Cumbria Connect to Work [CtW] Programme

Procurement description

Cumberland Council is pleased to invite interested organisations to a provider engagement session for the Cumbria Connect to Work (CtW) Programme to be held on Friday 18th July 2025 at 10am, face to face in Carlisle.

Cumberland Council, in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council and Enterprising Cumbria, is excited to announce an incredible opportunity to partner with us on the Connect to Work [CtW] program across Cumbria.

Connect to Work is the first major element of the Get Britain Working Strategy. This initiative aims to break down barriers to employment and provide sustainable job opportunities for individuals with complex needs.

By encouraging join-up between health systems and employment support, Connect to Work will support those, primarily, currently outside the workforce and facing greater labour market disadvantages, to stay in work and get back into work. In Cumbria, Connect to Work will support around 3,000 residents across the entirety of the programme.

Connect to Work is a voluntary programme, delivering the evidence-based Supported Employment model, 'place, train, and maintain', via two distinct types of interventions based on the needs of the participant - Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Local Supported Employment (LSE).

Our ambition is to deliver this programme in partnership with one high-quality provider (Service Coordinator), who is able to meet set targets for supporting economically inactive adults across Cumbria into work delivering both the IPS and SEQF elements of Connect to Work.

The Service Coordinator will need to invest in their delivery partners to ensure quality services are delivered to all participants across Cumbria regardless of place. Success of the programme is reliant upon integrated referral pathways, employer engagement and participant-centric support.

Cumberland council aims to advertise the tender early August 2025 on the Council's procurement portal [https://www.the-chest.org.uk/.

To register for this event, visit https://enterprisingcumbria.org.uk/latest-news-4/2025/cumbria-connect-work-market-engagement-session or send an email to CumbriaCTW@cumbria.gov.uk by Tuesday 15th July 2025. Please note only registered attendees will be allowed into the engagement event.

Participation in this pre-market engagement does not guarantee that a procurement process will follow, nor does it determine the final scope or structure of any potential procurement. The outcome will depend on the completion of this engagement exercise, internal governance processes, and agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the proposed delivery approach.

Further details on Connect to Work can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/connect-to-work

Main category

Services

Delivery regions

• UKD1 - Cumbria

Total value (estimated)

10000000 GBP Excluding VAT

12000000 GBP Including VAT

Contract dates (estimated)

05 January 2026, 00:00AM to 31 March 2028, 23:59PM

Extension end date (if all the extensions are used): 31 March 2030

Cumberland Council

Is this procurement under a special regime?

Light touch

Is the total value above threshold?

Above threshold

CPV classifications

• 75110000 - General public services
• 75131000 - Government services
• 75200000 - Provision of services to the community
• 79600000 - Recruitment services
• 80400000 - Adult and other education services
• 80500000 - Training services
• 98200000 - Equal opportunities consultancy services

Delivery regions

• UKD1 - Cumbria

Sustainability

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Contract start date (estimated)

05 January 2026, 00:00AM

Contract end date (estimated)

31 March 2028, 23:59PM

Extension end date (estimated)

31 March 2030, 23:59PM

Can the contract be extended?

Yes

Engagement process description

An engagement session will be held face-to-face in Carlisle on Friday 18th July 2025 at 10am.

To register for this event, visit https://enterprisingcumbria.org.uk/latest-news-4/2025/cumbria-connect-work-market-engagement-session or send an email to CumbriaCTW@cumbria.gov.uk by Tuesday 15th July 2025. Please note only registered attendees will be allowed into the engagement event.

A question-and-answer log will be published following the event alongside the slide used at the event. Questions can be sent to use either before the market engagement event, raised at the event, or up to close of business on 20th July and we will seek to answer all questions either at the event or shortly afterward. Questions after 20th July may not be responded to.

We recognise the burden that maybe placed on smaller local organisations in responding to requests for information from potential Service Coordinators. To help alleviate this we

a) will be seeking to build a directory of local services;

b) encourage potential Service Coordinators to use that directory of services as part of any Expression of Interest process, they may have.

If you wish your details to be included in a service directory, hosted on Enterprising Cumbria Connect to Work website, please complete and return the service directory form found at https://enterprisingcumbria.org.uk/cumbria-connect-work-service-directory-form.

Particular suitability

Organisations that can deliver and specifically coordinate the deliver across the whole of Cumbria and all participant groups.

Suitability includes consortiums and joint ventures.

Due date

17 August 2025, 23:59PM

Has the engagement period already ended?

No