Tender Community Living Ethical Framework Wigan Council 

Wigan Council and NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (Wigan Locality) are committed to enabling people to live fulfilled and valued lives in their own homes and communities. Central to this ambition is the delivery of high quality, ethical, asset based support by a skilled, caring and compassionate workforce.

The Community Living Ethical Framework has been developed to establish strong, values based partnerships with high quality providers who share this commitment. The Framework will be the Council’s primary mechanism for commissioning with confidence ethical providers who deliver strengths based, community focused support, while recognising and valuing the essential contribution of their workforce.

The Framework seeks to support a transformed model of care and support that focuses on people’s strengths, networks and aspirations, enabling them to live independently and remain connected within their local communities.

All providers on the Community Living Ethical Framework will demonstrate:

•That people have real control over their care and support, actively engaging residents, local communities and partners in the co-design and development of support packages.

•The difference that they are making to people’s lives through a strengths-based approach celebrating and facilitating people’s gifts, talents and aspirations.

•That they seek solutions that actively plan to avoid or overcome crisis and focus on people within their natural communities, rather than service and organisational boundaries.

•That they enable people to develop networks of support in their local communities and increase community connections.

•That they take time to listen to a person’s own voice, particularly those whose views are not easily heard.

•That they fully consider the needs of the family and carers when planning support and care.

•That they ensure that support is culturally sensitive and relevant to diverse communities.

•That they take into account a person’s whole life, including their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs.

The contracting authority is establishing a framework agreement for the provision of a wide range of care, support, housing-related, and community-based services for adults, children, and families.

The framework will not be divided into lots. This approach has been adopted to maximise flexibility in commissioning and to enable providers to diversify and develop their service delivery models

This procurement will establish an open, single‑lot framework agreement for the provision of a broad range of health and social care services. The framework will operate for a period of eight (8) years, during which time it will be reopened at defined intervals to admit new providers in accordance with the terms set out in the procurement documents.

The Authority does not intend to limit the number of suppliers appointed to this framework.

It is intended that services will be obtained from suppliers appointed to the Framework Agreement on an ‘as and when required’ basis. No guarantee is given in respect of volume or value of services that may be required, and no commitment to any level of expenditure is implied by appointment to the Framework.

Call off opportunities will be issued on an as-and-when required basis in accordance with the Authority’s operational needs throughout the term of the Framework.

The value of call-off contracts will vary depending on the services required and will be agreed at either mini competition or direct award stage.

Tenders must be written in the English language. Only one Tender is permitted from each Tenderer. In the event that more than one is submitted by a Tenderer, the one with the latest time of submission will be evaluated and the other(s) disregarded. Submissions to be electronically uploaded to ‘The Chest’ e-procurement portal at: www.the-chest.org.uk.

Reputational Risk

•Cybersecurity Threats – A data breach or system compromise could damage public trust and the authority’s reputation.

•Supply Chain Disruption – Failure to deliver equipment on time may lead to negative publicity and stakeholder dissatisfaction.

Corporate Risk

•Regulatory or Policy Changes – Non-compliance with new health and safety or environmental regulations could expose the organisation to legal and reputational consequences.

•Dependency on Third Parties – Poor performance by subcontractors could undermine organisational credibility and governance.

Operational Risk

•Workforce Availability – Shortages of skilled staff could disrupt service continuity and operational efficiency.

•Environmental Events – Severe weather or climate-related incidents may impact logistics and delivery schedules.

-Technology Obsolescence – Outdated equipment could hinder service delivery and operational effectiveness.

Financial Risk

•Economic Volatility – Inflation or price fluctuations in materials and energy costs could increase contract costs and strain budgets.

•Supply Chain Disruption – Delays may lead to additional costs for expedited delivery or alternative sourcing.

Health and Safety Risk

•Regulatory or Policy Changes – Changes in safety standards could require urgent compliance measures.

•Technology Obsolescence – Outdated or non-compliant equipment could pose safety hazards to users.

•Environmental Events – Severe weather could create unsafe conditions for delivery and installation teams.

This procurement will establish an open framework, using the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023. Under the Competitive Flexible Procedure the Council may, during the procurement process, clarify or refine its requirements and/or the application of the published award criteria, and may invite tenderers to improve or optimise their submissions, provided that this does not introduce new award criteria, materially change existing award criteria, or compromise fair and equal treatment.

Wigan Council are procuring this contract using a two-stage tender process under the Competitive Flexible Procedure. Tenderers must successfully meet the requirements of each stage in order to progress to the next stage of the evaluation process.

Stage 1 – Provider Selection Questionnaire and responses to written submissions

Stage 2 – Interviews

Wigan Town Hall, Library Street

Wigan

WN1 1YN

United Kingdom

Email: Procurement@wigan.gov.uk

Region: UKD36 – Greater Manchester North West

Organisation type: Public authority – sub-central government