--- title: "Essex Children's Homes Collaboration Event" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04fead" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04fead" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fead.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fead.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL" published: "2026-04-07" --- # Essex Children's Homes Collaboration Event Buyer: ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04fead [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04fead) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fead.json) ## Summary Essex County Council is orchestrating a strategic collaboration event titled "Essex Children's Homes Collaboration Event" scheduled for 16th April 2026, from 09:30 to 13:00. The event, which forms part of an ongoing procurement process, will be conducted online via MS Teams. The industry category is health and social work services, and it is geared towards understanding and improving relational contracts with service providers. The council invites directors, development leads, and strategic leads to this critical collaboration session, following a series of events hosted from May to December 2025. This event is a part of the "planningUpdate" stage in the procurement process and is vital in shaping future tender specifications and service delivery models in Essex. This initiative by Essex County Council presents a significant opportunity for businesses in the children’s residential care sector. It is particularly suited for SMEs and VCSEs capable of delivering high-quality children's home placements. The procurement process aims to establish a network of providers that share ECC’s values and can respond to complex needs. Engaging in this collaboration can offer businesses strategic insights, partnership opportunities, and an alignment with ECC’s vision for innovative service delivery. Providers who can meet the demands of emergency placements and long-term planning will particularly benefit from the collaborative framework being established. This represents a pivotal opportunity for providers who are agile and capable of adapting to collaborative public procurement processes to grow and solidify their presence in the Essex region. ## Notice Following the previous Essex Children's Homes collaboration events which took place during May to December 2025 inclusive, Essex County Council ("ECC") would like to invite providers to the next collaboration event which will take place on the 16th April 2026 from 09:30 to 13:00. Please note that this event will take place online via MS Teams instead of in-person as previously advertised. In addition, please be advised that the Council will circulate the requisite meeting invitation via e-mail to all providers who have registered their attendance via the MS Forms survey as detailed below. In summary, during previous market collaboration events, we have worked together to: * Understand how we can respond to the highest levels and complexity of need that Essex children present with * Co-design prerequisites for collaborative working * Co-design and tested a new collaborative placement finding protocol * Co-design a clear understanding for the need for emergency placements and move-on placements to support good transitions for children in care. * Co-design a procurement pathway that is compliant and enables ECC to identify providers that share our values and can deliver high quality children's home placements for Essex children. Please be advised that the focus of this event is designed to secure an understanding of the key features to secure a successful relational contract between ECC and providers. In order to inform the discussions during this event, ECC officers have created a short survey that will enable us to better understand your experiences of local authority contracts and capture any approaches which are considered best practice to inform the drafting requirements for this service. Please take the time to complete the survey which can be accessed via: https://forms.office.com/e/BQxSs1xJHB If you would like to share any supporting information to accompany your survey response , for example evidence of good practice or lessons learned from similar projects, please feel free to email us via: rachel.horne@essex.gov.uk We look forward to meeting new providers during this event and reconnecting with providers that have been a part of the journey so far. Please be advised that the scope of this agenda means that this event is best suited to directors, development or strategic leads rather than frontline, operational staff. In addition, please note that in order to provide equitable access to all organisations, spaces at this event are limited to two (2) representatives per provider. New providers to Essex are welcome to attend this event. However, please be aware that you may benefit from a prior discussion with the project team ahead of time to ensure you understand the journey of co-design so far. You can find out more how to access a spot at our Friday drop-in sessions here: https://www.essexproviderhub.org/children-s-services/contacts/new-to-essex-children-s-homes-consultations/ Explanatory notes: Please be advised that any information regarding the contract value and contract duration within this notice are provided for indicative purposes to fulfil the requirements of the online form. The Council reserves the right to review and amend this information and will publish the actual position within the tender notice. In addition, please note that in relation to the stated position regarding the contracting authority within this notice, the contracting authority is Essex County Council and any Successor Body meaning one or more entities which assumes any of the Council's functions (as applicable) as a result of Local Government Reform (LGR). Such successor body or bodies may be, without limitation, a local authority, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a strategic authority or any other status determined pursuant to the Devolution and LGR Legislation. ### Planning Information Following the previous Essex Children's Homes collaboration events which took place during May to December 2025 inclusive, Essex County Council ("ECC") would like to invite providers to the next collaboration event which will take place on the 16th April 2026 from 09:30 to 13:00 via MS Teams instead of in-person as previously advertised. In addition, please be advised that the Council will circulate the requisite meeting invitation via e-mail to all providers who have registered their attendance via the MS Forms survey as detailed below. Please be advised that the focus of this event is designed to secure an understanding of the key features to secure a successful relational contract between ECC and providers. In order to inform the discussions during this event, ECC officers have created a short survey that will enable us to better understand your experiences of local authority contracts and capture any approaches which are considered best practice to inform the drafting requirements for this service. Please take the time to complete the survey which can be accessed via: https://forms.office.com/e/BQxSs1xJHB If you would like to share any supporting information to accompany your survey response , for example evidence of good practice or lessons learned from similar projects, please feel free to email us via: rachel.horne@essex.gov.uk We look forward to meeting new providers during this event and reconnecting with providers that have been a part of the journey so far. Please be advised that the scope of this agenda means that this event is best suited to directors, development or strategic leads rather than frontline, operational staff. In addition, please note that in order to provide equitable access to all organisations, spaces at this event are limited to two (2) representatives per provider. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031483-2026 | | 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 | 7 Apr 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 15 Jan 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 31 May 2026 - 30 May 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 | Planned | | Lots status | Planned | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## 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 | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85000000 - Health and social work services ## Release History - 7 Apr 2026 at 12:51 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031483-2026 - 13 Mar 2026 at 11:37 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022867-2026 - 3 Dec 2025 at 09:46 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079183-2025 - 17 Sep 2025 at 07:49 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057157-2025 - 8 Sep 2025 at 12:47 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/054653-2025 - 2 Sep 2025 at 13:15 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053185-2025 - 2 Sep 2025 at 13:14 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053184-2025 - 23 Jun 2025 at 14:59 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034481-2025 - 8 Apr 2025 at 11:28 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013627-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031483-2026 7th April 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/022867-2026 13th March 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079183-2025 3rd December 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057157-2025 17th September 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/054653-2025 8th September 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053185-2025 2nd September 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053184-2025 2nd September 2025 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034481-2025 23rd June 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013627-2025 8th April 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://forms.office.com/e/BQxSs1xJHB - https://www.essex.gov.uk/ - https://www.essexproviderhub.org/children-s-services/contacts/new-to-essex-children-s-homes-consultations/ - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## 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-04fead. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fead.json.