St Helens Council - Integrated Wellbeing Service - SOFT MARKET TESTING

SOFT MARKET TESTING - THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION

St Helens Borough Council is beginning work to recommission its Integrated Wellbeing Service. This is the Council’s main public health prevention offer for residents, bringing together six areas of delivery under a single arrangement. The current arrangement ends on 30 June 2027, and a new contract is expected to commence on 1 July 2027. It is expected that the contract would be for 5 years with an option for two 1-year extensions. However, this is yet to be confirmed, and we would welcome views on what would be appropriate.

The indicative annual value is in the region of £1.9m. All figures are indicative and the final value and scope are subject to confirmation. Some grant funded elements are subject to continuation decisions and may or may not form part of the new contract.

The Council has made no decisions about how the new arrangement will be structured. In particular we want to understand whether providers would bid for the whole service, for individual service areas, or in partnership with others. That will inform whether the Council procures a single integrated contract, an overarching contract with separate lots, or separate contracts.

We are interested in hearing from organisations of all types and sizes, including NHS bodies, private providers, social enterprises, and voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise organisations. We are equally interested in hearing from organisations that could deliver only one element of the service.

This Soft Market Testing exercise is intended to allow interested organisations with relevant experience to outline their views and provide information with no commitment to themselves or the Council.

Interested suppliers are required to complete the following company information form and a short questionnaire. Suppliers who complete and return the questionnaire may be invited to meet with Council representatives to discuss its requirements.

Deadline for submission of completed questionnaire is at 12 noon on the 30 September 2026.

If Suppliers have any questions about this soft market test, such questions should be submitted to the Council using the ‘Messages’ facility within the opportunity advertised on The Chest. A copy of the question and a copy of the written reply may be circulated to all Suppliers, with anonymity of the Supplier preserved. Suppliers must not raise questions through any other channels, including emails direct to the Council or to STAR Procurement. No questions will be responded to, other than those raised through The Chest as described above.

We encourage your participation in this soft market testing exercise but must emphasise that your involvement in this exercise will not carry any commercial advantage in any ensuing procurement process.

No information provided in response to this soft market testing exercise will be used in any evaluation of any subsequent response to a procurement exercise.