Business development and bid managers at care providers

Getting ready before the council re-tenders

Which councils are about to re-tender our kind of service, when will the tender open, and what did the last one look like?

See plans All 153 councils · Ask Orrery · every guide

Good bids are planned months ahead. Coming up notices (market engagement and planned procurement) show tenders before they open, contract end dates show when current contracts run out, and the last award shows what the council bought, how it scored bids and who won.

When people use it: Six to twelve months before a contract ends, and whenever a council publishes a market engagement notice.

In the platform

How it works, step by step

Coming up
Planned procurements and market engagement notices: the council's early signal, often two to six months before the tender opens. Join the engagement events; they shape the specification.
Contracts ending soon
Awarded contracts whose end date falls in the next 12 months, where the notice gives one. Each is a re-tender, an extension or a direct award to come.
The last tender for this service
Closed and awarded notices for the council: the length of the bid window, the lots, the procedure and how bids were scored last time.
The council's timeline
The tenders section on the dashboard lists the council's coming up, open and recent contracts together, beside its demand and fee rates.
An alert for the day it opens
Follow the council and Orrery emails you when the tender is published, so the bid window is not lost.

Ask Orrery

Ask the data in plain English

An example question with an answer worked from Orrery's data (October 2026). In the platform, Ask Orrery answers questions like this from the same data and shows its sources.

When did Kent last tender its home care contract, how long was the bid window and what is coming up next in Kent?

Kent tendered home care in summer 2026, and the award has not been published yet.

The timeline

8 April 2026: a planned procurement notice for CN250238 Homecare.
5 June 2026: the tender opened, estimated at £171.8m.
16 July 2026: bids closed, six weeks after it opened.

So the early notice came about two months before the tender opened. Providers who prepared from April had eight extra weeks.

Coming up in Kent

Supported and Residential Living: planned notice published April 2026, estimated at £3.02bn over its life.
Home Safety and Security Installation Service: £1.5m, planned July 2026.
The older people's care home framework was awarded in September 2026, so its next full re-tender is some years away.

What to do now: follow Kent so the home care award and any new notices reach you. Read the last tender's lots and scoring, and prepare evidence for the supported living tender before it opens.

Source: Orrery tenders (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), 16 October 2026. Planned notices are intentions, and dates can move.