Your care is good. Your tender never got read.
Picture a home care agency in Bedfordshire. Rated Good by CQC. Sixty care workers. A waiting list of families who want them.
Picture a home care agency in Bedfordshire. Rated Good by CQC. Sixty care workers. A waiting list of families who want them.
They spend three weekends writing a council tender for domiciliary care. The method statements are strong. The case studies are real. Two weeks later, an email arrives: the bid did not pass the selection stage. Nobody scored a single quality answer.
This happens far more often than care providers realise. Councils run tenders in two parts. First comes a pass or fail check on who you are: your registration, insurance, finances and policies. Only the providers who pass that check get their quality answers marked.
Since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, councils call this first part the conditions of participation. Most still ask the questions through a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). The name changed. The trap did not.
Below are the six gaps we see knock care providers out most often, and what to do about each one before you press submit.
The six gaps that knock care providers out
1. Your CQC registration doesn’t match the service
Registration alone isn’t enough. It has to cover the regulated activity the council is buying. A provider registered for personal care at one branch may not be able to deliver a contract run from another office. Some councils also set a minimum rating, often Good, or ask for an action plan if you are rated Requires Improvement.
The fix: Read the specification first. Check the regulated activity, the location on your certificate, and that your registered manager is in post. If your rating is below the bar, explain what has changed since the inspection and attach your improvement plan.
2. Your insurance is below the minimum
Employer’s liability cover of at least £5 million is a legal requirement. Councils often ask for public liability of £5 million or £10 million, and professional indemnity on top. Care contracts may also ask for medical malpractice or treatment risks cover. If your policy says £2 million and the tender says £5 million, that is a fail.
The fix: Compare every figure in the tender against your schedule. If you are short, ask your broker for a letter confirming you will raise the cover if you win. Many councils accept this. Check that the tender allows it before you rely on it.
3. Your policies are out of date or copied
Evaluators open your safeguarding policy and find a review date from 2022. Or the name of a different company in the footer. Or a reference to the wrong local safeguarding board. Each one tells the council you don’t check your own paperwork.
The fix: Review your safeguarding, medication, whistleblowing, complaints and infection control policies before every tender. Date them. Name your own company. Name the safeguarding adults board for the area you are bidding in.
4. Your accounts don’t meet the financial test
Many councils want your annual turnover to be at least twice the yearly value of the contract. A £400,000 a year contract can mean you need £800,000 turnover. Smaller providers often fail here without knowing the rule exists.
The fix: Check the financial threshold on day one, not the night before the deadline. If you fall short, look at what the tender allows: bidding for a smaller lot, a parent company guarantee, a bank reference, or joining with another provider.
5. You can’t show your staff checks and training
Councils want proof, not promises. That means enhanced DBS checks with the adult barred list, the Care Certificate for new care workers, and the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. Saying “all staff are fully trained” scores nothing.
The fix: Keep a training matrix that shows each course, completion rates and refresh dates. Quote real figures, such as “96% of care workers completed safeguarding refresher training in the last 12 months.”
6. The submission is late or incomplete
Tender portals close to the minute. A bid uploaded at 12:01 for a noon deadline is rejected. So is a bid missing one mandatory attachment, or with a file the portal didn’t accept.
The fix: Aim to submit 48 hours early. Make a list of every document the tender asks for and tick each one off as you upload it. Download your submission receipt and keep it.
Once you pass: what councils look for in care quality answers
Passing the first stage gets your answers read. Winning depends on four things evaluators look for in almost every care tender.
- Person-centred care you can prove. Show how a care plan is built with the person and their family. Use a real, anonymised example: “Mrs B wanted to keep making her own breakfast. We changed her morning call from 30 to 45 minutes so she could.”
- Staff you keep. Turnover in care is high, and councils know it. Give your own retention rate, what you pay against the National Living Wage, and how you cover sickness without missed calls.
- Calls that happen on time. For home care, explain how you plan rotas, cut travel time between visits and track late or missed calls. Give your figures if you monitor them electronically.
- Social value with numbers. Councils often weight social value at 10% or more of the quality score. Local jobs, apprenticeships and volunteering hours all count, as long as you state a figure and how you will report it.
The rule is the same across every answer: replace adjectives with evidence. “High quality care” earns nothing. “94% of service users rated us good or excellent in our March survey” earns marks.
Your pre-submission checklist
Run through this before every care tender. If you can’t tick a box, fix it or ask the council a clarification question before the deadline.
- ☐ CQC registration covers the regulated activity and location in the specification
- ☐ CQC rating meets any minimum set, or an improvement plan is attached
- ☐ Every insurance level matches or beats the tender, or a broker letter is attached
- ☐ Safeguarding, medication, whistleblowing, complaints and infection control policies reviewed in the last 12 months
- ☐ Every policy names your company and the right local safeguarding adults board
- ☐ Turnover meets the financial threshold, or an allowed alternative is in place
- ☐ Training matrix ready, with DBS, Care Certificate and Oliver McGowan training figures
- ☐ Every answer within its word limit
- ☐ Every mandatory document uploaded and checked
- ☐ Submitted at least 48 hours before the deadline, with the receipt saved
Get a second pair of eyes before you submit
SEbids has spent years helping providers win UK public sector contracts. We now support care providers through every stage of a council tender, from the PSQ to the final quality answers.
Not sure if your next bid will pass the first stage? Book a £50 consultation. We will go through the tender with you, flag the gaps that could get you rejected, and tell you honestly whether it is worth bidding.
Book your consultation at sebids.co.uk, call 01438 909700, or email general@sebids.co.uk.