Provision of Asylum Support and Accommodation Services

Procurement reference

Project_838 - ASAP - Asylum Support and Accommodation Programme

Procurement description

The Future Asylum Contracts Transformation (FACT), formerly Asylum Support and Accommodation Programme (ASAP), is a long-term transformation programme in the delivery of asylum support and accommodation services.

The objective is a transformative re-procurement of services to replace the following contracts:

• Asylum Accommodation Support Contracts (AASC)

• Advice Issue Reporting and Eligibility (AIRE)

• Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services (BATS)

• Asylum Support Payments (ASP)

The Home Office will be going to market for supplier(s) who can:

1. Accommodation Provision – Identify, acquire, and maintain a diverse range of safe, suitable, and legally compliant accommodation types within agreed timescales and contracted regions to meet the varied needs of asylum seekers. Ensure accommodation aligns with statutory and regulatory standards, and is approved and allocated in collaboration with Local Authorities to support lawful use, community integration, and minimal impact on local services.

2. Accommodation Management – Maintain accommodation to defined standards throughout its lifecycle, with robust systems in place for maintenance, temporary housing, and complaint communication and resolution to ensure a safe, suitable, and responsive living environment for asylum seekers.

3. Transport – Arrange, manage, and deliver a 24/7/365 transportation service that is safe, timely, and responsive to asylum seeker needs in line with Home Office policy, whether independently or as directed by the Home Office. This includes the use of suitable, appropriately equipped, roadworthy vehicles and professional drivers, supported by an appropriate IT booking system, and ensuring the transport of asylum seekers, their dependents, and permitted belongings with appropriate assistance and within agreed timescales.

4. Sustenance – Ensure that asylum seekers receive appropriate interim support through food vouchers or cash, including issuing food vouchers as a temporary or emergency measure until a Section 4 payment card is provided or replaced, and providing cash where full board accommodation is not available.

5. Safety and Security – Ensure the safety and security of all staff and asylum seekers by implementing appropriate training, incident management, cross-provider collaboration, and vetting procedures.

6. Audit & Assurance Services – Monitor provider compliance and performance through a structured assurance framework, combining inspections, desk-based reviews, and data analysis to identify trends, risks, and areas for improvement. The assuror must also produce clear, evidence-based reports to support supplier management and meet the reporting requirements of external assurance bodies.

7. Service User Assistance – The Provider must ensure that asylum seekers receive clear, accessible, and timely information and support throughout their asylum journey - from initial application and arrival at accommodation to integration into the community. This includes maintaining a reliable single point of contact, delivering oral and written communication in a way asylum seekers can understand, assisting with access to local services, and continuously monitoring and improving the asylum seeker experience through inclusive feedback mechanisms.

8. Wellbeing and Safeguarding – Establish effective communication channels with relevant partners to ensure timely notification and coordination on safeguarding and wellbeing matters. Where safeguarding concerns are identified, specialist safeguarding staff must be deployed and follow the prescribed action plan.

Proactively prevent and reduce safeguarding incidents, the Provider must offer ongoing support to asylum seekers and ensure that all staff and asylum seekers have access to resources that help them recognise, respond to, and report safeguarding concerns.

Regular welfare checks must be conducted for all asylum seekers.

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The Home Office intends to procure a proportion of the services under the Light Touch regime in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.

For the avoidance of doubt following the delivery model change in relation to Service User (SU) Assistance and External Assurance.

To clarify, Service User Assistance will be procured via a separate Competitive Flexible Procedure (CFP), supported by its own Market Engagement (ME) activity, and is therefore out of scope of the current procurement.

In addition, External Assurance will be procured via an alternative route and does not form part of this CFP.

Suppliers are requested to continue monitoring the original PMEN for any updates or further clarifications relevant to the current procurement.

**The content of this Notice, including the nature of works and services including start date of contract, may be subject to change.**

Main category

Services

Delivery regions

• UK - United Kingdom

Total value (estimated)

0.00 GBP Excluding VAT

0.00 GBP Including VAT

Contract dates (estimated)

01 September 2029, 00:00AM to 31 August 2036, 23:59PM

Extension end date (if all the extensions are used): 31 August 2039

Home Office

Is the total value above threshold?

Above threshold

CPV classifications

• 98341000 - Accommodation services
• 79993100 - Facilities management services
• 55520000 - Catering services
• 79710000 - Security services
• 98341100 - Accommodation management services
• 63515000 - Travel services
• 63516000 - Travel management services
• 63520000 - Transport agency services
• 85312300 - Guidance and counselling services
• 85312400 - Welfare services not delivered through residential institutions
• 85300000 - Social work and related services
• 72225000 - System quality assurance assessment and review services
• 79212000 - Auditing services

Delivery regions

• UK - United Kingdom

Sustainability

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Contract start date (estimated)

01 September 2029, 00:00AM

Contract end date (estimated)

31 August 2036, 23:59PM

Extension end date (estimated)

31 August 2039, 23:59PM

Can the contract be extended?

