Thurrock Floating Support Tender:
Complete 2026 Bid Guide

The Thurrock floating support tender is a £1,106,241 opportunity for one provider to deliver short-term, community-based support to residents with poor mental health and/or a learning disability. Thurrock Council has set the tender submission deadline at 12 noon on 14 August 2026. The enquiry deadline is earlier, at 5pm on 5 August 2026.

The service is designed to help people live independently, remain in their homes and reduce the risk of homelessness. Support may continue for up to two years, depending on need. This is an open procedure under the light touch regime, with one contract and a stated quality-to-price balance of 80% to 20%.

The official Thurrock Council tender notice is the primary source for the facts in this guide. Providers must also review the complete In-tend pack, every buyer clarification and any later amendment before making a bid decision.

In this guide: we explain the service scope, contract dates, evaluation structure, provider fit, evidence priorities and the practical steps needed to prepare a compliant response.

Thurrock Floating Support Tender at a Glance

• Buyer: Thurrock Council
• Notice: 2026/S 000-064371
• Procurement identifier: ocds-h6vhtk-06c6bf
• Service: floating support for residents with poor mental health and/or a learning disability
• Procedure: open procedure
• Regime: light touch
• Lots: one
• Estimated value: £1,106,241 excluding VAT
• Expected contract dates: 1 January 2027 to 31 March 2032
• Possible extension: up to 31 March 2033
• Enquiry deadline: 5pm on 5 August 2026
• Tender deadline: 12 noon on 14 August 2026
• Submission route: Thurrock Council In-tend portal

Review the Thurrock floating support opportunity on Care Sync Experts for a convenient summary. The official notice and the buyer portal remain the final authority.

What Must the Thurrock Floating Support Tender Service Achieve?

The Thurrock floating support tender seeks a service that supports people with fluctuating needs to live as independently as possible. The official notice describes short-term support of up to two years. Delivery is community based and preventative, with a clear focus on helping people remain in their own homes and preventing homelessness wherever possible.

That description points to a practical, outcome-led service. A credible operating model should show how the provider will move from referral and assessment to an agreed support plan, regular review, step-down and planned exit. It should also explain what happens when a person’s needs increase, risks change or urgent multi-agency action is required.

Providers should avoid turning this into an accommodation-based or clinical service in their response unless the procurement documents specifically require those elements. Floating support usually depends on flexible, community-based work that helps people sustain tenancies, manage daily responsibilities, connect with services and build confidence. The final specification must determine the exact boundaries.

Which Providers Should Consider the Thurrock Floating Support Tender?

The Thurrock floating support tender may suit organisations with proven experience in housing-related support, community mental health support, learning disability services or comparable preventative services. The strongest fit will be a provider that can evidence safe lone working, flexible outreach, person-centred planning, multi-agency coordination and measurable progress towards independence.

Before approving a bid, leadership should be able to demonstrate:

• relevant delivery experience and outcomes for comparable people and services;
• a workforce model that supports continuity, flexibility and safe community work;
• clear safeguarding, escalation, incident and lone-working controls;
• strengths-based assessment and support planning;
• effective partnership working with housing, social care, health and community services;
• a credible mobilisation plan for the expected January 2027 start;
• performance measures that show prevention, tenancy sustainment, independence and planned exits;
• a price that supports every staffing and delivery commitment.

Do not assume that holding a particular registration, office location, rating or policy is enough. Test each condition of participation against the current procurement pack. If the documents require specific regulatory, financial, insurance or local-presence evidence, record the exact requirement and the evidence date before sign-off.

How Will the Thurrock Tender Be Evaluated?

The public notice for the Thurrock floating support tender gives a 20% price weighting and an 80% quality weighting. The quality criteria are spread across nine areas:

Quality area	Weighting
Operating model	15%
Outcomes	5%
Workforce	5%
Assessments	10%
Performance	5%
Outreach service	10%
Engagement	5%
Case study	15%
Social value	10%

For the Thurrock floating support tender, this weighting makes the operating model and case study especially important, but every scored area still needs a direct, evidenced response. A bidder should build one joined-up service model, then show how each answer proves a different part of that model. Repeating the same general statements across nine questions will not create nine strong answers.

Price and quality should be developed together. Staffing ratios, caseload assumptions, management time, travel, supervision, training, data systems, absence cover and social value commitments must all be reflected in the cost model.

Eight Evidence Priorities for the Thurrock Floating Support Tender

1. A clear referral-to-exit pathway

Map how referrals are received, screened and allocated. Explain assessment, goal setting, review, risk escalation, step-down and closure. State who makes each decision, how quickly it happens and what records prove it.

2. Strengths-based assessment

Show how the provider identifies the person’s strengths, preferences, housing risks, support network and priorities. Connect each assessment finding to a measurable goal and a realistic support action.

