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School Counselling Service - Primary Schools

West Lothian Council

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

02 Sep 2026 at 01:00

OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

30 Mar 2026 at 01:00

OJEU - F2 - Contract Notice
Summary of the contracting process

West Lothian Council appointed an external counselling provider for primary schools across West Lothian. The service is intended for children and young people aged 10 and above in P6 and P7, across all 69 primary school settings. It covers accessible, integrated counselling and early intervention to build resilience, particularly around the transition to secondary school. The provider is also expected to support vulnerable P7 pupils, including transition work during the summer term, and provide support during school holidays where appropriate. The service includes working with secondary schools, schools’ staff and curriculum development, and the Educational Psychology Service on evaluation and reporting. This is a specialist education, child wellbeing and counselling service delivered in West Lothian.

This completed procurement used an open procedure for services. The tender submission deadline and bid opening were both 30 April 2026 at 12:00. The estimated tender value was £464,000. One lot was awarded to Place2Be for £560,000. The award process began on 30 April 2026; the contract was signed on 20 August 2026 and is active from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2028. The council may extend it by up to a further 24 months at its discretion. Evaluation was weighted 80% quality and 20% price. Bids had to remain valid for 90 days, be submitted in English, and variants were not allowed. Seven electronic bids were received, all from SMEs.

This requirement suits established counselling and child mental-health providers able to operate across a large primary-school estate and integrate with wider education services. Credible suppliers need qualified counselling professionals, experience supporting upper-primary children and young people, and the ability to address resilience, mental health, wellbeing and transition to secondary education. The service also calls for flexible delivery during school holidays, targeted support for vulnerable pupils, staff development, curriculum input and structured outcome evaluation. Providers must be registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland, or an equivalent body. They need at least two relevant previous-experience examples, named staff and qualifications, suitable financial strength, and employers’, public and professional indemnity insurance.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

School Counselling Service - Primary Schools

Notice Description

West Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external service provider to provide Counselling Services to West Lothian Primary schools

Lot Information

Lot 1

West Lothian Council is seeking to appoint a fully qualified and experienced external service provider to achieve the vision of an integrated and flexible service which would meet the need for building resilient children and young people (aged 10 years and up) in the upper primary age range (P6&7) across all 69 primary school settings in the authority. It is envisaged that access to the service should be easy for schools and should feel seamless for children and young people and their families as part of the ongoing assessment and intervention planning process. A focus on building resilience, especially in relation to the transition to secondary school will be a key element of the work. It is expected that the provider will work closely with colleagues in secondary schools to support transition specifically where this would be in the best interests of the child. The provider would also be in a position to offer some specific transition intervention for particularly vulnerable P7 pupils in the summer term of each academic year. This would be closely aligned with the authority Cluster Assessment and Support for Transition (CAST) process. The ability to support young people over summer holiday periods where this is desirable will be a key element of the contract. In addition, the provider should consider how to support the local authority in building capacity in schools to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people through staff development and curriculum design. It is also expected that the provider will work closely with the Educational Psychology Service to maintain a quality evaluation framework as a key element of the contract. This will enable West Lothian Council to gather and report on council wide evaluation information and to meet the reporting requirements set by Scottish Government.. The council may wish to utilise the 24 month available extension in any combination e.g. 2 periods of 12 months.

Renewal: The contract may be extended for a period not exceeding a further 24 months in total at the sole discretion of the council.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000828008
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=SEP563606
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
OJEU - F3 - 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

80 - Education and training services

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

80100000 - Primary education services

85312300 - Guidance and counselling services

85312320 - Counselling services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£464,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£560,000 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
30 Apr 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Aug 2026 - 31 Jul 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
West Lothian 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
LIVINGSTON
Postcode
EH54 6FF
Postcode Area
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM14 West Lothian
Delivery Location
TLM78 West Lothian
Local Authority
West Lothian
Electoral Ward
Livingston South
Westminster Constituency
Livingston

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Place2Be

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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