Bidding for a council framework or tender
What does the council need, what does it pay, and how do we show we understand its market?
Use the council's own figures to show you understand its pressures: rates, quality, supply and demand by district.
When people use it: When a framework or tender opens; councils usually re-tender every three to five years.
How it works, step by step
The council at a glance
Every box opens the trend and England position; use them for the market understanding section of the bid.
Where the council is short
Districts short of beds are where the council will struggle to place people: offer capacity there.
Quality
How the local market rates against England; show where you sit.
The full report
The council's full market report has the policy outlook and local plans.
The views you will use
Ask the data in plain English
A real question and answer from Ask Orrery, the assistant inside the platform, for a care home owner in Kent (October 2026). It answers only from Orrery's data and the subscriber's own documents, and shows its sources.
Kent care home market pressures (draft for a public example)
Kent is England's largest care home market, with 487 homes and 14,824 beds (CQC care directory, 1 October 2026). Four pressures stand out.
- Rising need: The population aged 85+ is projected to grow 51% to 2035. Beds needed rise from 10,203 to 13,508 (Orrery demand model, ONS projections).
- Tightening supply: Beds are projected to fall from 13,821 to 12,969. Today there is spare capacity, but a shortfall of 539 beds opens by 2035. It is worst in Ashford, Swale and Tonbridge and Malling.
- Cost and fees: Council fees are above the England median, at £1,187 residential and £1,378 nursing a week (DHSC MSIF rates).
- Quality and funding: 79% of homes are rated Good or better, against an England median of 84%. 43% of residents are self funders, and their savings run out sooner as fees outpace house prices.
These are projections on stated assumptions, not forecasts.
You may want to check the wording with a professional adviser before submitting the bid.
- Commissioners want providers who understand their market and their budget; their own data, charted, does that.
Answer this for your own councils
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