--- title: "Coproduction Services in Essex" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL" published: "2026-07-21" --- # Coproduction Services in Essex Buyer: ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b.json) ## Summary Essex County Council is undertaking an active procurement process to secure a co-production and engagement service in support of Adult Social Care (ASC) in Essex. This contract consolidates existing services into a unified model to enhance engagement with adults, carers, and people with lived experiences. The process is managed through an open procedure, with a submission deadline on 18 August 2026 and covers services classified under social services, community health services, and social research services categories. The contract, with a value of GBP 966,000 excluding VAT, commences on 1 December 2026 and ends on 31 March 2029, with potential extensions up to March 2031. Essex County Council has emphasised maintaining transparency by handling all queries through the Open procurement system. This tender presents significant opportunities for growth, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) experienced in social care services. The procurement is geared towards suppliers capable of delivering a person-centred, inclusive service model that effectively represents seldom-heard groups. Businesses that can demonstrate quality service delivery, strong stakeholder engagement, and a substantial understanding of co-production models in social care might find this opportunity particularly rewarding. In addition, the contract offers scope for expanding influence in the social care sector through structured participation and feedback mechanisms, providing a platform for businesses to impact local governance and service delivery positively. ## Notice Essex County Council (the Authority) is seeking to procure a co-production and engagement service to support Adult Social Care (ASC). The contract will bring together existing co-production services into a single, unified model, providing a coordinated approach to co-production and engagement across Essex. The service will operate within the context of the Authority's statutory duties under the Care Act 2014, and its strategic commitment to person-centred, inclusive service design. Objectives The primary objective of the contract is to deliver an integrated co-production model that: * Maintains and strengthens engagement with adults, carers, and people with lived experience * Provides structured mechanisms, including locality networks, a lived experience forum, and engagement activities * Captures and utilises insight to inform policy, commissioning, and service improvement * Expands participation and improves representation, including seldom-heard groups * Supports the embedding of co-production within ASC governance, assurance, and decision-making processes The overall aim is to ensure a coherent, consistent and impactful approach to co-production, strengthening the influence of lived experience across Adult Social Care. Essex County Council is using the Open procurement system to manage this procurement process. Suppliers are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with the platform and its functionality before participating in this tender. Guidance and training materials can be accessed via the following link: Open Training: https://www.open-hub.org/how-to-guides/ Please note that all clarification questions and requests for additional information must be submitted through the formal clarification function within the Open system. Essex County Council will not accept or respond to clarification requests submitted via email or any other communication channel. All responses will be issued through the Open system to ensure transparency and equal treatment of all bidders. For clarification, the published contract notice value includes the anticipated value of the optional extension periods. For the avoidance of any further doubt, please note that Open procurement system uses ProClass to classify procurement opportunities instead of Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) contrary to the functionality in this notice. Therefore, the opportunity within the Open procurement system has been prepared using the following ProClass codes which represent the closest matches to the CPV code which this notice is based on: 111230 - Social Care ### Lot Information Lot 1 Renewal: There are 2 contract extensions, detailed below: Extension 1 Maximum duration: 1 year and 0 month Value ex VAT: PS 223,000 Extension 2 Maximum duration: 1 year and 0 month Value ex VAT: PS 223,000 ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068837-2026 | | Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 21 Jul 2026 | | Submission deadline | 18 Aug 2026 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Dec 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £966,000 | | Lots value | £966,000 | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | 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 - 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 79315000 - Social research services - 85320000 - Social services - 85323000 - Community health services ## Release History - 21 Jul 2026 at 15:14 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068837-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068837-2026 21st July 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://open-uk.org/login - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents - https://www.link.com - https://www.open-hub.org/how-to-guides/ ## 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-06d02b. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06d02b.json.