---
title: "Family Connect Services which deliver the national resource for advice and support."
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-077d4f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-077d4f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-077d4f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-077d4f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Leeds City Council"
published: "2026-09-30"
---

# Family Connect Services which deliver the national resource for advice and support.

Buyer: Leeds City Council  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-077d4f

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## Summary

Leeds City Council commissioned Family Connect Services, a national advice and support resource for adopted adults, birth relatives and professionals. The service provides specialist advice and intermediary support, with the infrastructure and stakeholder relationships needed to maintain continuity for vulnerable service users. The contract also covers planned expansion, including increased capacity and enhanced support offers. The work is delivered nationally across the UK. Its service areas include welfare support and related research and consultancy.

The procurement is complete and was awarded directly to Family Action, which delivers the established FamilyConnect service. The council justified the direct award on Family Action’s intellectual property rights, specialist expertise, systems and exclusive service model, stating there were no reasonable alternatives and citing the Procurement Act 2023. The award date was 30 September 2026. The contract runs from 30 September 2026 to 31 July 2027, with an extension of up to 24 months, in any combination, potentially taking it to 31 July 2029. The awarded value is £1,105,000 excluding VAT (£1,326,000 including VAT). There was one lot, considered suitable for SMEs. No evaluation criteria are stated.

For suppliers considering similar future work for Leeds City Council, this award shows that continuity of a national, specialist adoption support service is central to the requirement. Credibility depends on being able to support adopted adults, birth relatives and professionals through advice and intermediary services, while protecting continuity for vulnerable users. The selected organisation was already delivering FamilyConnect and held the service’s intellectual property, established systems and processes, specialist expertise, infrastructure and stakeholder relationships. A competing provider would therefore need to demonstrate comparable national reach and the practical ability to maintain and expand the service, including added capacity and enhanced support. The council treated those existing exclusive rights and capabilities as decisive; general welfare-service experience alone would not address the basis on which this supplier was selected. The contract’s SME suitability indicates that smaller suppliers may be relevant where they can meet this specialist service profile.

## Notice

This contract will provide the specialist expertise, infrastructure and stakeholder relationships necessary to provide seamless continuity of support for adopted adults, birth relatives and professionals. This contract will prevent disruption to vulnerable service users, maintain access to essential advice and intermediary services, and enable the planned expansion of the service, including increased capacity and enhanced support offers.

### Procurement Information

Family Action currently hold the Intellectual Property Rights for this service. The decision is in line with schedule 5 section 5 of the Procurement Act 2023. The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract - (a) due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. The direct award to Family Action (PAC-UK) is justified as the organisation already delivers the established FamilyConnect service and holds the specialist expertise, infrastructure and stakeholder relationships necessary to provide seamless continuity of support for adopted adults, birth relatives and professionals. Awarding the contract directly will prevent disruption to vulnerable service users, maintain access to essential advice and intermediary services, and enable the planned expansion of the service, including increased capacity and enhanced support offers. It also represents a proportionate and value-for-money approach, as they are the only supplier who can deliver the required services due to its established intellectual property right, specialist knowledge, systems, processes and exclusive service model developed through FamilyConnect. There are no reasonable alternatives that could provide the same level of continuity, expertise and national provision, making a direct award the most appropriate route.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092257-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 30 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Sep 2026 - 31 Jul 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,105,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Leeds City Council |
| Locality | LEEDS |
| Postcode area | Leeds |
| Postcode | LS1 1UR |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE4 West Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE42 Leeds |
| Local authority | Leeds |
| Electoral ward | Little London & Woodhouse |
| Westminster constituency | Leeds Central and Headingley |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Family Action |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 85312400 - Welfare services not delivered through residential institutions

## Release History

- 30 Sep 2026 at 11:13 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092257-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092257-2026
  30th September 2026 - Transparency 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-077d4f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-077d4f.json.