South Lanarkshire Supported Living Tender 2026 (PSA Phase 13)

South Lanarkshire Council has opened Phase 13 of its Adult Supported Living Procured Service Arrangement, an ongoing route to procure supported living for vulnerable adults who want to live in their own homes and play an active part in their communities. The arrangement carries a total value of £225m over a term of 15 years, with the Council able to add providers throughout its life and a fresh procurement planned around 2034. The single most important fact is strategic: this is an open, rolling Procured Service Arrangement rather than a one-off award, so getting on it is a long-term positioning decision, and it is quality-led.

At a glance

• Buyer: South Lanarkshire Council (Council Headquarters, Almada Street, Hamilton), reference ocds-h6vhtk-06f16c, notice 083529-2026, published 3 September 2026.
• Value: £225m total arrangement value.
• Term: 15 years, with providers able to join throughout and a further procurement planned around 2034.
• Submission deadline: 12:00 noon on 5 March 2027, through the Public Contracts Scotland portal.
• Lots and categories: 2 lots. Lot 1 Standard Care across 9 categories, and Lot 2 Enhanced Care for people needing advanced skill sets.
• Award basis: quality-led, a quality-based award criterion. Price is sought for Lot 1, and no prices are sought for Lot 2 at this stage.
• Procurement route: a Procured Service Arrangement under the light-touch rules of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, Regulations 74 to 76.
• Regulator: the Care Inspectorate (Scotland).

What PSA Phase 13 actually is

The Adult Supported Living Procured Service Arrangement is a rolling procurement mechanism, and this notice opens Phase 13. Earlier phases, Phase 10, Phase 11 and Phase 12 among them, have already run, which is why the Council describes the arrangement as ongoing and open to new providers. PSA Phase 13 is the latest window into an established route South Lanarkshire uses to keep building its supported living market.

The structure shapes how you plan. Because the arrangement runs for 15 years and the Council can admit providers throughout, a place on it is a long-term relationship, not a single contract win. The Council has signalled a further procurement process around 2034.

So the strategic question is not only whether you meet the current requirements, but whether you can sustain quality supported living in the area for the long term. For providers new to South Lanarkshire, PSA Phase 13 is the practical door into the local market. For established providers, it is the mechanism through which additional capacity and new categories of support are recognised.

The two lots and nine care categories

The arrangement is split into 2 lots. Lot 1 is Standard Care, spanning 9 categories of need: learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health, brain injury, hearing impairment, visual impairment, autism, substance misuse, and palliative or end-of-life care. That breadth means the South Lanarkshire supported living tender is not a single cohort contract, it covers the full range of adults who need support to live at home.

Lot 2 is Enhanced Care, for supported people who require advanced skill sets. This is the lot for providers who can evidence specialist competence beyond standard supported living, for people whose needs are more complex or more intensive.

One published detail should shape your approach. Price is sought for Lot 1, but no prices are sought for Lot 2 at this stage, so Lot 2 is being taken forward on capability first. We would treat the two lots as distinct propositions, each with its own evidence, rather than one response stretched across both.

How it is awarded and the Scottish procurement route

South Lanarkshire has procured this arrangement as a Procured Service Arrangement under the light-touch regime of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, specifically Regulations 74 to 76. This is the Scottish route for health and social care services, giving the Council flexibility over process while still requiring transparency and equal treatment. The wider framework is set by the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. This is Scottish procurement law throughout, not the regime that applies in England and Wales.

The award is quality-led. The Council has set a quality-based award criterion, so your written responses, not price alone, decide whether you qualify. Price is sought for Lot 1, but quality drives the evaluation. We do not have the published quality and price weightings, the sub-category scoring or the application questions, so treat any split quoted elsewhere with caution until the Council's own documents confirm it.

The rolling nature changes how timing works. The current deadline is 12:00 noon on 5 March 2027, but because the arrangement admits providers throughout its life, a missed window is not necessarily the end of the road. Even so, we would plan to the published deadline rather than rely on a future re-opening, because entering earlier means earning referrals earlier.

The Scottish regulatory and statutory framework you must get right

Supported living in Scotland sits inside a distinct legal and regulatory system, and your application has to speak it fluently. The regulator is the Care Inspectorate, which registers and inspects care at home, housing support and support services. Your Care Inspectorate registration and published grades are the first thing an evaluator checks, so they need to be current and strong before you submit.

Workforce registration runs through the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). Managers and care staff must be registered with the SSSC and holding or working towards the relevant qualifications, typically through the SVQ and the Scottish Vocational framework. Evaluators expect to see how you achieve and maintain that registration across a growing team.

