Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is running a Flexible Purchasing System (FPS) for Supported Living services for adults with learning disabilities and autism. Unlike a one-off framework, an FPS stays open for the life of the arrangement. Providers can apply at any point, and applications are evaluated in rounds at least every six months (sometimes sooner, at the Council’s discretion).
If you’re a provider working with people with learning disabilities or autism in the Rotherham area, this is a route into the Council’s care and support pipeline that’s designed for the long term, not a single procurement window.
What services are required?
The FPS covers Supported Living Accommodation-Based Services, delivering personal care and/or support only for adults with learning disabilities and autism. The key thing here is the separation between accommodation and care:
- The Council isn’t buying accommodation from you. Accommodation is provided separately by Registered Social Landlords.
- You provide the care and support only. You cannot also be the landlord for the properties you’re supporting people in.
That distinction matters because it disqualifies “supported living” models that bundle care and property together under one organisation. This FPS is structured to keep the two functions separate.
Pricing sits between £18.15 and £22.38 per hour as the anticipated range. Actual rates are submitted at mini-competition or direct award stage, with annual inflationary uplifts applied in April.
What is it solving?
Three connected pressures sit behind this FPS. The first is specialist commissioning for a specific cohort. Adults with learning disabilities and autism have distinct support needs, and a general supported living framework doesn’t do them justice. By ringfencing the FPS for this cohort, the Council can hold providers to specialist standards rather than blending them into a wider supply chain. The second is consistent access to a live provider pool. The FPS is designed to stay open, with rounds of evaluation every six months, so the Council always has fresh providers to draw from as demand shifts. The third is structural separation between housing and care, which is central to good supported living practice. By requiring RSL-provided accommodation and prohibiting providers from acting as landlords, the Council builds independent accountability into every placement.
For the people being supported, the goal is specialist care that respects independence, dignity and choice, delivered by providers who are committed to the cohort rather than treating it as one line of business among many.
Who is it ideal for?
This FPS is built for specialist supported living providers with a track record supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism. You don’t need to be Rotherham-based to apply, but you do need the operational infrastructure to deliver locally.
There’s no cap on the number of providers admitted to the FPS. If you meet the pass/fail requirements, you can join. That makes this a genuinely accessible route for providers already delivering to a good standard, and a realistic long-term ambition for providers building towards it.
Service type and user group
The service is Supported Living Accommodation-Based Services, delivering personal care and/or support only, for:
- Adults with learning disabilities
- Autistic people
There is one exception: young people aged 16 and over transitioning from Children’s Services may also be referred to the FPS. That’s useful to know if your organisation has experience supporting transitions.
Lot structure
Three lots:
- Lot 1: Supported Living for People with Learning Disabilities.
- Lot 2: Supported Living for Autistic People.
- Lot Z: Future needs. A holding lot for emerging demand that doesn’t fit neatly into Lot 1 or Lot 2.
You can apply for one lot or more than one, depending on where your specialism and capacity sit.
Location
The FPS is run by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Services are delivered to people living in the Rotherham area. A physical office within the area isn’t specified as mandatory in the documents, but you do need the local operational capability to deliver consistently.
Mandatory eligibility requirements
These are the pass-or-fail conditions. Miss any of them and your application won’t progress.
- CQC registration if you’re delivering personal care. Non-CQC-registered providers are accepted only for support-only services (no personal care).
- CQC rating must not be Inadequate. Any provider rated Inadequate is out.
- Provider cannot be the landlord. Accommodation and care/support must be delivered by separate organisations. If you’re the landlord for the properties you’d be supporting people in, you can’t bid.
- At least one relevant previous contract example, or a satisfactory explanation for why examples can’t be provided, demonstrating technical expertise and professional ability.
- Social Value Portal registration is mandatory.
- Required insurance levels in place.
- GDPR compliance.
- Commitment to the Real Living Wage.
- Modern Slavery compliance.
- No mandatory or discretionary exclusion grounds. Satisfactory self-cleaning may be accepted where applicable.
- Financial standing. Providers submit one form of financial information (from sections 5.1 to 5.3 of the ITT). The Council may run credit checks via Credit Safe and can require guarantees or bonds if risks are identified.
Workforce and qualifications
- Managers: Level 5 Leader in Adult Care, or equivalent.
- Support Workers: Adult Care Worker Level 2, or working towards it.
- Care Certificate: completion within 12 weeks of starting.
Required policies
- Safeguarding
- Health & Safety
- Data Protection
- Equality & Diversity
- Whistleblowing
- Business Continuity
- Complaints
- Recruitment & Conduct
- Medication Management
- Modern Slavery
What else should providers have in place?
- Specialist workforce capability for supporting people with learning disabilities and autism, including positive behaviour support, autism-specific practice, and person-centred planning.
- Working relationships with Registered Social Landlords delivering supported living accommodation in the Rotherham area. Without an RSL partner, you’ll struggle to receive placements.
- Transition experience, particularly if you plan to accept referrals for young people moving from Children’s Services.
- Local operational capability, whether that’s a base in the area or a credible staffing and logistics plan.
- Real Living Wage payroll covering all care and support staff.
- Social Value Portal registration completed before you submit.
Watch: tender summary video
Next steps
If you want to speak to a sales manager about your application, book a consultation with the AssuredBID team. We’ll talk through your eligibility against Lot 1 or Lot 2, your CQC position, your workforce qualifications, your RSL relationships, and your bid strategy. Our specialist bid writers can then support your submission, whether you’re applying in the next evaluation round or a later one.
To review the full eligibility criteria, lot specifications and submission process, visit Rotherham Supported Living Flexible Purchasing System.
