---
title: "Best Start in Life - School Based Commission to provide strategic leadership, expertise and co-ordination to strengthen early years practice across the City of York"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078f9e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078f9e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f9e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f9e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "City of York Council"
published: "2026-10-23"
---

# Best Start in Life - School Based Commission to provide strategic leadership, expertise and co-ordination to strengthen early years practice across the City of York

Buyer: City of York Council  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078f9e

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## Summary

City of York Council is commissioning a school or school-led partnership to provide strategic leadership, expertise and coordination to strengthen early years practice across York. The work supports the city’s Best Start in Life plan and aims to help children experience connection, support and belonging from pregnancy to age five. The commissioned partner will work with the council, York schools, RISE Reception Networks, Stronger Practice Hubs, Family Hubs, early years settings and neighbourhood teams. Its focus is improving the proportion of children achieving a Good Level of Development and reducing inequalities across the city. This is a strategic early years and education support service, classified under health and social work services, delivered across York.

The council invited offers through a below-threshold open competition. The process reached tender, with bids submitted electronically through the stated supplier portal. The deadline for questions was 6 November 2026 at 12:00, and the bid deadline was 13 November 2026 at 12:00. The contract is scheduled to run from 15 February 2027 to 14 February 2029, with an option for a further year depending on future commissioning need. The estimated value is £120,000 excluding VAT (£144,000 including VAT). The procurement is divided into one lot. The council will select the most advantageous tender using a quality-to-price weighting of 70:30; further evaluation detail is in the tender pack.

This opportunity is suited to a school or school-led partnership with the leadership and practical expertise to improve early years provision across a city. Suppliers will need to coordinate effectively with a wide-ranging local network, including schools, reception networks, family hubs, early years settings, neighbourhood teams and local authority services. Relevant experience in early years practice and in supporting children’s development, particularly improving Good Level of Development outcomes and addressing inequalities, will be important to delivering the stated aims. The work calls for the ability to bring partners together and provide strategic direction as well as practical coordination. The requirement is city-wide and collaborative, making it most relevant to organisations able to work across multiple settings and maintain productive relationships with education and community partners.

## Notice

City of York Council are seeking to commission a school or school-led partnership to provide strategic leadership, expertise, and coordination that strengthens early years practice across York. This commission sits within the wider Best Start in Life (BSIL) plan and will directly support the city's ambition that every child experiences connection, support, and belonging from pregnancy to age five. The commissioned partner will work alongside the local authority, York-based schools, RISE Reception Networks, Stronger Practice Hubs, Family Hubs, early years settings, and neighbourhood teams to improve the proportion of children achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) and reduce inequalities across the city.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: There is flexibility for the Local Authority to choose to extend the contract for a further year, depending on future commissioning need.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100757-2026 |
| Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 13 Nov 2026 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 15 Feb 2027 - 14 Feb 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £120,000 |
| Lots value | £120,000 |
| 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 | City of York Council |
| Locality | YORK |
| Postcode area | York |
| Postcode | YO1 6GA |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE2 North Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE21 York |
| Local authority | York |
| Electoral ward | Micklegate |
| Westminster constituency | York Central |
| Delivery location | TLE21 York |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85000000 - Health and social work services

## Release History

- 23 Oct 2026 at 17:43 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100757-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100757-2026
  23rd October 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://yortender.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/109364/0/0?returnUrl=ctm/Supplier/publictenders&b=YORTENDER
- https://yortender.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=YORTENDER
- https://yortender.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=YORTENDERTender100114409-Beststartinlife-SchoolBasedCommissiontoprovidestrategicleadership,expertiseandco-ordinationtostrengthenearlyyearspracticeacrossthecity.https://yortender.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/109364/0/0?returnUrl=ctm/Supplier/publictenders&b=YORTENDER

## 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-078f9e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f9e.json.