Yes

Engagement process description

The Future Asylum Contracts Transformation Team will carry out the engagement in three phases, the first phase will focus on gathering market feedback between June and July 2025, and the second phase will focus on validating strategy with market insights between July and September 2025. The third phase will focus on the latest FACT strategy which has been updated to reflect Ministerial steer, government priorities and market developments and testing this with the market to ensure sufficient rigour and validate what may be proposed in the future ITTs. The objective is to identify potential risks early. Further phases may be included in advance of any formal procurement launch.

It is our intention to invite those suppliers that express an interest in this opportunity. In the event of high demand, we reserve the right to limit attendance to ensure fair and manageable engagement. Where attendance is limited, efforts will be made to ensure a representative cross-section of the market is included. For example, 13 suppliers were invited to 1-2-1 meetings between 29th August – 5th September 2025. When choosing which suppliers to speak with, the following four areas were considered:

- RFI 2 responses: Supplier responses to every RFI 2 question were reviewed to identify any feedback that highlighted innovative approaches, especially if relevant to one of the areas the Home Office wanted to test during the 1-2-1 sessions, namely the delivery model, route to market and lotting strategy.

- Service area coverage: The Home Office wanted to ensure a fair representation of different suppliers covering the difference service areas in the FACT procurement.

- National and regional coverage: The Home Office aimed for mix of national and regional suppliers to provide give a balanced view in the subject areas tested in the supplier 1-2-1s.

- Mix of supplier size: The Home Office wanted feedback from suppliers of all sizes to ensure the views of both the biggest players in the market and SMEs were covered for each service area.

Suppliers who are unable to attend will not be disadvantaged in any future procurement and will be provided with access to any relevant materials or outputs from the engagement session.

For the purposes of this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice, the estimated contract value has been listed as £0. This figure does not reflect the expected final value of the contract. The actual estimated value is currently being finalised and will be shared as part of the ongoing market engagement process.

1. To express an interest, participants must first be registered on the Home Office eSourcing Suite. If you have not yet registered, this can be done online at https://homeoffice.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html by following the link. Please note that, to register, you must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering and who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.

2. Send an 'Expression of Interest' email following the instructions:

Email to: asapprocurement@homeoffice.gov.uk

Email title: Expression of Interest - ASAP - NDA Request - (DUNS number)

3. The email must include the following:

Supplier name (as on Companies House)

DUNS number

Jaggaer registration details

Contact person - Name, job title, email address, contact number

4. The suppliers will be added to the NDA event on Jaggaer to access the NDA. This will contain the instruction to access and return signed copies.

5. The suppliers will receive countersigned NDAs and access to the Background Note providing details of the services in scope, engagement process and timelines.

PHASE 1: Gathering Market Feedback

ASAP Industry Day (In-person, London):

Publish Preliminary Market Engagement Notice – 28 May 2025

(Updated on August 27 )

Industry Day – 10 June 2025

Request for Information (RFI – Round 1):

RFI live –16 June 2025

RFI response deadline; 16:00 BST on – 04 July 2025

PHASE 2: Validating Strategy with Market Insights

Request for Information (RFI – Round 2):

RFI live – 22 July 2025

RFI response deadline – 8 August 2025

Supplier 1:1s:

Notification of supplier 1:1s – 27 August 2025

Hold virtual supplier 1:1s – 29 August 2025 to 5 September 2025

Request for Information (RFI – Round 3):

RFI live – 8 September 2025

RFI response deadline; 16 BST on – 26 September 2025

PHASE 3: Testing Strategy pre-ITT

Request for Information (RFI - Round 4)

RFI live - 25 November 2025

RFI response deadline - 19 December 2025

Request for Information (RFI - Round 4.5):

RFI live - 15 December 2025

RFI response deadline - 16 January 2026

Request for Information (RFI - Round 5):

RFI live – 20 April 2026

RFI response deadline – 1 May 2026

FACT Industry Day - Pre-ITT Launch to provide context of all the key commercial changes pre-ITT launch from the initial industry day and summarise the key market engagement findings the Home Office has collected to-date.

Industry Day – Week Commencing 13th April 2026

The Home Office intends to host an Industry Day during the week commencing 13th April 2026. The final date and location will be confirmed in invitations issued via Jaggaer once arrangements have been finalised.

If a supplier is interested in attending and has not previously expressed an interest in this procurement, please follow the steps set out in this notice to register your interest.

Supplier Update Session

The Home Office intends to host an online Supplier Update Session anticipated for mid-September. The final date and details will be confirmed in invitations issued via Jaggaer once arrangements have been finalised.

The event is expected to include:

• An overview of the requirements and programme objectives.

• The finalised procurement approach.

• Opportunities for suppliers to ask clarification questions.

If a supplier is interested in attending and has not previously expressed an interest in this procurement, please follow the steps set out in this notice to register your interest

Please Note:

The dates above are indicative and are subject to change.

This is an open process, and the Home Office welcomes any new suppliers that have joined at a later stage. The Home Office will ensure suppliers have full visibility of all activity to-date.

The Home Office reserves the right to amend the Market Engagement process at a later date if needed. Any changes will be updated on the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice and through Jaggaer.

Due date

30 September 2026, 23:59PM

Has the engagement period already ended?

No

Publication date of tender notice (estimated)

12 October 2026