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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Provision of Independent Advocacy & Independent Visitor Services

Bradford Children & Families Trust · Tender notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 11:13.

Opportunity overview

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.

Classification

  • CPV85300000 — Social work and related services
  • CPV85310000 — Social work services

Lots

  • Lot 1: Independent Advocacy for Looked After Children£600k
  • Lot 2: Independent Visitor Services£210k

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
T
Status
active
Above Threshold
Yes
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Expected award period

Ends
9 Jan 2026, 23:59

Tender Period

Ends
20 Nov 2025, 11:00

Enquiry period

Ends
10 Nov 2025, 17:00

Special regime

lightTouch

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
LOT-0001
Title
Lot 1: Independent Advocacy for Looked After Children
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes
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.

Value

Amount
600,000
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
720,000

Renewal

Description
One-year extension subject to performance.

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Quality Criteria
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
70
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Price
Type
price

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
30
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
1 Apr 2028, 00:59
Starts
1 Apr 2026, 01:00
Max Extent Date
1 Apr 2029, 00:59
Entry 2
Id
LOT-0002
Title
Lot 2: Independent Visitor Services
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes
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.

Value

Amount
210,000
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
252,000

Renewal

Description
One-year extension subject to performance.

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Quality Criteria
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
70
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Price
Type
price

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
30
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
1 Apr 2028, 00:59
Starts
1 Apr 2026, 01:00
Max Extent Date
1 Apr 2029, 00:59

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
LOT-0001
Related Lot
LOT-0001

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
85300000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Social work and related services
Entry 2
Id
85310000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Social work services
Item 2
Id
LOT-0002
Related Lot
LOT-0002

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
85300000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Social work and related services
Entry 2
Id
85310000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Social work services

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Entry 2
Id
066046-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
16 Oct 2025, 16:30

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PRBL-9974-CGBN
Name
Bradford Children & Families Trust

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKE41
Country
GB
Locality
Bradford
Postal Code
BD5 0QL
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Sir Henry Mitchell House, 4 Manchester Road

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Identifier

Id
PRBL-9974-CGBN
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Name
BCFT Procurement
Telephone
+44 01234567890

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Bradford · UKE41 · BD5 0QL · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-05ce4e-2025-10-16T16:30:27+01:00Tender notice on Find a Tender ·