Scope
Reference
S6894
Description
The Service to be provided is a South Tyneside Local Infrastructure Organisation (LIO) for the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise Sector (VCFSE) and the South Tyneside Healthnet Service.
The Service Provider will take the lead for the VCFSE sector by:
• Supporting local organisations to access external funding.
• Having oversight and responsibility for volunteer recruitment and support.
• Leading the development of the VCFSE, via partnerships, collaboration, and consortia.
• Being 'the voice' of the VCFSE sector and contributing to the strategic priorities with the Council and more widely as appropriate.
• Providing support for key strategic developments across South Tyneside, promoting health and social care integration but also more wider initiatives around for example education and training.
• Support the capacity of local groups and organisations to host volunteer placements, identifying career progression routes for volunteers into careers and further self-development.
• Supporting all age developments.
The Service Provider will also provide the 'South Tyneside Healthnet' service, a local network which will be a collective voice for the people of South Tyneside to debate, influence and shape local health and wellbeing provision.
The annual value of the contract is £135,523.
Please note that this procurement is restricted to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations only.
If you are not a VCFSE please do not submit a bid.
Total value (estimated)
- £406,569 excluding VAT
- £487,883 including VAT
Below the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2029
- 3 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 98000000 - Other community, social and personal services
Contract locations
- UKC22 - Tyneside
Participation
This procurement is reserved for
- UK suppliers
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs)
Conditions of participation
This procurement is restricted to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations.
If you are not a VCFSE please do not submit a bid.
Particular suitability
Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
6 February 2026, 5:00pm
Tender submission deadline
13 February 2026, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
All tenders must be submitted electronically via https://open-uk.org/ Project Number #OPEN2025904.
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Award criteria
The award decision will be made in 2 stages. The first stage will consist of a suitability stage where the Council will focus on the Tenderers' characteristics and suitability in principle to provide the Contract requirements. Submissions will initially be assessed in respect of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) responses. Subject to passing the PSQ assessment, the tender submissions (Tender Response Pro-forma) will be evaluated. Failure of any of the Pass/Fail sections will result in the failure of the PSQ submission, and evaluation of the tender (Tender Award Stage) will not occur.
All Tenderers who pass the Suitability Stage will be eligible to have their Tender submissions (Tender Response Pro-forma) assessed at the Award Stage (stage 2). The Award Stage considers the merits of the eligible Tenders to assess which Tenderer can be appointed to the Contract (Quality Assessment). The Council only uses a criterion that is linked to the subject matter of the Contract.
The Council has set the annual contract price it will pay for this service, therefore no price evaluation will be undertaken. The Award Stage assessment will be made solely on quality.
Procedure
Procedure type
Below threshold - open competition
Special regime
Light touch
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://open-uk.org/
The tender pack is available free of charge via NEPO's Open E-Procurement System https://open-uk.org/ - Project Number #OPEN20252150. If you are not already registered on this e-procurement system then you can do so free of charge.
All tenders must be submitted electronically via https://open-uk.org/ Project Number #OPEN20252150.
Contracting authority
South Tyneside Borough Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PYPB-8737-VBHG
Town Hall and Civic Offices, Westoe Road
South Shields
NE33 2RL
United Kingdom
Region: UKC22 - Tyneside
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government