Provision of Children’s Short Breaks Activities and Support (Aiming High)

Staffordshire County Council is seeking a Lead Provider to coordinate and deliver a countywide programme of short breaks for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), aged 0–17, and their families across Staffordshire.

The service aims to provide accessible, enjoyable and meaningful activities that promote inclusion, independence, confidence, wellbeing and community participation. It will also give parents and carers meaningful breaks from their caring responsibilities. The successful provider will deliver a General Targeted Offer and an Enhanced Targeted Offer, ensuring support reflects different levels of need.

Service Requirements

The Lead Provider will be responsible for coordinating, managing and monitoring a high-quality countywide service. Provision may be delivered directly by the Lead Provider and/or through a network of Delivery Partners, with the Lead Provider acting as the single point of accountability to Staffordshire County Council.

The service must:

• Provide age-appropriate and engaging activities that reflect children’s interests and individual needs.
• Promote inclusion, independence, confidence, wellbeing, friendships and social connections.
• Offer safe, supportive and welcoming environments.
• Provide opportunities during evenings, weekends and school holidays, including indoor and outdoor activities where appropriate.
• Support children and young people to access community-based opportunities and local services.
• Provide proportionate support for children and young people with more complex needs.
• Promote equitable access across Staffordshire, including rural and less populated areas.
• Work collaboratively with families, professionals, community organisations and local partners.
• Use engagement, feedback and co-production to improve provision.
• Monitor participation, service utilisation and unmet demand, responding to gaps in provision.
• Demonstrate quality assurance, continuous improvement, value for money and flexible approaches to service delivery.

The Council is particularly interested in proposals that improve access for children and young people with higher or more complex needs, address gaps in provision and increase participation among groups facing barriers to accessing services.

Contract Information

• Buyer: Staffordshire County Council
• Tender reference: IA3582
• Estimated contract value: £979,890 excluding VAT (£1,175,868 including VAT)
• Contract period: 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2030
• Duration: Three years
• Additional options: The Council reserves the right to make additional purchases while the contract is valid. Further details should be checked in the tender documents.
• Procurement category: Services
• CPV code: 85312120 – Daycare services for disabled children and young people
• Contract location: Staffordshire, UK
• Enquiry deadline: 16 November 2026, 11:59pm
• Tender submission deadline: 23 November 2026, 12:00pm
• Estimated award decision date: 14 January 2027
• Procedure: Open procedure under the light-touch regime
• Award criteria: Price – 60%; Quality – 40%

How to access the tender: Suppliers must register or log in to the Council’s Proactis eProcurement system, select “Opportunities” and search for reference IA3582.

Access the Proactis supplier portal

Supplier Requirements

The opportunity is identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs).

Suppliers must meet the legal, financial and technical ability conditions of participation set out in Part 3 of the IA3582 Procurement Specific Questionnaire. The full requirements should be reviewed in the tender documents before deciding whether to bid.

Bidders should be able to demonstrate how they will coordinate and deliver an inclusive countywide service, support children and young people with differing and complex needs, work effectively with families and delivery partners, and monitor service quality and outcomes.

The tender information also states that providers must submit a Business Continuity Plan as part of their tender submission. Further details on qualifications, training, service delivery expectations and contractual obligations should be checked in the specification and associated procurement documents.

Suppliers should also review the contract terms relating to Local Government Reorganisation, as the Council has identified potential implications for referral numbers, service capacity and delivery arrangements.

Evaluation Criteria

The published award criteria are:

• Price – 60%
• Quality – 40%

The detailed scoring arrangements are set out in the IA3582 ITT Procurement Pack, Pricing Matrix and Procurement Specific Questionnaire.

Commercial Relevance

This opportunity may suit providers with experience delivering inclusive children’s services, SEND activities, short breaks or community-based support. The single Lead Provider model places responsibility for countywide coordination, quality assurance and performance monitoring on the successful organisation, which may make partnership working and the ability to reach underserved areas particularly important.

Providers should review the full specification, participation conditions and pricing documents to assess their capacity to deliver across Staffordshire before submitting a bid.

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