---
title: "EHCP Process Improvement"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-068720"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-068720"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068720.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068720.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Bristol City Council"
published: "2026-04-21"
---

# EHCP Process Improvement

Buyer: Bristol City Council  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-068720

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## Summary

No summary available yet.

## Notice

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Safety Valve Programme is a key priority for the Council. Under its statutory duties in the Children and Families Act 2014, the Council must ensure the timely delivery of high-quality Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Improving EHCP timeliness and addressing the current backlog of assessments are therefore central commitments within the Council's Safety Valve Improvement Plan. Educational Psychology (EP) advice is a mandatory component of the EHCP assessment process. Current internal capacity is insufficient to meet the required volume of statutory advice within prescribed timescales. Additional EP resource is therefore required to ensure compliance with statutory duties and to support delivery of the Safety Valve commitments. To address this need, the Council intends to commission a managed service from an agency provider for a fixed period of eight months. The service will provide additional EP capacity to support EHCP assessments and reduce the existing backlog. The arrangement will include provider management oversight and quality assurance to ensure consistency and effective delivery. The eight-month contract period is considered the minimum necessary to deliver a meaningful reduction in the backlog while stabilising ongoing assessment throughput. The service is required urgently and delaying procurement would risk the Council failing to meet Safety Valve conditions. The proposed procurement route is a direct award to Constellia through the SEWTAP (South East Wales Technical and Professional Services) framework, with delivery of services through Sanctuary Personnel Limited.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Safety Valve Programme is a key priority for the Council. Under its statutory duties in the Children and Families Act 2014, the Council must ensure the timely delivery of high-quality Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Improving EHCP timeliness and addressing the current backlog of assessments are therefore central commitments within the Council's Safety Valve Improvement Plan. Educational Psychology (EP) advice is a mandatory component of the EHCP assessment process. Current internal capacity is insufficient to meet the required volume of statutory advice within prescribed timescales. Additional EP resource is therefore required to ensure compliance with statutory duties and to support delivery of the Safety Valve commitments. To address this need, the Council intends to commission a managed service from an agency provider for a fixed period of eight months. The service will provide additional EP capacity to support EHCP assessments and reduce the existing backlog. The arrangement will include provider management oversight and quality assurance to ensure consistency and effective delivery. The eight-month contract period is considered the minimum necessary to deliver a meaningful reduction in the backlog while stabilising ongoing assessment throughput. The service is required urgently and delaying procurement would risk the Council failing to meet Safety Valve conditions. The proposed procurement route is a direct award to Constellia through the SEWTAP (South East Wales Technical and Professional Services) framework, with delivery of services through Sanctuary Personnel Limited.

### Procurement Information

This contract has been directly award to Constellia via the SEWTAPS Framework, therefore prior notification of this award was not required.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/035991-2026 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 Apr 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Mar 2026 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £495,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Bristol City Council |
| Locality | BRISTOL |
| Postcode area | Bristol |
| Postcode | BS1 5TR |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK5 West of England |
| ITL 3 | TLK51 Bristol, City of |
| Local authority | Bristol, City of |
| Electoral ward | Hotwells and Harbourside |
| Westminster constituency | Bristol Central |
| Delivery location | TLK11 Bristol, City of |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Constellia Public Ltd |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80340000 - Special education services

## Release History

- 21 Apr 2026 at 11:19 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/035991-2026

## Notice URLs

- https://www.bristol.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-068720. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-068720.json.