- Lot 1. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - North Cheshire East
- Lot 2. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - South Cheshire East
- Lot 3. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - North Cheshire East
- Lot 4. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - South Cheshire East
- Lot 5. Supported Accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 16-17-year-olds - ALL Cheshire East
Scope
Reference
C3540
Description
In working collaboratively, Cheshire East is aiming to deliver a new supported accommodation initiative designed specifically for our Children in Care and Care Leavers aged 16 - 25, designed to provide high-quality, accommodation-based support. The specification outlines the service level requirements for the Supported Accommodation commission, which provides services for children and young people aged 16 to 25 years old. These services are categorised as follows:
Cheshire East will be looking to block contract approx.126 beds across the borough, with the number of beds scaling up across the life of the contract as young people can transition into them. In Year 1, we are looking to commission the following: Year 1, 66 beds, Year 2, 92 beds and Year 3, 126 beds. We will be looking to block contract a range of accommodation types for the following cohorts, with levels of support to match each individual cohort: 16/17 year olds, 18-25 year olds and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC)
Full Lotting strategy:
• LOT 1 - Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - North Cheshire East
• LOT 2 - Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - South Cheshire East
• LOT 3 - Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - North Cheshire East
• LOT 4 - Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - South Cheshire East
• LOT 5 - Supported Accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 16-17-year-olds - ALL Cheshire East
The LOTS within this commission aim to offer a mixture of emergency accommodation, shared supported living facilities with own spaces, self-contained shared accommodation with own facilities, self-contained taster flats, community semi-independent flats and a post 18 offer focussed on independence.
Supported Accommodation Services for 16-17-year-olds will require registration with OFSTED under the new regulations which were brought in from April 2023.
Supported Accommodation Services for 18-25 year olds will required to be a Registered Housing Provider.
The Provider will need to be a registered provider of social housing, where supported accommodation service providers are not registered, they can partner with a registered provider landlord to submit a collaborative application, however the Lead Provider will be the Registered Landlord. Registration ensures that housing offered is to national standards and that the costs of the accommodation can be met via Housing Benefits.
Total value (estimated)
- £24,649,185 excluding VAT
- £29,579,022 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2031
- Possible extension to 30 June 2033
- 7 years
Description of possible extension:
2 x 12 months optional extensions :
- 01/07/2031 - 30/06/2032
- 01/07/2032 - 30/06/2033
Optional extensions to be implemented at the sole discretion of the Council
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people
Contract locations
- UKD62 - Cheshire East
Lot 1. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Description
Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - North Cheshire East.
Emergency Bed x1 (all years)
Supported accommodation beds Year 1 x 10, year 2 x 12, year 3 x 15
Years 4-7 same as Year 3
Lot value (estimated)
- £5,096,685 excluding VAT
- £6,116,022 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 2. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - South Cheshire East
Description
Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - South Cheshire East.
Emergency Beds x 2 (All years)
Supported Accommodation Beds - Year 1 x 19, Year 2 x 22, Year 3 x 25,
Years 4-7 same as Year 3
Lot value (estimated)
- £6,642,636 excluding VAT
- £7,971,163 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 3. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Description
Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Emergency Beds x 1 (all years)
Supported Accommodation Beds - Year 1 x 10, Year 2 x 15, Year 3 x 20.
Years 4-7 same as Year 3
Lot value (estimated)
- £3,477,738 excluding VAT
- £4,173,286 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 4. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - South Cheshire East
Description
Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - South Cheshire East
Emergency Beds x 2 (all years)
Supported accommodation beds - Year 1 x 15, Year 2 x 25, Year 3 x 40.
Years 4-7 same as Year 3
Lot value (estimated)
- £4,817,736 excluding VAT
- £5,781,283 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 5. Supported Accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 16-17-year-olds - ALL Cheshire East
Description
Supported Accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 16-17-year-olds - ALL Cheshire East
Emergency Beds x 0
Supported Accommodation Beds - Year 1 x 6, Year 2 x 12, Year 3 x 20
Years 4-7 same as year 3
Lot value (estimated)
- £4,614,390 excluding VAT
- £5,537,268 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
Lot 1. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Lot 2. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - South Cheshire East
Lot 5. Supported Accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 16-17-year-olds - ALL Cheshire East
The Provider will need to be registered with Ofsted
Where supported accommodation service providers are not registered with Ofsted, they can partner with an Ofsted registered provider to submit a consortium bid, however the lead provider must be Ofsted Registered.
Lot 3. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Lot 4. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - South Cheshire East
The Provider will need to be a registered provider of social housing, where supported accommodation service providers are not registered, they can partner with a registered provider landlord to submit a collaborative application, however the Lead Provider will be the Registered Landlord.
Registration ensures that housing offered is to national standards and that the costs of the accommodation can be met via Housing Benefits.
Particular suitability
Lot 1. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Lot 2. Supported Accommodation for 16-17-year-olds - South Cheshire East
Lot 3. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - North Cheshire East
Lot 4. Supported Accommodation for 18-25-year-olds - South Cheshire East
Lot 5. Supported Accommodation for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children 16-17-year-olds - ALL Cheshire East
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
6 February 2026, 10:00am
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
13 February 2026, 10:00am
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders must be submitted at https://www.the-chest.org.uk/ Project ID DN761967
Unrestricted access to this opportunity is available via the Chest North West Portal, register for free at https://www.the-chest.org.uk/ and express an interest in project ID DN761967
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
25 March 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Written Qualitative Response Evaluation | Quality | 60% |
| Pricing Evaluation | Price | 30% |
| Provider Presentation Evaluation | Quality | 10% |
Other information
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Light touch
Competitive flexible procedure description
The procurement process adopted by the Council is based upon the Competitive Flexible procedure.
In brief, the process will be as follows:
All suppliers that express an interest in the opportunity will be provided with access to the tender documents including Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) Response
Document that contains pass/fail conditions of participation and a Competitive Flexible Procedure (CFP) Response Document that contains the award stage Pricing Schedule, Qualitative Questions and Provider Presentation Requirements.
Both the PSQ Response Document and the CFP Response Document require completing in full and must be submitted, at the same time, prior to the tender deadline.
All tenderers that pass the conditions of participation (PSQ) will progress to the award stage and their CFP Response document will be assessed.
All tenderers that pass the conditions of participation (PSQ) will be invited to deliver a qualitative presentation and have this assessed as part of the award stage.
Tenderers that fail the conditions of participation, contained within the PSQ response document, will not progress to award stage and their CFP response document will not be assessed.
Each LOT will be evaluated individually using the evaluation methodology set out in the documentation.
Documents
Documents to be provided after the tender notice
Unrestricted access to this opportunity is available via the Chest North West Portal, register for free at https://www.the-chest.org.uk/
Express your interest in project ID DN761967 to access and download the associated tender documents.
Contracting authority
Cheshire East Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PTWR-7124-XZXQ
Delamere House, Delamere Street
Crewe
CW12JZ
United Kingdom
Region: UKD62 - Cheshire East
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government