Agency Care Workers in Cumberland Care Services - Market Engagement

Description

Further Market Engagement including a supplier questionnaire and feedback on the draft specification plus a copy of the Pre-market engagement slides and questions and answers from the online session. For further details and to access the questionnaire, use our online procurement portal, The Chest https://www.the-chest.org.uk Cumberland Council are looking to procure a contract for the Provision of Care Agency Staff to support the delivery of adult social care services across the region The contract term will be for 30 months commencing from 01st June 2026 with a maximum total contract value of £4,7500,00. including VAT. Following the supplier engagement session held on 16 March 2026 via MS Teams, we are sharing a number of documents with the market: • Presentation from the session on 16 March 2026 • Q&As • Draft Specification • Supplier registration help for Find a Tender • Requirement/Order Form • Link to Microsoft Forms questionnaire in word attachment : Market Engagement Questionnaire: Provision of Care Agency Staff – Fill in form – We invite all interested suppliers to review the draft specification and respond using this questionnaire. Suppliers should note that responses are required by Monday 30th March at 12 noon. The Council is working to advertise this opportunity to the market as soon as possible. As a result, there is a tight turnaround for reviewing the draft specification and completing the questionnaire. The purpose of this short timeframe is to allow suppliers the opportunity to comment on whether the draft specification is workable and deliverable before the Invitation to Tender is finalised. Suppliers should note that the specification is shared at draft stage and remains subject to change. The Council will review all feedback received; however, in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, the Council must ensure that all suppliers are treated consistently, fairly and without distortion of competition. Any amendments to the draft specification will be made at the Council’s absolute discretion and only where such changes are considered necessary, proportionate, and in the interests of ensuring a clear, transparent and deliverable specification for the whole market. The Council will not make changes that arise from the undue influence of a single supplier or that could confer an unfair advantage. Suppliers are also reminded that this procurement will establish a closed Framework Agreement. There will only be one opportunity to join the Framework at this time. Once the Framework is awarded, no further suppliers will be admitted during its term. Work under the Framework will be allocated according to the ranked order of providers as determined through the evaluation of quality, price, and social value. This means that achieving the highest possible ranking is important, as call offs will follow the published ranking methodology. It is expected that the Council will advertise the opportunity within the next week. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THE FOLLOWING: • THE COUNCILS ARE NOT ACCEPTING EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST AT THIS TIME. • At this time, the councils are not requesting or accepting bids or clarifications. • The clarification period dates will be stated in the Invitation to Tender when it is published. • This does not constitute a tender launch or the start of the procurement process. • The early visibility of the documents is not being used to shorten the length of time given from publication of the ITT to the submission of tenders deadline. Keywords: Adult Social Care Services Agency Staffing, Care Agency Staffing, Temporary Staffing