Planning

Soft Market Testing - Specialist child exploitation support service

  • Nottinghamshire County Council

UK2: Preliminary market engagement notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-004495

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-060925

Published 19 January 2026, 4:24pm



Scope

Reference

DN803698

Description

Nottinghamshire County Council currently commission a specialist service to support children at risk of sexual exploitation and looking to expand the provisions of this contract to support children impacted by criminal exploitation. In our local area, we recognise that children impacted by criminal exploitation often receive substantial support through our youth justice service, the youth service and other projects (often funded by the Violent Reduction Partnership) which seek to offer safe, positive and aspirational spaces providing opportunities for inclusion, connection and constructive activity.

One of the strengths of our current specialist commissioned service is having the remit to reach out to families impacted by child sexual exploitation in a way that provides space, time and connection to increase safety whilst supporting children out of sexual exploitation. We recognise that providing a carbon copy of this approach to children impacted by criminal exploitation may not work in the same way given the statutory involvement of several other welfare and criminal justice services. As such, we are looking at what an increase in funding (by 1/3) for our commissioned specialist service could achieve for children impacted by criminal exploitation in light of other support available through local statutory and non-statutory services.

Your feedback will help us better understand market conditions, refine our commissioning strategy, and ensure that any potential future contact is informed by provider experience. We value your input and expertise in the market, and welcome open and honest conversations throughout the process.

To reiterate, this is not a procurement exercise but rather a data gathering exercise.

Contract dates (estimated)

  • 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2029
  • 3 years

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

  • 85300000 - Social work and related services

Contract locations

  • UKF15 - North Nottinghamshire
  • UKF16 - South Nottinghamshire

Engagement

Engagement deadline

29 January 2026

Engagement process description

Appropriate providers are encouraged to participate in the soft market testing exercise on https://www.eastmidstenders.org/


Participation

Particular suitability

  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
  • Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Procedure

Special regime

Light touch


Contracting authority

Nottinghamshire County Council

  • Public Procurement Organisation Number: PBCV-5152-BXBP

County Hall, Loughborough Road

Nottingham

NG2 7QP

United Kingdom

Region: UKF16 - South Nottinghamshire

Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government