Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Southend-on-Sea City Council
Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend On Sea, Essex
Southend On Sea
SS26FA
Contact
commissioning team
strategiccommissioning@southend.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKH31 - Southend-on-Sea
Justification for not providing organisation identifier
Not on any register
Internet address(es)
Main address
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Provision of a Children's Residential and Accommodation Framework
Reference number
SOSBC001-DN762527-61472088
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85000000 - Health and social work services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Southend-on-Sea City Council is reopening the provision of a framework for Children's Residential and Accommodation services for:
Lot 1 - Residential Homes
Lot 2 - Supported Accommodation
The framework first opened on the 20th of February 2025 and closed on the 24th March 2025.
The framework will reopen in January 2026.
A market engagement event is being held virtually via teams on Wednesday the 7th of January at 10am. If you are interested in attending this event please email: strategiccommissioning@southend.gov.uk for further details.
The engagement session will provide an introduction into the framework itself and will outline the procurement/bidding approach. The session will also provide an opportunity for questions.
Section six. Complementary information
six.6) Original notice reference
Notice number: 2025/S 000-086587
Section seven. Changes
seven.1.2) Text to be corrected in the original notice
Section number
II.24
Instead of
Text
Amendment:
SCC recently hosted 2 market engagement events for the reopening of the Children's residential & accommodation framework. Since hosting this event, SCC have revised the number of technical questions in order to streamline the process.
Please note the original market engagement stated:
Bidders applying to Lot 1 would be required to respond to 7 questions.
Bidders applying to Lot 2 would be required to respond to 8 questions.
Bidders applying to Lots 1 & 2 would be required to respond to a total of 12 questions.
SCC can confirm this has been revised and the following applies:
Bidders applying to Lot 1 would be required to respond to 7 questions.
Bidders applying to Lot 2 would be required to respond to 7 questions.
Bidders applying to Lots 1 & 2 would be required to respond to 9 questions.
Please also note the following amendments to lots opening:
Please note Lots 1 A/B/C/D and Lots 2 A/B/C/F will be reopening in 2026.
Please note Lots 2 D & E will not be reopening in 2026. This is because the Council has reviewed market capacity and confirmed that there is sufficient provision for young people aged 18 and over.
In parallel, internal placement processes for 16-18 year olds have been refined to better align with children's legislation and safeguarding expectations, meaning that non-Ofsted supported accommodation for 16-year-olds is no longer commissioned.
The re-opening of Lot 2 is therefore targeted solely at increasing capacity for Ofsted-registered supported accommodation for children aged 16-17. This represents a lawful refinement based on commissioning need, not a material change to the framework under PCR 2015.
Bidders are therefore able to bid for the following lots only:
Lot 1A/1B/1C/1D
Lot 2A/2B/2C/2F
In the interests of transparency we have communicated this publicly via this notice.