--- title: "Preliminary Engagement Notice - Closing the Gap - VCSE Infrastructure Support" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-052a51" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052a51" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a51.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a51.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "READING BOROUGH COUNCIL" published: "2025-06-02" --- # Preliminary Engagement Notice - Closing the Gap - VCSE Infrastructure Support Buyer: READING BOROUGH COUNCIL Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-052a51 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052a51) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a51.json) ## Summary Reading Borough Council, a sub-central government public authority located at Bridge Street, Reading, aims to procure a service under the tender titled "Preliminary Engagement Notice - Closing the Gap - VCSE Infrastructure Support". This tender process, currently in the planning stage, falls within the social services industry category and is expected to have a contract value of £130,000 per annum, totaling £650,000 over five years. An engagement session is scheduled for June 12, 2025, via Teams, to facilitate the exchange of the procurement timetable, draft service specification, and to gather feedback from providers. The re-procurement of this service is planned towards the end of 2025 with the new contract commencing from April 1, 2026. This tender presents a significant opportunity for businesses, particularly those within the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, to engage in the provision of preventative community-based services in Reading. With a focus on supporting the local VCSE infrastructure, this contract is well-suited for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as VCSE organisations, looking to expand their services and influence in the region. Engaging in the upcoming engagement session will allow interested parties to better understand the needs and strategic objectives of Reading Borough Council, thus positioning themselves advantageously for the forthcoming competitive procurement process. ## Notice Closing the Gap (CTG) is a contract opportunity for providers to deliver preventative community-based services. As part of this we currently commission an Infrastructure Support Service to support to the local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises. We plan to re-procure this service towards the end of 2025 with the intention of starting the new contract on the 1st April 2025. The contract value for this service is expected to be PS130,000 per annum for up to 5 years for a total value of PS650,000. Engaging with providers is a key part of developing what this service will look like. As such, we are holding an engagement session to share our procurement timetable and draft service specification. This will be an opportunity for us to gather feedback which will shape the final service. The draft service specification being shared has been based on learning from the current Closing the Gap service, a Needs Analysis, feedback from stakeholders, a working group of cross-council colleagues and external stakeholders and consultations with funding stakeholders regarding alignment to funding outcome requirements. This engagement session will be held via Teams on June 12th at 12:00 am. Please reply via a correspondence message via the Reading Borough Council In-Tend system to this notice with any email addresses you wish to be sent an invitation to this meeting. ### Planning Information This engagement session will be held via Teams on June 12th at 12:00 am. Please reply via a correspondence message via the Reading Borough Council In-Tend system to this notice with any email addresses you wish to be sent an invitation to this meeting. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029027-2025 | | 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 | 2 Jun 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 1 Nov 2025 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Apr 2026 - 31 Mar 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 | READING BOROUGH COUNCIL | | Locality | READING | | Post town | Reading | | Postcode | RG1 2LU | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | | ITL 3 | TLJ16 Berkshire West | | Local authority | Reading | | Electoral ward | Abbey | | Westminster constituency | Reading Central | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85320000 - Social services ## Release History - 2 Jun 2025 at 09:23 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029027-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029027-2025 2nd June 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - 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-052a51. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052a51.json.