangements for children’s services on behalf of 24 North West authorities. The services cover residential care, fostering, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools and colleges, alternative provision, residential family centres, supported accommodation, and therapeutic or health services. Providers will deliver care, education or support to children and young people across the North West. The new arrangements are intended to replace existing regional contracts and improve coordination between authorities, transparency and oversight, understanding of local capacity, pricing and collaboration. The current systems include more than 500 providers and are used to source homes for over 3,000 children at any one time. Greater Manchester Combined Authority will lead the new arrangements.

This is at the planning stage: the buyer is developing the arrangements and inviting providers to help shape them, not asking for tenders. A competitive flexible procedure is expected, using a framework agreement. The current plan is for one service grouping, with an eight-year contract period from August 2027 to August 2035. The estimated overall value is £13,891,659,564 excluding VAT (£16,669,991,477 including VAT). A further procurement notice is expected in March 2027. The buyer held market engagement workshops in Manchester during November 2026, with sessions covering fostering, SEND schools and colleges, alternative provision, residential care, residential family centres, supported accommodation and therapeutic or health services. Online feedback and review forums are also part of the planned engagement.

The arrangements are relevant to providers experienced in children’s social care, education or related health and therapeutic services, particularly those able to serve North West authorities. The buyer specifically sought input from organisations with experience delivering alternative provision, family assessment centres, fostering, residential care, SEND schools and colleges, and supported accommodation. Providers may contribute to developing the service specifications and the terms and conditions for each service area; this preparation work is intended to shape the future contracts. The buyer recognises that smaller providers may face barriers to engagement and has offered several ways to contribute, including online feedback. Existing providers should note that they will not transfer automatically from the current arrangements: they will need to apply to join the new contracts when these reach the market.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

GMCA 2201: NW Regional Children's Services Contract

Notice Description

There are four regional purchasing systems operated by NWADCS on behalf of the 24 North West authorities, these date back to 2009 for the first regional residential contract. These arrangements now include over 500 providers and at any one time over 3000 children are living in homes sourced via a regional contract. The planned contract end dates were January 2028 for Residential, March 2028 for Fostering, February 2031 for SENDAP and October 2031 for Supported Accommodation. As a result of changes in the operating context, including the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 we are reviewing all four arrangements at the same time. Through this work we are aiming for: Reduced duplication in procurement activity across the region. Improved transparency and oversight. Better understanding of sufficiency. Improved approach to pricing and uplifts. Local and sub regional collaboration. The new contracts will replace the current arrangements. We cannot transfer providers onto any new contracts so you will need to apply to join. Currently there are three 'lead authorities', Bolton, Cheshire East and Trafford. Current suppliers will have dealt with these authorities when they applied to join the purchasing system. All new arrangements will have Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) as the lead authority. There is a significant amount of work involved in developing the new arrangements. We want to ensure we have addressed as many of the challenges providers have already raised during consultation as possible. As soon as we have a timeline in place this will be shared, and we are working towards a contract award in August 2026. The GMCA will be hosting a series of engagement sessions throughout November 2026. These engagement opportunities are in place to support providers being able to effectively contribute to the development of the new regional contracts for the North West. NWADCS have welcomed the spirit in which providers have participated in the early market engagement and the progress this has brought in better understanding the challenges faced in the sector and how our contracting arrangements can support effective working relationships with authorities. We are seeking input from a range of providers, with a range of opportunities to contribute, recognising that in particular smaller providers may find it challenging to take the time to participate. Current Local Authorities Participating include - Blackburn with Darwen Council Blackpool Council Bolton Council Bury Council Cheshire East Council Cheshire West and Chester Council Cumberland Council Halton Borough Council Knowsley Council Lancashire County Council. Liverpool City Council Manchester City Council Oldham Council Rochdale Borough Council Salford City Council Sefton Council St Helens Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Trafford Council Warrington Borough Council Westmorland and Furness Council Wigan Council. Wirral Council Plus any company in which any of the above local authorities is a shareholder (as sole shareholder or as a co-shareholder with any of the above local authorities and/or any other contracting authority); and Which at the time meets the requirements of regulation 12(1) of the Public Contracts Regulation 2015. Further details and links on how to register are available on the chest procurement portal

