Coming up· published 23 Nov 2025
Soft Market Testing - Nottinghamshire County Council Assessment placement framework for children-in-care
Nottinghamshire County Council · Rushcliffe, East Midlands
Nottinghamshire County Council is planning this contract. It is a contract for other health and social care in Rushcliffe.
Source: Contracts Finder, published 24 Nov 2025. Details are refreshed every 30 minutes.
Key dates
2025
Pipeline notice published
Market Engagement Notice · 11:39
View notice2025
Tender notice expected
Date given in the buyer's earlier notice
About this tender
In brief
Nottinghamshire County Council is planning this contract. It is a contract for other health and social care in Rushcliffe. The buyer has published an early notice. It gives providers time to prepare before the tender opens.
The buyer marks it as suitable for SMEs and VCSEs. Contracts Finder published it on 24 November 2025. The OCDS ID is ocds-b5fd17-e19ef8f7-5e73-4b28-8a13-5b026a61cdde.
Summary of the contracting process
Nottinghamshire County Council is currently in the planning stage of a procurement process titled "Soft Market Testing - Nottinghamshire County Council Assessment placement framework for children-in-care." This initiative is tagged under the health and social work services industry category, specifically aiming to enhance assessment placements for children-in-care.
Set in the East Midlands, United Kingdom, the council intends to engage with market providers until the engagement end date on 12 December 2025. This soft market test, led by the council's Children's Placement and Commissioning team, seeks to explore possibilities for developing a future framework to support emergency and planned assessment provisions.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are encouraged to participate as the council values insights that can shape future commissioning strategies.
The notice in full
Nottinghamshire County Council's Children's Placement and Commissioning team are conducting a soft market test exercise to explore the possibility of developing a framework to support assessment placements for children-in-care. This exercise is designed to gather insights from providers about capacity, appetite, challenges, and innovative approaches to emergency and planned assessment provisions to support the long-term home finding process.
It is also an opportunity to shape future commissioning strategies with Nottinghamshire County Council. Your feedback will help us better understand market conditions, refine our commissioning strategy, and ensure that any potential future framework is informed by provider experience. We value your input and expertise in the market, and welcome open and honest conversations throughout the process.
We will share a summary of our findings with all participants, which of course will be anonymised. Following this, we may hold a further provider forum if required. To reiterate, this is not a procurement exercise but rather a data gathering exercise.
Lots: no lot details came through with this notice. The official notice and the tender pack have the full breakdown.
Key facts
Contract
- Service
- Other
- Procurement type
- Standard
- Contract period
- Not specified - Not specified
- Suitable for
- Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs); Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs)
Not stated in the notice: category.
Procedure
- Notice type
- Market Engagement Notice
- Current stage
- Planning
- Stages so far
- Planning
- Published on
- Contracts Finder
Not stated in the notice: procurement method, awardee scale.
Values
Not stated in the notice: tender value, lots value, awards value, contracts value.
Status
- Tender
- Planning
Not stated in the notice: lots, awards, contracts.
References
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-b5fd17-e19ef8f7-5e73-4b28-8a13-5b026a61cdde
- CPV code
- 85000000 - Health and social work services
- CPV division
- 85 - Health and social work services
Location
- Local authority
- Rushcliffe
- Town
- Nottingham
- Postcode
- NG2 7QP
- Electoral ward
- Trent Bridge
- Constituency
- Rushcliffe
- Delivery area
- East Midlands (England)
- Region
- East Midlands
- Sub-region
- South Nottinghamshire
- Area
- Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
- Country
- England
Buyer
Contracting authority
- Organisation
- Nottinghamshire County Council
- Contact
- Samantha Gilbert
- Phone
- +44 1158546049
- Address
- Nottinghamshire, NG2 7QP · East Midlands · England
Not stated in the notice: category.
Documents and links
Questions about this tender
When will the Soft Market Testing - Nottinghamshire County Council Assessment placement… tender open?
Nottinghamshire County Council has not yet given a date for the tender notice. An early notice is the time to answer any market engagement questions and gather the evidence a bid will need.
Who is the buyer for Soft Market Testing - Nottinghamshire County Council Assessment placement…?
Nottinghamshire County Council, based in Rushcliffe, East Midlands. The named contact is Samantha Gilbert, on +44 1158546049.
How do I bid for Soft Market Testing - Nottinghamshire County Council Assessment placement…?
Register on the buyer's portal named in the notice, download the tender pack and check every condition of participation before you start writing. The buyer has marked it as suitable for SMEs and VCSEs. Care Sync Experts writes and reviews care tender bids from £1,500 + VAT.
Want help winning this tender?
We write and review care tender bids: quality answers, case studies and social value, checked against how the buyer scores before you submit.
What to do next
- Read the early notice in full.
- Answer any market engagement questions.
- Gather your evidence and case studies now.
- Check your policies are up to date.
- Watch for the tender notice.
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