3. A responsive outreach model

Explain where and how support is delivered, how contact frequency changes, how missed visits are managed and how the service responds to fluctuating needs. Separate planned flexibility from unsafe or unfunded availability.

4. Workforce competence and continuity

Connect recruitment, induction, specialist learning, supervision and competency checks to the people being supported. Explain caseloads, travel planning, lone working and cover. Distinguish existing staff from people who still need to be recruited.

5. Safeguarding and risk escalation

Describe the route from concern to immediate protection, reporting, management oversight, multi-agency action and learning. Include practical controls for self-neglect, exploitation, tenancy risk, deterioration and missed contact where the specification makes them relevant.

6. Partnership working

Define how the provider will work with council teams, housing services, health professionals, families, advocates and community organisations. Use named roles, referral routes, information-sharing controls and escalation times rather than broad partnership language.

7. Outcomes and performance

Identify measures that show whether people are sustaining accommodation, increasing independence, engaging with appropriate services and moving towards planned exits. Explain data ownership, quality checks, reporting and corrective action.

8. A credible case study

Select an example that closely matches the tender’s service model. Keep it anonymous, specific and evidence based. Show the starting position, risks, support actions, partnership work, measurable result and what the organisation learned.

Care Sync Experts can help turn the procurement pack into a traceable response plan through our healthcare tender writing service.

A Practical Thurrock Floating Support Tender Plan Before 14 August

1. Confirm the live pack: register on Thurrock In-tend and record every document version and clarification.
2. Separate the dates: submit clarification questions before 5pm on 5 August and the complete tender before 12 noon on 14 August.
3. Run the bid decision: test eligibility, experience, workforce, systems, mobilisation and financial viability.
4. Build a compliance matrix: map every instruction, question, attachment and declaration to an owner and due date.
5. Lock the operating model: agree the referral pathway, staffing, caseloads, partnerships, outcomes and risks before writing separate answers.
6. Create an evidence register: identify the document, metric or example that supports every important promise.
7. Reconcile quality and price: make sure the commercial model funds the response.
8. Review independently: complete compliance, factual, evaluator and financial reviews before upload.
9. Submit early: verify every file on the portal and retain the submission receipt.

If your team is new to public procurement, read our guide to tenders in health and social care. Our Harrow Council homecare tender guide also shows why provider fit, evidence and local delivery must be tested against each buyer’s exact requirements.

Common Reasons a Floating Support Bid Could Lose Marks

• describing generic values instead of a working referral-to-exit pathway;
• treating fluctuating needs as a reason for vague or unlimited availability;
• claiming partnership working without named roles, routes or timescales;
• using policies as evidence without showing implementation and results;
• presenting training lists without linking competence to the service model;
• using an unrelated case study with no measurable outcome;
• making social value promises that are not costed, owned or measurable;
• failing to reconcile caseload, travel and supervision with the price;
• confusing the enquiry deadline with the tender deadline;
• submitting an old document version or missing a mandatory attachment.

Should Your Organisation Bid?

Bid for the Thurrock floating support tender if your organisation meets the current conditions, has closely relevant experience, can mobilise a safe community-based model and can evidence every major promise. Consider a no-bid decision if the response depends on unconfirmed staff, overstated partnerships, unrelated experience or a price that cannot sustain the proposed service.

A disciplined bid decision should answer four questions:

1. What current evidence proves we are eligible and relevant?
2. Can our operating model deliver the required outcomes safely?
3. Can we mobilise by the expected start date without relying on assumptions?
4. Does the price fund every commitment in the response?

Need Support With the Thurrock Floating Support Tender?

Care Sync Experts can help you review the Thurrock floating support tender pack, build the compliance matrix, strengthen the evidence and prepare a clear, evaluator-friendly response. We will also tell you when the evidence supports a no-bid decision.

Book a tender consultation to discuss your eligibility, evidence gaps and submission timetable.

This article is an independent summary based on the public notice and official information checked on 19 July 2026. It does not replace the official procurement pack, buyer clarifications, portal instructions or professional legal advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadline for the Thurrock floating support tender?

The enquiry deadline is 5pm on 5 August 2026. The tender submission deadline is 12 noon on 14 August 2026. Providers should check Thurrock In-tend for any formal amendment.

How much is the Thurrock floating support contract worth?

The official notice gives an estimated value of £1,106,241 excluding VAT and £1,327,490 including VAT.

Who will the floating support service help?

The service is for Thurrock residents with poor mental health and/or a learning disability. It is intended to provide short-term, community-based support that promotes independence and helps prevent homelessness.

How important is quality in the evaluation?

The published criteria allocate 80% to quality and 20% to price. Operating model and case study each carry 15%, whilst the other quality areas cover outcomes, workforce, assessments, performance, outreach, engagement and social value.

When is the Thurrock contract expected to start?

The official notice gives an expected start date of 1 January 2027. The initial period may run to 31 March 2032, with an optional twelve-month extension to 31 March 2033.