Essex £26.7m Transforming Care Supported Living Tender – What Providers Need to Know

Essex County Council has published a major opportunity for providers specialising in learning disability, autism, mental health and complex needs. The Transforming Care Supported Living Projects tender has a total estimated value of £26,700,000 including VAT, split across two specialist schemes running from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2030, with a possible extension to June 2032.

For providers planning to expand or stabilise their specialist supported living portfolio, this is a strategically important procurement. It combines long-term funding with a clear focus on Transforming Care, community alternatives to inpatient provision, and robust quality expectations.

If you are considering a bid and want specialist support with the technical narrative, you may find these pages helpful:

• Bid Writer – Learning Disability
• Bid Writer – Complex Care

At a Glance – Key Facts

• Authority: Essex County Council
• Total value (estimated): £26,700,000 including VAT
• Lots: 2 (Datchworth Green; Core & Cluster)
• Contract dates (estimated): 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2030 (with extension option to 2032)
• Procedure type: Competitive Flexible Procedure (Light Touch)
• Quality / Price split: Quality 70%, Commercial 30%
• Submission deadline: 13 January 2026, 12:00pm
• Estimated award decision date: 23 March 2026
• Submission portal: ProContract (Due North)
• CPV: 85000000 – Health and social work services

About the Procedure

The opportunity is being run under a Competitive Flexible Procedure within the Light Touch Regime. The notice describes a staged process:

• Stage 1 – Conditions of Participation: core selection criteria such as financial standing, policies and procedures and CQC registration.
• Stage 2 – Initial tender questions: quality questions evaluating service model, workforce, safeguarding, governance and outcomes.
• Stage 3 – Further tender questions: a refined set of questions for the top five bidders from Stage 2, subject to tied scores.

This format gives Essex flexibility to focus on the strongest bids and explore detail before award. It also means that early-stage submissions must make a strong impression to avoid being filtered out.

Lot 1 – Datchworth Green (Hertfordshire)

Lot 1 relates to a highly personalised supported living scheme in Datchworth Green (Hertfordshire), designed for one individual with significant and enduring needs moving from more restrictive settings into the community.

• Estimated value: £3,900,000 including VAT
• Contract location: UKH23 – Hertfordshire
• Nature of service: intensive, bespoke supported living for a single individual under Transforming Care principles.

Conditions of participation for this Lot include:

• Organisational policies and procedures (including safeguarding, incident management and clinical governance where applicable).
• Evidence of robust safeguarding practice.
• Appropriate insurance cover.
• CQC registration and rating relevant to the service.

This Lot demands providers who can demonstrate sophisticated person-centred planning, positive behavioural support (PBS), strong multi-disciplinary working and a track record of managing high-risk community placements safely.

If your organisation specialises in learning disability and autism, your bid will need to clearly describe your PBS model, community inclusion approach and ability to stabilise complex behaviour. For help shaping a persuasive, evidence-led narrative, my Bid Writer – Learning Disability service is built for exactly this type of tender.

Lot 2 – Core & Cluster (North Essex)

Lot 2 is a larger and higher-value scheme labelled Core & Cluster, providing supported living for up to 6 individuals across 3 sites located in close proximity within North Essex.

• Estimated value: £22,800,000 including VAT
• Contract location: UKH34 – Essex Haven Gateway
• Service model: Core & cluster supported living with shared staffing, intensive support and strong clinical input.

This Lot is designed for people with complex needs, often including forensic histories, behaviours that challenge, significant co-existing mental health conditions and high safeguarding risk. Essex is looking for providers able to combine:

• Stable, skilled staffing across multiple locations.
• Integrated work with health partners, particularly psychiatry, psychology and specialist LD teams.
• Clear risk management frameworks and crisis planning.
• Robust governance, data reporting and incident learning.

For this level of complexity, scoring well on the 70% quality weighting will depend on a tightly written technical response that showcases your complex care credentials, clinical partnerships and outcomes. If you need support, my Bid Writer – Complex Care service focuses specifically on high-acuity LD, autism, mental health and forensic community provision.

Contract Length and Strategic Value

The estimated contract period is 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2030, with the option to extend up to 30 June 2032. That creates a potential six-year relationship with the council, offering stability for providers and continuity for people in the schemes.

From a strategic perspective, this tender is notable because it:

• Supports the ongoing Transforming Care agenda and reduction of long-stay inpatient placements.
• Invests in small-scale, highly personalised environments rather than large institutional models.
• Sets high expectations around safeguarding, quality and CQC performance.
• Combines specialist LD, autism and complex care requirements within a single procurement.

How to Prepare a Competitive Bid

With quality weighted at 70%, narrative and evidence will be critical. Key areas to focus on include:

• Specialist expertise: clearly articulate your experience with similar Transforming Care or step-down schemes.
• Workforce: recruitment, retention, training, PBS skills, supervision and clinical oversight.
• Safeguarding and risk: show how you manage high-risk placements, multi-agency working and incident learning.
• Outcomes and progression: how you measure and evidence quality of life improvements, reduced restrictions and stability.
• Partnerships: existing or planned relationships with ICBs, specialist health teams and housing partners.
• Mobilisation: clear, realistic plans for safe transitions into the schemes.

Many providers have the right operational capability, but struggle to convert that into high-scoring tender answers. That is where specialist bid support can make a real difference.

If you would like help to structure and draft your responses for either Lot 1, Lot 2 or both, you can read more about how I work here:

• Bid Writer – Learning Disability
• Bid Writer – Complex Care

Final Thoughts

This Essex tender is one of the most significant specialist supported living opportunities in the current pipeline. It combines long-term funding, complex needs and a clear Transforming Care focus.

Whether you are an established specialist provider or looking to step up into higher-acuity work, now is the time to review the documentation, assess your eligibility and begin shaping your technical responses.

If you would like a second opinion on your bid strategy, or hands-on support with writing, reviewing or proofing your answers, feel free to get in touch via my specialist pages for Learning Disability tenders and Complex Care tenders.