Bidding for school, council and NHS cleaning when the tender is scored, not just priced

Written for owners of UK cleaning businesses: contract cleaners for offices, schools, healthcare and soft FM subcontracts, domestic cleaning firms, agencies and apps, and specialists in after-builders, end-of-tenancy, window, carpet and biohazard cleaning.

The short version

1. Register on the Central Digital Platform first.For public tenders under the Procurement Act 2023 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, register before you bid. Notices appear on Find a Tender.
2. Answer each question in its order and weighting.Your method statement, mobilisation plan and evidence of standards are scored alongside price. Keep evidenced answers ready before tenders are published.
3. Promise only social value you can measure.You report it every quarter. If you offer the real Living Wage, re-cost every post at it and show the gap in your price.

Schools, councils, the NHS and the facilities companies that hold their contracts buy cleaning through a tender. The award goes to the most advantageous tender against published criteria, so your method statement, mobilisation plan, social value and evidence of standards are scored alongside the price. Most of that can be prepared before a tender is published.

Scotland is different: public contracts run under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, and Scottish public bodies apply Fair Work First, which expects at least the real Living Wage on the contract. In Wales the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 sits on top of the Procurement Act.

Social value and the real Living Wage

Central government bodies weight social value at least 10% of the total score through the Social Value Model; councils and the NHS set their own weightings. Offer only commitments you can measure and report each quarter, such as local hires, apprenticeships, the real Living Wage and emissions. As of Oct 2026.

The real Living Wage is voluntary, binding only through accreditation or a contract term. It is set by the Living Wage Foundation: £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 in London from the 15 October 2026 announcement, to be paid by accredited employers by 1 May 2027 (until then at least £13.45 and £14.80). New rates are announced each autumn and accredited employers must pay them within 6 months. Accreditation covers your own staff and contracted staff working on your sites for 2 hours a week or more for 8 consecutive weeks. As of Oct 2026.

Social value is scored and then reported each quarter, so a commitment priced at the old rate comes out of your margin for the life of the contract.

Standards and prequalification

• Health and safety: SSIP member schemes recognise each other's assessments. Renew on the scheme's own schedule.
• ISO 9001, 14001 or 45001: accredited certification normally runs a three-year cycle with annual surveillance in years one and two. Check the certificate, the accredited body and whether the tender also wants Cyber Essentials.
• Healthcare: NHS England's National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2025 replaced the 2021 edition. Section 8.5 gives FR1 to FR6 target audit scores and suggested audit frequencies, with FR1, the highest-risk areas, at 98% and above and audited weekly. As of Oct 2026.
• Schools follow applicable safeguarding guidance and food sites the operator's food safety system. BICSc training is market practice.

Keep an answer library

Have current, evidenced answers ready for mobilisation and TUPE, staffing and cover, training, quality audits, environmental measures, social value, health and safety, business continuity and data protection. In the method statement, answer the question asked, in its order, against its published weighting.

Soft FM companies that subcontract cleaning choose on your mobilisation record, audit scores and references from similar sites. Read their subcontract terms before you sign.

Asked in Greymill

Ask it about your own business

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