Three statutes should run through your responses. Adult safeguarding is governed by the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, under which the Council leads inquiries into adults at risk of harm and can seek protection orders. Where a supported person has impaired capacity, the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 governs guardianship, powers of attorney and intervention orders. And self-directed support, under the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013, gives people four options for directing their own support. Underpinning all of it are the Health and Social Care Standards, "My support, my life".

Reform of adult social care in Scotland, including a proposed National Care Service, has been under debate. The position is not settled, so build your application on these stable frameworks rather than on assumptions about what any future structure might require.

What a strong supported living application needs

We do not have this tender's specific questions, so what follows is what strong applications to a Scottish supported living arrangement typically need, not a checklist published by the Council. Treat it as the ground your evidence should cover.

Person-centred, outcomes-focused support is the core. Evaluators want to see how you turn the Health and Social Care Standards into daily practice: genuine choice and control, community participation, and support planned around the person rather than the rota. Self-directed support should be visible throughout, showing that you can work with all four SDS options and flex as people change how they want their support arranged.

Across the nine categories in Lot 1 and the enhanced needs in Lot 2, specialist competence must be evidenced, not asserted. Positive behaviour support, communication approaches, mental health skills, sensory impairment experience and end-of-life care each need concrete examples. Workforce is the other half of the story: recruitment, retention, SSSC registration, training and supervision, because a 15-year arrangement rewards providers who can staff it sustainably.

Two further threads carry weight. Your Care Inspectorate grades act as a credibility gate, so address them directly, including any improvement journey. And local partnership working, with social work, health, housing and the Council's own teams, shows you can deliver in South Lanarkshire specifically rather than in the abstract.

Why the supported living model matters for South Lanarkshire

Supported living exists to help people live in their own homes and take an active part in their communities, which is exactly how the Council frames the purpose of this arrangement. For the people supported, the model is about independence, choice and being part of local life rather than being placed in a setting apart from it.

For the Council, a 15-year Procured Service Arrangement is a way to build a stable, quality-led supported living market. By keeping the arrangement open and admitting providers over time, South Lanarkshire can match capacity to demand across all 9 categories without returning to the market for every placement. That stability is the point, and it is why quality, not price, drives the award.

For you, the implication is clear. A place on the South Lanarkshire supported living tender is entry into a long-term local market, and the providers who invest in genuinely person-centred, well-staffed, well-regulated services are the ones the model is designed to reward.

FAQ

What is the South Lanarkshire PSA Phase 13 tender?

It is Phase 13 of South Lanarkshire Council's Adult Supported Living Procured Service Arrangement, a rolling route to procure supported living for vulnerable adults across the area. It carries a total value of £225m over 15 years and is split into 2 lots, Standard Care and Enhanced Care. Providers can join over the life of the arrangement, so it works as an open door into the local market rather than a single contract award.

When does the South Lanarkshire supported living tender close?

The current submission deadline is 12:00 noon on 5 March 2027, submitted through the Public Contracts Scotland portal. Because the arrangement is rolling, the Council can admit providers throughout the 15-year term, with a further procurement planned around 2034. We would still work to the published deadline rather than wait for a later window.

Who regulates supported living in Scotland?

The Care Inspectorate regulates supported living in Scotland, registering and inspecting care at home, housing support and support services. It is a Scottish regulator, distinct from the bodies used elsewhere in the UK, so frame your evidence around Care Inspectorate registration and grades. For any supported living Scotland tender, those grades are central to your credibility.

What is a Procured Service Arrangement?

A Procured Service Arrangement, or PSA, is the mechanism South Lanarkshire uses to procure adult supported living under the light-touch rules of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, Regulations 74 to 76. It is an ongoing arrangement that the Council can add providers to over time, rather than a one-off contract. Phase 13 is the current window into that established route.

How is the adult supported living contract awarded?

It is awarded on a quality-led basis, using a quality-based award criterion. Price is sought for Lot 1 Standard Care, while no prices are sought for Lot 2 Enhanced Care at this stage. Strong responses evidence self-directed support, the Health and Social Care Standards, SSSC workforce registration, the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 and the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. The published weightings and application questions are not something we can confirm from the notice alone, so check the Council's tender documents for the detail.

PSA Phase 13 is best understood as a 15-year positioning decision rather than a single bid, and the providers who treat it that way, building person-centred, Care Inspectorate-strong, well-staffed supported living, are the ones South Lanarkshire's rolling arrangement is designed to keep.