Bid writing · Specialism
Day opportunities and short breaks.
Day services, community activities and respite, increasingly bought through flexible purchasing systems rather than block contracts. A different commercial model, and a different bid.
Building-based day centres are not what councils are buying.
Commissioning has moved decisively toward community-based activity and away from the traditional day centre model. Submissions built around a building and a timetable score badly against providers describing what someone actually does with their week.
The commercial structure has shifted too. Flexible purchasing systems and dynamic frameworks are now the norm, which means admission is often pass/fail rather than ranked, and the real competition happens later at the point of individual referral.
That changes the strategy. Getting admitted is necessary but not sufficient, and your answers need to give a social worker a reason to pick you when a specific person needs a placement.
- Day servicesBuilding-based and community day opportunities for adults
- Short breaksDaytime, evening and overnight respite for adults and children
- ActivitiesCommunity activity, social inclusion and befriending
- EmploymentSupported employment, volunteering and skills pathways
- Carer supportRespite commissioned to sustain unpaid carers
- Personal assistantPersonal assistance for social and leisure activity
What panels probe
Six themes worth getting right.
Meaningful activity
What someone actually gains, described through a real person's week rather than a list of sessions on offer.
Progression
Where people go next. Volunteering, employment, education, or reduced support. Councils are buying movement, not attendance.
Community use
Use of ordinary community venues rather than segregated provision, and relationships with local organisations that already exist.
Transport
Frequently the reason a placement fails. How people get there, who pays, and how you support independent travel where possible.
Complex needs
Behaviour that challenges, personal care in a community setting, and the staffing ratios you can genuinely sustain.
Carer outcomes
For short breaks, the person receiving support and the carer are both service users. Panels want both addressed.
Evidenced
Day opportunities and short breaks awards on file.
Short Breaks & Domiciliary Care for Children with Disabilities
Framework place awarded for domiciliary care, on a term running to 2025 with extension options.
Short Breaks Pseudo-Dynamic Purchasing System
Letter of acceptance across multiple lots covering daytime, evening and overnight support including waking and sleeping nights.
Day Opportunities Flexible Purchasing System
Award decision notice under Regulation 86 following evaluation against published criteria, via STAR Procurement.
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