---
title: "CO0430A Placement Sufficiency"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0495ae"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0495ae"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0495ae.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0495ae.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2024-08-27"
---

# CO0430A Placement Sufficiency

Buyer: ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0495ae

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## Summary

Essex County Council has completed the procurement process for the "CO0430A Placement Sufficiency" project, focussed on social research services. This tender falls under the services category and is aimed at addressing the challenges of children's placements in care. The awarded contract, which is part of Lot 4C Social Care (Children) under the ESPO Framework 664_21, has been granted to IMPOWER Consulting Ltd. The procurement followed a selective method, utilising a restricted procedure. The contract has been signed on 26th July 2024, commencing on 1st August 2024, with an initial project duration of six months, extendable to twelve months to accommodate any potential delays. The primary location for the contract is within the UKH3 region, and the total contract value is £350,000.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in social research services, especially those capable of delivering evidence-based tools or approaches to enhance children's placement sufficiency. Companies with a strong track record in innovative social care solutions and data-driven methodologies will find this tender particularly relevant. Additionally, businesses that can demonstrate robust operational practices to manage increasing demand and budgetary constraints will be well-suited to compete. This contract allows the selected provider to pilot their solution within a specific cohort in Essex, potentially positioning them for further opportunities within the county and expanding their footprint in the social care sector.

## Notice

Children's Placement Sufficiency continues to be a growing challenge across the country, and this is no different for Essex. There is growing demand for the provision of care for children and young people with complex needs. This makes securing the right care placement, in the right place, at the right time, to deliver the best outcomes, a big challenge. Coupled with this, the Council is experiencing budgetary challenges, particularly in relation to expenditure on placements for children and young people in care, where a combination of increasing demand and challenging market conditions make the context even more difficult. In order to address this the Council has transformational plans underway and now, as part of those plans, wants to source a readymade evidenced based tool and/or approach, that will enable us to deepen our understanding of the complexities we face in terms of drivers and demand, aligning with our resolve to respond better to the needs of children and young people in our care, whilst at the same time addressing the increasing costs, through careful planning and securing of appropriate care through robust operational practice. This should be through a tried and tested, robust process. In the first instance we want to secure a pilot period with a provider who has a track record of delivering a solution in the form of a tool/approach that will deliver the results and changes we want to deliver. There will be a focus on one cohort of children and young people in care, in one geographical area, in order to test the model in the Essex context. In this present instance, the Customer is issuing this Invitation to Tender as a Further Competition under Lot 4C Social Care (Children) of ESPO Framework 664_21.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

OVERVIEW Children's Placement Sufficiency continues to be a growing challenge across the country, and this is no different for Essex. There is growing demand for the provision of care for children and young people with complex needs. This makes securing the right care placement, in the right place, at the right time, to deliver the best outcomes, a big challenge. Coupled with this, the Council is experiencing budgetary challenges, particularly in relation to expenditure on placements for children and young people in care, where a combination of increasing demand and challenging market conditions make the context even more difficult. In order to address this the Council has transformational plans underway and now, as part of those plans, wants to source a readymade evidenced based tool and/or approach, that will enable us to deepen our understanding of the complexities we face in terms of drivers and demand, aligning with our resolve to respond better to the needs of children and young people in our care, whilst at the same time addressing the increasing costs, through careful planning and securing of appropriate care through robust operational practice. This should be through a tried and tested, robust process. In the first instance we want to secure a pilot period with a provider who has a track record of delivering a solution in the form of a tool/approach that will deliver the results and changes we want to deliver. There will be a focus on one cohort of children and young people in care, in one geographical area, in order to test the model in the Essex context. In this present instance, the Customer is issuing this Invitation to Tender as a Further Competition under Lot 4C Social Care (Children) of ESPO Framework 664_21. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the procurement are to secure a partner that can offer an evidenced based solution, tool or approach, with proven track record, that enables the council to tackle the challenges of demand, cost drivers, placement sufficiency and better outcomes for children and young people. DURATION The Contract will be established for an initial period of 6 months. The Contract is intended to start on 01st August 2024 or as otherwise agreed. The Contract term for this agreement with be 12 months. This will include a provisional 6-month project to deliver the requirements. Additional time has been allocated in order to mitigate any slippage in the project timescales. With appropriate notice the Authority may terminate the Agreement on any of the following Authority Break Point Dates: * Completion of the 6-month project milestones.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027292-2024 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Restricted procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 27 Aug 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 25 Jul 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £350,000 |

## 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 | 1 |
| Supplier names | IMPOWER CONSULTING |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79315000 - Social research services

## Release History

- 27 Aug 2024 at 13:30 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027292-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:528967-2021:TEXT:EN:HTML
- 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-0495ae. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0495ae.json.