---
title: "Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Support"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04565f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04565f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04565f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04565f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2024-12-18"
---

# Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Support

Buyer: ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04565f

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## Summary

Essex County Council conducted a procurement process to commission the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Support services, aimed at strengthening and championing a thriving voluntary sector within Essex, excluding Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock. The procurement, finalised on 18th December 2024, comprised two lots - Universal Standard Support Offer (USSO) and Community Participation. The services under these contracts will commence on 1st December 2024, running until 31st March 2031, with a break clause on 31st March 2028. The procurement method utilised was an open procedure, with the total value of the award for both lots reaching approximately £1,041,352.

These contracts present significant opportunities for business growth, particularly for SMEs and VCSEs equipped to support community development and digital service delivery. The USSO lot will require expertise in developing digital platforms and providing accessible business and compliance advice, making it ideal for tech-savvy firms. Community Participation focuses on fostering active community engagement, utilising technology to connect efforts and maximise volunteering potential, appealing to organisations with experience in community-focused initiatives. Both lots promise substantial annual budgets and potential additional funding, ensuring a steady income stream and the potential to make a considerable community impact.

## Notice

Essex County Council ("the Council") conducted a procurement to commission a new Voluntary and Community Support service as part of a wider offer to strengthen and champion a thriving and influential voluntary and community sector within the administrative boundaries of Essex (excluding the unitary authorities areas of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea). In addition, this service will also be open to the following classification of users: NHS Healthcare (Integrated Care Systems) both within the administrative boundaries of Essex and cross-boundary organisations. This procurement encompassed the following lots: Lot One: Universal Standard Support Offer Lot Two: Community Participation The commencement date for both lots is 1st December 2024 until 31st March 2031 with a break clause at 31st March 2028. Please note that the maximum duration amounts to 75 months and 30 days. However, due to the constraints with the fields in this notice, this position has been rounded up to the nearest month. The stated budget for this service is based on PS75,000 for the initial four (4) months per lot and PS75,000 p.a. for each subsequent year of the contracts per lot. In addition, the Council understands that there may be scope for additional funding of up to 15% although this remains subject to confirmation during the post-tender phase of the project. In addition, please note that the total value of the procurement in section II.1.7 of this notice reflects the cumulative value of the contract award for both lots excluding any additional funding.

### Lot Information

Universal Standard Support Offer (USSO)

The scope of this lot was designed to secure provider(s) to develop and maintain a Universal Standard Support Offer (USSO) to the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in Essex. This service is designed to allow users to self-assess and directs them to relevant, up to date and accessible business and compliance advice. The overarching purpose of this lot is to provide equity in access to quality, practical guidance to ensure organisations have the strong foundations needed to support them to achieve their goals, plan for development, become more resilient, build capacity and contribute to flourishing communities. The successful bidder must ensure that the service delivers the following commissioning requirements: * Ensure the USSO is hosted as a digital platform * Allow users the ability to complete self-assessments of their organisational health * Automatically direct users to high-quality and relevant information, advice, guidance and resources based on the outcome of their self-assessment regarding business development and compliance (e.g. governance procedures, safeguarding, policy templates, legal updates, training). * Be easily accessible to all VCS organisations regardless of size, skill or accessibility needs. * Allow users to intelligently browse the resources within the USSO Please note that the above information is intended to provide an overview of the Council's commissioning requirements for this service and full details of the scope of this provision were published in the associated service specification via the Council's e-tendering portal, ProContract. The proposed contract commencement date is 1st December 2024 until 31st March 2031 with a break clause at 31st March 2028. The stated budget for this lot is based on PS75,000 for the initial four (4) month term followed by PS75,000 p.a. for each subsequent year of the contract. In addition, the Council understands that there may be scope for additional funding of up to 15%, although this matter remains subject to final confirmation.

Community Participation

This lot was designed to enable the Council to commission provider(s) to deliver a strategic approach to building Community Participation across Essex. The successful provider for this lot will be required to support the development of a broad approach to community participation, developing a culture of active and engaged communities that can be driven forward and supported by place-based resources. Leading the development of an eco-system that enables and grows community participation within the boundaries of Essex County Council (excluding Southend and Thurrock). * Lead the creation of an ecosystem that facilitates community participation * Support and develop a positive environment in which the value of participation is recognised and community activity is flourishing * Embrace digital technology to connect local efforts into an integrated whole * Advocate for accessible participation, by creating, promoting, and fostering accessible and welcoming pathways into community participation * Identify and scope opportunities to maximise the potential of corporate volunteering capacity and return on Social Value commitments. Please note that the above information is intended to provide an overview of the Council's commissioning requirements for this service and full details of the scope of this provision were published in the associated service specification via the Council's e-tendering portal, ProContract. The proposed contract commencement date is 1st December 2024 until 31st March 2031 with a break clause at 31st March 2028. The stated budget for this lot is based on PS75,000 for the initial four (4) month term followed by PS75,000 p.a. for each subsequent year of the contract. In addition, the Council understands that there may be scope for additional funding of up to 15%, although this matter remains subject to confirmation during the post-tender phase of the project.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040792-2024 |
| Notice type | Planning Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Planning, Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 18 Dec 2024 |
| Submission deadline | 6 Sep 2024 |
| Future notice date | 30 May 2024 |
| Award date | 7 Nov 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £450,000 |
| Lots value | £525,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,041,352 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | CHELMSFORD |
| Post town | Chelmsford |
| Postcode | CM1 1QH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH3 Essex |
| ITL 3 | TLH36 Heart of Essex |
| Local authority | Chelmsford |
| Electoral ward | Moulsham and Central |
| Westminster constituency | Chelmsford |
| Delivery location | TLH3 Essex |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 3 |
| Supplier names | ATF SOUTHEND; MALDON AND DISTRICT COMMUNITY VOLUNTARY SERVICE (MDCVS; THE ACTIVE WELLBEING SOCIETY |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services
- 98 - Other community, social and personal services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services
- 98133100 - Civic betterment and community facility support services

## Release History

- 18 Dec 2024 at 14:28 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040792-2024
- 26 Jul 2024 at 11:23 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023390-2024
- 1 May 2024 at 09:06 - Planning - Planning Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013998-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://procontract.due-north.com/
- https://www.essex.gov.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04565f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04565f.json.