Planning Information

Location: Various Organisations with previous experience in delivering the following services to North West authorities or delivering these services in the region are encouraged to attend; alternative provision, family assessment centres, fostering, residential, SEND schools and colleges and supported accommodation. Market engagement workshops In person sessions to hold detailed discussion of the specification and specific terms and conditions for each lot. Providers who get a place will need to commit to reviewing documentation beforehand and attending prepared to contribute effectively. Due to limited room capacity places will be allocated to providers on a first come first served basis with a maximum of one attendee per organisation. We reserve the right to limit places for multiple representatives from providers in the same group structure or from linked organisations. Sessions will be in central Manchester as below: 9 Nov 2026 10am - 12.30pm: Fostering 11 Nov 2026 10am - 12.30pm: SEND Schools and Colleges 11 Nov 2026 2pm - 4.30pm: SEND Alternative Provision 12 Nov 2026 10am - 12.30pm: Residential 12 Nov 2026 2pm - 4.30pm: Residential Family Centres 23 Nov 2026 10am - 12.30pm: Supported Accommodation 23 Nov 2026 2pm - 4.30pm: Therapeutic/Health Please ensure you are able to make these sessions before requesting a place. Request a place at these sessions here: Design workshop: Provider registration https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/W6d7Q4MCfT - Fill in form. Please make your request before 5pm on 23 October and places will be confirmed by 28 October. Notes from these sessions will be shared with all providers to allow further input from a wider stakeholder group. Interested parties should register their interest in the design workshops by 23 October 2026. Review forums These online sessions will follow the sharing of draft documents, focus on specific areas and will provide an opportunity for providers to feed back on the documents and terms and conditions. Invites to these sessions will be sent to providers who are on the current regional contracts. Providers who are not on the current regional contracts can register to receive invites here: Review forum: Provider mailing list registration - Fill in form https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/AD6Eh0db4y Online feedback form Recognising that there is commercial sensitivity and providers also may find it hard to attend on set dates this online form will remain open throughout to allow providers to ask questions, give feedback and input into the development. The online form can be found here: Development of NW new regional contracts - Fill in form. https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/MV6E83zvty Further information Purpose of the sessions These engagement opportunities are in place to support providers being able to effectively contribute to the development of the new regional contracts for the North West. NWADCS have welcomed the spirit in which providers have participated in the early market engagement and the progress this has brought in better understanding the challenges faced in the sector and how our contracting arrangements can support effective working relationships with authorities. We are seeking input from a range of providers, with a range of opportunities to contribute, recognising that in particular smaller providers may find it challenging to take the time to participate. Update on the progress of contract development can be found on our website here: www.nwadcs.org.uk/development-new-regional-contracts. Context There are four regional purchasing systems operated by NWADCS on behalf of the 24 North West authorities, these date back to 2009 for the first regional residential contract. These arrangements now include over 500 providers and at any one time over 3000 children are living in homes sourced via a regional contract. The planned contract end dates were January 2028 for Residential, March 2028 for Fostering, February 2031 for SENDAP and October 2031 for Supported Accommodation. As a result of changes in the operating context, including the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 we are reviewing all four arrangements at the same time. Through this work we are aiming for: Reduced duplication in procurement activity across the region. Improved transparency and oversight. Better understanding of sufficiency. Improved approach to pricing and uplifts. Local and sub regional collaboration. The new contracts will replace the current arrangements. We cannot transfer providers onto any new contracts so you will need to apply to join. Currently there are three 'lead authorities', Bolton, Cheshire East and Trafford. Current suppliers will have dealt with these authorities when they applied to join the purchasing system. All new arrangements will have Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) as the lead authority. There is a significant amount of work involved in developing the new arrangements. We want to ensure we have addressed as many of the challenges providers have already raised during consultation as possible. As soon as we have a timeline in place this will be shared, and we are working towards a contract award in August 2026. Further details can be found on the Chest Procurement Portal

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078441
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096132-2026
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
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

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
£13,891,659,564 Over £10B
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Oct 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
1 Mar 20275 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Aug 2027 - 1 Aug 2035 Over 5 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
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
MANCHESTER
Postcode
M1 6EU
Postcode Area
Manchester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD33 Manchester
Delivery Location
TLD North West (England)
Local Authority
Manchester
Electoral Ward
Deansgate
Westminster Constituency
Manchester Central

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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