--- title: "SCE0077- Children's Commissioning Arrangement" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "Leicester City Council" published: "2026-09-10" --- # SCE0077- Children's Commissioning Arrangement Buyer: Leicester City Council Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0.json) ## Summary Leicester City Council is considering a children’s commissioning arrangement for Leicester City. The requirement is for health and social work services supporting children, delivered in Leicester. The council is exploring the potential service model and specification principles with providers and other interested stakeholders before deciding how to proceed. The planned arrangement is a single service lot and is intended to operate through a framework agreement. This is relevant to organisations that provide children’s services, commissioning support or related health and social care provision, particularly those able to work with the council to shape service requirements. The council has identified the procurement as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community and social enterprises. This procurement is at the planning stage and the council has expressly stated that the current process is a soft market test, not a formal tender or call for competition. The council anticipates seeking tenders in the first quarter of 2027, with the new contract intended to begin in the third quarter of 2027. The planned contract period for the single lot is 1 August 2027 to 31 July 2035. The council’s indicative date for the next notice is 11 January 2027. Market engagement responses are scheduled by 24 September 2026. The published estimated value is £1 gross in total, in GBP. The planned arrangement is below the relevant threshold, with a framework agreement expected. The council is seeking market input from potential providers and stakeholders with practical experience of children’s services and health or social work provision. Organisations involved in designing, commissioning or delivering services for children in Leicester should be well placed to contribute, especially where they can offer informed views on service models, outcomes and specification principles. The council has indicated that the future requirement should suit both SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises, so participation is not limited to large national providers. There are no formal response evaluation criteria at this planning stage. Businesses should use the engagement to explain their relevant delivery capability, partnership approach, local capacity and experience of supporting children, while recognising that the service scope may develop before any formal competition. ## Notice THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION Leicester City Council (the Authority) are considering progressing a Children's Commissioning Arrangement for Leicester City. It is anticipated that tenders for this service would be sought in Quarter 1 of 2027, to enable a new contract to begin on Quarter 3 of 2027. As part of the commissioning process, the authority is undertaking a Soft Market Test (SMT). This gives potential providers and other stakeholders the opportunity to express their interests and feed in their views about the potential service model and specification principles. The commissioners may use the information to appraise options and further develop the specification. This process does not constitute a formal tender or other competitive bidding process and will not result in the letting of a Contract. The authority is using this process solely to test the market, gather information, and ascertain the level of interest in this particular service. There are therefore no formal criteria which we will use to judge your responses, and it is not our intention to provide any feedback. Please use the following link to access the advert: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=f87f0176-61ac-f111-813c-005056b64545 ### Planning Information THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION Leicester City Council (the Authority) are considering progressing a Children’s Commissioning Arrangement for Leicester City. It is anticipated that tenders for this service would be sought in Quarter 1 of 2027, to enable a new contract to begin on Quarter 3 of 2027. As part of the commissioning process, the authority is undertaking a Soft Market Test (SMT). This gives potential providers and other stakeholders the opportunity to express their interests and feed in their views about the potential service model and specification principles. The commissioners may use the information to appraise options and further develop the specification. This process does not constitute a formal tender or other competitive bidding process and will not result in the letting of a Contract. The authority is using this process solely to test the market, gather information, and ascertain the level of interest in this particular service. There are therefore no formal criteria which we will use to judge your responses, and it is not our intention to provide any feedback. Please use the following link to access the advert: https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=f87f0176-61ac-f111-813c-005056b64545 ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085824-2026 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Framework | | 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 | 10 Sep 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 11 Jan 2027 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Aug 2027 - 31 Jul 2035 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £1 | | 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 | Leicester City Council | | Locality | LEICESTER | | Postcode area | Leicester | | Postcode | LE1 1HA | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) | | ITL 2 | TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | | ITL 3 | TLF21 Leicester | | Local authority | Leicester | | Electoral ward | Castle | | Westminster constituency | Leicester South | | Delivery location | TLF21 Leicester | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85000000 - Health and social work services ## Release History - 10 Sep 2026 at 12:03 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085824-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085824-2026 10th September 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=f87f0176-61ac-f111-813c-005056b64545 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents - https://www.leicester.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-06f6b0. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f6b0.json.