Scope
Reference
CS27440
Description
Hampshire County Council’s Children’s Services Directorate intends to establish a flexible and future‑ready Framework for Supported Accommodation, designed to attract high‑quality providers capable of delivering a diverse and evolving range of supported accommodation services for young people across the Hampshire region
The Supported Accommodation services will be for the support of 16-21-year-old young people across Hampshire, including:
- Looked After Children
- Care Leavers
- Separated Children
- Children in Need (in accordance with Section 17 of the Children's Act)
The Framework will enable the purchasing, delivery and management of services designed to meet the needs of young people within Hampshire. It will cover a wide range of Supported Accommodation services, including providing Ofsted regulated accommodation-based support for 16-21 year olds, with varying levels of support and intensity required across the service.
The Framework term is for an initial term of 4 years, with the potential to extend for a further 4 years, in 2 year increments, to a maximum term of 8 years.
All providers will require Ofsted Registration in order to be eligible for this Framework. This is part of the Ofsted Inspection Framework for services for children in need of help and protection, Looked After Children (LAC) and Care Leavers. All providers delivering supported accommodation must be registered with Ofsted in one or more of the four approved categories:
- Self‑contained accommodation
- Ring‑fenced shared accommodation exclusively for LAC and 16/17 care leavers
- Non‑ring‑fenced shared accommodation, which may include 18+ care leavers
- Supported accommodation provided in a private residence (e.g., supported lodgings)
Providers must only operate within the categories for which they are registered. Registration requires meeting all Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and associated Quality Standards, including leadership, protection, accommodation and support.
Providers wishing to enrol on the Framework will need to apply for the Supported Accommodation Framework Agreement. There is no work (i.e. no placements) awarded at Framework level, all future placements will be awarded at call-off level. Any subsequent call offs from this Framework will be advertised to all providers onboarded onto the Framework, and each individual call off will include more in-depth information regarding the services being called off from the Framework. In order to apply for any call-off opportunities from this Framework in the future, a Framework Agreement must first be awarded.
Total value (estimated)
- £242,000,000 excluding VAT
- £242,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2028
- Possible extension to 31 May 2034
- 8 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 85311000 - Social work services with accommodation
Contract locations
- UKJ35 - South Hampshire
- UKJ36 - Central Hampshire
- UKJ37 - North Hampshire
Engagement
Engagement deadline
9 March 2026
Engagement process description
Hampshire County Council’s Children’s Services Directorate intends to establish a flexible and future‑ready Framework for Supported Accommodation, designed to attract high‑quality providers capable of delivering a diverse and evolving range of supported accommodation services for young people across the Hampshire region.
This Notice is to inform the market of the Provider Engagement event that will be held on the 2nd of March 2026 at 15:00. The session will be 60 minutes, and will be hosted online via Microsoft Teams. Providers wishing to attend should register (if not already registered) on the Council's e-tendering platform, In-Tend (https://in-tendhost.co.uk/hampshire/aspx/Home) and 'Express Interest' against the project 'CS27440 - Supported Accommodation Framework'. Please then use the Correspondence function for the project to provide the name of all attendees and their email addresses, so that invitations to the Teams event can be issued as required. All suppliers wishing to attend this market engagement event must sign up and send details of the attendees via In-Tend project correspondence, by 14:00 on the 27th of February 2026.
The Authority will also be issuing a market engagement questionnaire via In-Tend after the market engagement event. This will be available to all interested suppliers who register and express an interest in the In-Tend project, as mentioned above. This questionnaire may be completed at any time during the engagement period but must be submitted no later than 17:00 on the 9th of March 2026.
Participation
Particular suitability
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Submission
Publication date of tender notice (estimated)
20 April 2026
Procedure
Special regime
Light touch
Contracting authority
Hampshire County Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PBHM-7586-PWLP
High St, The Castle
Winchester
SO23 8UJ
United Kingdom
Email: ahcprocurement@hants.gov.uk
Website: https://www.hants.gov.uk
Region: UKJ36 - Central Hampshire
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government