Scope
Reference
T
Description
Partners from Bradford Children and Families Trust and the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council are working together to review and develop Independent Visiting and Advocacy Services for Bradford's Looked-After Children or Care Leavers. Legislation imposes a duty on local authorities to make arrangements for the provision of advocacy and to appoint an independent visitor for children and young people intending to make representations under the Children Act 1989 (Adoption and Children Act 2002). As well as requiring an Independent Visiting and Advocate service to meet its statutory obligations, Bradford Children's and Families Trust wishes to work with the successful partner to adopt a casework approach which will utilise generic lessons learnt from advocates' work to develop more child-centred services. Children and young people eligible to receive a service are aged 0 to 21 years and up to 25 in the case of Care Leavers in full-time education The Trust BCFT is seeking to work with providers who can demonstrate continual improvements in value for money achieved by deploying efficient and innovative ways to meet the needs of the children and young people The programme of services is divided into 2 Lots, which are as follows: • Lot 1: Independent Advocacy for Looked After Children • Lot 2: Independent Visitor Services The contracts will commence from 1st April 2026, for an initial period of 2 years, with 1 option to extend by up to 12 months.
Total value (estimated)
- £810,000 excluding VAT
- £972,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 April 2026 to 1 April 2028
- Possible extension to 1 April 2029
- 3 years, 1 day
Description of possible extension:
One-year extension subject to performance.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 85300000 - Social work and related services
- 85310000 - Social work services
Lot LOT-0001. Lot 1: Independent Advocacy for Looked After Children
Description
The central role of an advocate is to support children and young people to express their wishes and feelings to decision-makers, and ensure their rights are upheld. The Service will offer professional, high-quality independent advocacy to children and young people across all categories of need, who are users of Children's Social Care.
Lot value (estimated)
- £600,000 excluding VAT
- £720,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot LOT-0002. Lot 2: Independent Visitor Services
Description
An Independent Visitor's role is to visit and befriend a child in care who has little or no family time with their birth parents and would benefit from having an adult in their lives who can give them support, advice and take an interest in their affairs. The objective of the Independent Visitor Service is to recruit, train, match, and manage a pool of volunteer Independent Visitors for the population of children in care covered within the scope of this specification.
Lot value (estimated)
- £210,000 excluding VAT
- £252,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Participation
Particular suitability
Lot LOT-0001. Lot 1: Independent Advocacy for Looked After Children
Lot LOT-0002. Lot 2: Independent Visitor Services
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
10 November 2025, 5:00pm
Tender submission deadline
20 November 2025, 11:00am
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
9 January 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Criteria | Quality | 70% |
| Price | Price | 30% |
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Open procedure
Special regime
Light touch
Contracting authority
Bradford Children & Families Trust
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PRBL-9974-CGBN
Sir Henry Mitchell House, 4 Manchester Road
Bradford
BD5 0QL
United Kingdom
Region: UKE41 - Bradford
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government