Case Study

London Borough of Waltham Forest — Short Breaks Services for Children with Disabilities

Tender Overview

Short breaks are not a luxury for families raising children with disabilities. They are a lifeline. A short break gives a child with a disability the chance to spend time away from their home environment, experience new activities, build confidence, and form relationships outside the family. For parents and carers, it provides respite that allows them to keep going. When short breaks services are well commissioned and well delivered, they make a direct and measurable difference to the wellbeing of children and families. The London Borough of Waltham Forest takes that seriously.

Waltham Forest’s contract for the Provision of Short Breaks Services for Children with Disabilities was structured across four lots, each covering a different type of short break provision. Our Rock Limited applied for two of them: Lot 1, covering Outreach Support, and Lot 4, covering Other Short Break Services and Activities. AssuredBID prepared the submission. On 13 July 2026, PS Procure confirmed on behalf of the London Borough of Waltham Forest that Our Rock Limited had been appointed to the framework on both lots. The standstill period under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 was set to conclude at midnight on 23 July 2026, after which the framework agreement would be executed.

The Brief

Client	Our Rock Limited
Commissioner	London Borough of Waltham Forest
Contract	Provision of Short Breaks Services for Children with Disabilities
Reference	DN509932
Lots Awarded	Lot 1 — Outreach Support; Lot 4 — Other Short Break Services and Activities
Procurement Regime	Public Contracts Regulations 2015
Award Date	13 July 2026
Lot 1 Total Score	79.03%
Lot 4 Total Score	55.38%
Result	Appointed to the Framework — Both Lots

The evaluation split 70% quality and 30% price. Quality was assessed across four method statement questions, each carrying 15% of the total score, plus a social value submission carrying 10%. Getting the quality right was the primary task. Our children’s services tender writing page explains how we approach disability short breaks frameworks specifically.

Key Challenges

Short breaks for children with disabilities in Waltham Forest is a service that touches some of the most complex family situations in the borough. The children using these services have a wide range of needs, from physical and sensory disabilities through to learning disabilities and complex behavioural presentations. A submission for this kind of contract has to demonstrate that the provider genuinely understands the experience of those children and families, not just that they can provide safe and compliant care.

The four quality questions reflected that expectation. The first asked about person-centred planning specifically as it applies to children with disabilities, including how the provider would actually deliver against person-centred principles rather than just describing what they are. The second asked how the provider would attract children and young people to the service and what would make them stand out. The third asked how the service would improve the lives of children with disabilities and their families. The fourth asked how the proposal mapped onto the service specification’s core objectives. Each of these is a substantive question that requires a specific, grounded answer. Evaluators assessing a short breaks contract know the difference between a response that describes genuine child-centred practice and one that uses the right language without anything real behind it.

There were 31 providers competing on Lot 1 and 22 on Lot 4. That is a genuinely competitive field, and scoring well enough to secure both lots required a submission that stood out across quality consistently. The social value section carried 10% of the total marks and was assessed both quantitatively through a separate spreadsheet and qualitatively on a pass/fail basis through a method statement.

Our Approach

The four quality responses were written around how Our Rock Limited actually works with children with disabilities and their families, not a generic picture of short breaks provision.

The person-centred planning response addressed what person-centred planning means in practice when you are working with a child who may have limited verbal communication, fluctuating capacity, or complex sensory needs. It described how Our Rock builds support around the individual child’s preferences, goals, and daily rhythms rather than fitting the child into a standard service offer, and gave concrete examples of how that plays out in outreach support and activity provision. The evaluators confirmed all four quality questions met the required standard in all material respects, with no negative indicators or inconsistencies.

The question about attracting children and young people to the service was approached directly. What makes a short breaks service genuinely appealing to a child with a disability, and what makes it appealing to their parents, are not always the same thing. The response addressed both dimensions, covering how Our Rock communicates with families, how it involves young people in shaping what is on offer, and what specifically distinguishes its approach from a standard care model. Our disability services and person-centred care tender writing approach informed how we framed this section around the child’s experience rather than the provider’s systems.

The third question, on improving lives, gave us the opportunity to demonstrate impact. The response went beyond describing activities and support and addressed what changes for a child and their family when short breaks work well: the confidence that builds, the social connections that form, the relief that parents experience, the developmental progress that becomes possible. This is the kind of framing that resonates with commissioners who know what good short breaks provision looks like in practice.

The fourth question tied everything back to Waltham Forest’s own service specification and core objectives. We worked through the specification carefully and made sure the response mapped explicitly onto the borough’s stated aims for this contract, addressing each core objective in terms of how Our Rock’s proposed delivery model would meet it.

Results

The London Borough of Waltham Forest confirmed Our Rock Limited’s appointment to both lots on 13 July 2026. Quality scores were consistent across all four method statements on both lots, with each question scoring at the good level.

Lot 1 — Outreach Support

Criteria	Weighting	Weighted Score
Q1 — Person-Centred Planning	15%	12.0%
Q2 — Attracting Children and Young People	15%	12.0%
Q3 — Improving Lives	15%	12.0%
Q4 — Service Specification Alignment	15%	12.0%
Social Value	10%	1.03%
Price	30%	30.00%
Total	100%	79.03%

Lot 4 — Other Short Break Services and Activities

Criteria	Weighting	Weighted Score
Q1 — Person-Centred Planning	15%	12.0%
Q2 — Attracting Children and Young People	15%	12.0%
Q3 — Improving Lives	15%	12.0%
Q4 — Service Specification Alignment	15%	12.0%
Social Value	10%	1.03%
Price	30%	6.35%
Total	100%	55.38%

On Lot 1, Our Rock achieved the maximum available price score of 30%, which combined with the quality result to produce a total of 79.03%. Looking at the full list of 31 providers on Lot 1, that placed Our Rock well within the competitive range and above the majority of the field. On Lot 4, the quality score was identical to Lot 1 at 49.03%, but the price score of 6.35% reflects a different pricing position in that lot, which brought the overall total to 55.38%. Both lots were above the threshold required for appointment.

Conclusion

Our Rock Limited is now an appointed provider on Waltham Forest’s short breaks framework for children with disabilities across two distinct service types. The Lot 1 result is particularly strong. A maximum price score of 30% combined with consistent quality across all four questions produced a total of 79.03%, placing Our Rock competitively in a field of 31 providers. In a framework where price carries nearly a third of the available marks, that pricing position on Lot 1 was a significant contributor to the result.

The Lot 4 appointment, while carrying a lower overall score due to the price position in that lot, confirms Our Rock’s credibility across a broader range of short break service types and gives them access to a second commissioning channel within the same framework.

The social value score is the one area across both lots where there is clear room to go further. Scoring 1.03% out of a possible 10% on social value indicates that the quantitative social value commitments submitted did not score as highly as they could. Strengthening the social value offer, including how commitments are evidenced and measured, is the most direct route to a higher total score on the next submission of this kind. Our social value tender writing guidance covers exactly how to build a social value submission that scores well both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Framework appointment gives Our Rock Limited a contracted position to deliver outreach support and short break activities for children with disabilities in Waltham Forest, one of east London’s most diverse and populous boroughs. For a provider committed to supporting children and families in this space, that is a meaningful and immediate piece of work to build on.

If your organisation delivers short breaks, children’s disability services, or family support and you want a submission built around the specific commissioner and service area you are bidding for, visit www.assuredbid.co.uk or browse our case studies to see what we have achieved for providers across children’s and disability services. Get in touch through our contact page to speak with a bid writer about your next opportunity.

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