Nottinghamshire County Council has launched a major framework for residential and nursing care home services for adults, with an estimated value of £995 million including VAT. The agreement could operate for up to ten years and is designed to support a wide range of complex and specialist care needs.
The establishment tender is evaluated 100% on quality. There is no cap on supplier numbers, but bidders must meet the Conditions of Participation and achieve the required quality standard. The submission deadline is 28 October 2026.
If your care home services fit the Nottinghamshire framework, speak to Thornton & Lowe about your quality response, compliance position and evidence before the October deadline.
Who will the framework support?
The framework is primarily for adults whose support needs may include learning disabilities, autism, mental health needs, physical disabilities, brain injuries and sensory impairments. It can be used for standard placements, short breaks, emergency placements, forensic provision and exceptional or highly specialist arrangements.
The Council may also use the framework for some 16 and 17-year-olds where the relevant home meets all applicable registration and regulatory requirements. Older adults aged 65 and over are generally expected to be placed through other contracts, with this framework used exceptionally where suitable provision cannot be found through those routes.
A broad supplier model with a quality threshold
The framework has no maximum number of suppliers and no supplier fee. The notice states that bidders meeting the Conditions of Participation and the minimum quality threshold of 60% will be selected for award. The published establishment award criteria are 100% quality.
This does not mean providers can treat the application as a simple compliance exercise. A weak answer can still fail the threshold, and the Council will expect the service profile, governance and evidence to support safe placement decisions.
How placements can be awarded
Call-off contracts can be awarded directly or through further competition. Direct award is reserved for defined circumstances, including urgent placements, transfers of existing placements and cases where an individual has made a clear and informed provider choice.
Further competitions can be used for planned placements, ongoing support after an emergency period and block arrangements. At call-off stage, quality can range from 25% to 100% and price from 0% to 75%, depending on the requirement.
The framework may admit further providers
The planned term is six years with two possible two-year extensions, giving a maximum duration of ten years. The framework is not an Open Framework under the Procurement Act 2023, but Nottinghamshire reserves the right to advertise future opportunities to admit additional providers.
Suppliers should therefore treat the current tender as the main route in, while recognising that the Council may choose to reopen access later.
What evidence should providers prioritise?
A 100% quality establishment tender places the focus firmly on how care is delivered, governed and improved. Useful evidence may include:
- CQC registration and regulatory compliance.
- Safeguarding, incident management and escalation.
- Workforce recruitment, retention, training and supervision.
- Support for learning disability, autism, mental health and complex physical needs where relevant.
- Positive behaviour support and person-centred planning.
- Health coordination and multi-agency working.
- Business continuity and emergency placement capability.
- Quality monitoring, complaints learning and continuous improvement.
- Measurable outcomes around independence, wellbeing and stability.
Key dates
The enquiry deadline is 21 October 2026 at 11:59pm and tenders are due at 12:00pm on 28 October. The estimated award decision is 8 February 2027, with the framework due to start on 1 April.
The official Find a Tender notice contains the live framework information, while the procurement documents should be used for the detailed participation and response requirements.
Show how your care model works in practice
Generic statements about person-centred care are unlikely to differentiate one provider from another. Use operational detail and examples to show staffing, governance, risk management and support planning working together for people with the needs you are targeting.
Our guide to health and social care tenders covers wider preparation points for providers bidding to councils and healthcare commissioners.
Make quality evidence the centre of the submission
The commercial scale of the framework is significant, but providers still need to be realistic about the people they can safely and sustainably support. A focused service profile backed by strong operational evidence will be more credible than broad claims across every possible need.
Thornton & Lowe supports care providers with framework applications, quality responses and independent tender reviews. Contact our team if you want help with the Nottinghamshire Residential and Nursing Care Homes Framework.
