--- title: "ASC25017 Learning Disabilities Replacement Care - Preliminary Market Engagement" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL" published: "2025-03-11" --- # ASC25017 Learning Disabilities Replacement Care - Preliminary Market Engagement Buyer: WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4.json) ## Summary Worcestershire County Council has initiated a preliminary market engagement for the provision of replacement care services for adults with learning disabilities, focusing on future service delivery options for two Council-owned facilities: Worth Crescent in Stourport and Pershore Short Breaks in Station Road. This process, which falls under the social work services industry category, is currently at the planning stage. The Council seeks feedback from care providers and relevant stakeholders by 26th March 2025. The potential procurement could start from 1st January 2026, subject to the outcomes of this engagement and the decision-making process. This tender offers significant opportunities for businesses within the social care sector, particularly those specialising in residential care services for individuals with learning disabilities. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as voluntary and community sector enterprises (VCSEs), are encouraged to participate. The Council is considering various options, including the possibility of outsourcing the entire service provision, which could open doors for external providers to offer innovative and high-quality care solutions. Firms capable of managing and supplying up to 12 replacement care beds and providing meaningful activities for care recipients, ensuring round-the-clock service seven days a week, stand to benefit from this engagement. ## Notice Please note: This is a preliminary market engagement exercise, and NOT an opportunity to submit tenders. Information presented in this notice COULD CHANGE and it might not turn into a procurement exercise, depending on the results of market testing and consultation. Therefore any information related to values and contract start and end dates are INDICATIVE / ESTIMATED at this stage. As part of our duties under the Care Act 2014, Worcestershire County Council supports the needs of adults and their carers under the Act's eligibility criteria. This includes the provision of replacement care (often referred to as respite or a short break) where this is specified in an individual's Care and Support Plan. There are five commissioned Learning Disability replacement care services, two of which are operated by the Council. The Council are seeking to review and consult on future service delivery options of the two Council owned replacement care provision services: * Worth Crescent, in Stourport, which is a 10 bedded unit * Pershore Short Breaks, in Station Road is a 4-bedded service The Proposal The Council are considering what options are available to improve the service provision to meet the needs of residents, as follows: 1. Continue with the existing provision, at their current location, which is Worth Crescent, in Stourport, and Pershore Short Breaks, in Station Road. 2. Combine the existing service provision at Pershore Short Breaks and Worth Crescent, to another premises, located in Worcester City Centre, with the option to sell or repurpose the premises in Worth Crescent and Station Road. 3. Transfer the services currently provided at Worth Crescent to Pershore Short Breaks and create a 12 bed unit, within the existing Pershore Short Breaks premises, which creates the opportunity to sell or lease the Worth Crescent building. 4. Consider outsourcing all replacement care provision to the external market. Please read the cabinet paper attached to the project for further details. The Council must consider the best use of its property assets and provide high quality services in the most efficient and effective manner. Therefore, the Council are exploring the benefits of all four options and are wanting to seek views from care suppliers on option 4. The Service provision would need to: a) Supply and manage 12 replacement care beds that the Council would potentially fund under a block contracting arrangement, this could be at one or more locations. b) Provide replacement care 7 nights a week, 52 weeks per year. c) Provide meaningful activities for all adults with a learning disability who are receiving replacement care in accordance with their agreed support plans. The information you provide to us will be used by Worcestershire County Council. It will only be used to inform recommendations on our options appraisal for the Council's residential replacement care provisions for adults with learning disabilities. None of your personal details or individual responses will be shared with any third party. We are therefore seeking feedback from care suppliers through this questionnaire. Whilst logged into the system, please "Express Interest" to unlock the "Preliminary Market Engagement" tab. That will make the cabinet report visible, as well as the questionnaire for you to complete. If you would like to respond to this questionnaire but experience issues doing so via In-tend, please download the Word version from the "Clarifications" tab and email your reply to amiron@worcestershire.gov.uk. ### Planning Information All information provided in Procedure - Description. Questionnaire is available on our e-Procurement Portal: https://www.in-tendhost.co.uk/worcestershire/aspx/Home ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008797-2025 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 11 Mar 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 26 Mar 2025 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Jan 2026 - 31 Dec 2029 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL | | Locality | WORCESTER | | Post town | Worcester | | Postcode | WR5 2NP | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) | | ITL 2 | TLG1 Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | | ITL 3 | TLG12 Worcestershire CC | | Local authority | Worcester | | Electoral ward | Nunnery | | Westminster constituency | Worcester | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85300000 - Social work and related services - 85310000 - Social work services - 85311000 - Social work services with accommodation ## Release History - 11 Mar 2025 at 16:04 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008797-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008797-2025 11th March 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.in-tendhost.co.uk/worcestershire/aspx/Home - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents - https://www.worcestershire.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-04ebb4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04ebb4.json.