ICB Care Tender 2026:
The Complete Guide for Care Providers
Integrated Care Boards replaced CCGs in July 2022 — and with that change came a fundamental shift in how NHS-funded care contracts are commissioned and published. If you're still monitoring the same portals you used two years ago, you're probably missing a significant slice of available ICB care tender opportunities. This guide explains how ICBs commission care services in 2026, how their approach differs from local authority procurement, and where to find the contracts.
NVQ Level 5 Health & Social Care Management · Former LA Commissioning Officer · 12 Years in Adult Social Care
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What are Integrated Care Boards?
On 1 July 2022, the Health and Care Act 2022 abolished Clinical Commissioning Groups and created Integrated Care Boards in their place. The 106 CCGs that had existed since 2013 were consolidated into 42 ICBs — each covering a much larger geography and holding the NHS commissioning budget for their area.
This wasn't just a structural rename. ICBs have different governance, different statutory functions, and different relationships with local authorities compared to their predecessors. They sit within Integrated Care Systems (ICS) alongside NHS trusts, local authorities, and other partners — with a formal duty to collaborate on health and care planning. That collaborative structure is what makes ICB commissioning feel different on the ground.
For care providers, the most important thing to understand is that ICBs now hold the commissioning budget and the procurement responsibility that CCGs previously held. If you were tracking CCG tender notices, those bodies no longer exist. The contracts are now issued by ICBs — and finding them requires knowing where each ICB publishes its procurement activity.
42
Integrated Care Boards in England
106
CCGs abolished on 1 July 2022
2022
Health and Care Act — year enacted
Each ICB operates within an Integrated Care System alongside NHS providers, local authorities, and voluntary sector partners. NHS England's guidance on integrated care describes this as a system-wide approach to planning, rather than individual organisations purchasing services in isolation.
In practice, ICBs delegate much of the day-to-day commissioning work to Place-based partnerships — sub-ICB structures that broadly correspond to local authority boundaries. If you're talking to a commissioner about a specific contract, you're often dealing with a Place team rather than the ICB corporate centre directly. It's worth knowing which Place your geography falls into, because commissioning priorities and procurement approaches can vary between Places within the same ICB.
The Provider Selection Regime: how ICBs select care providers from January 2024
From 1 January 2024, the NHS Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition Regulations were replaced by the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This is the biggest change to NHS procurement rules since the Health and Care Act 2022 itself — and it directly affects how ICBs award care contracts. If you're approaching ICB commissioning as though it works like a standard public procurement process, you're operating on the wrong framework.
The PSR gives ICBs three defined routes for selecting providers. Which route an ICB chooses determines whether a formal tender is published at all.
Process A — Direct Award
Used to extend or vary an existing contract where the ICB is satisfied the current provider continues to deliver the required service. No published tender notice is required. The ICB must publish a transparency notice after the decision is made, but there is no competition.
Process B — Most Appropriate Provider
Used where the ICB determines that one provider is clearly best placed to deliver the service without a competitive process. The ICB assesses providers against defined criteria — typically CQC registration status, demonstrated track record, and existing service relationships — and selects directly. No tender notice is published. Process B does not require a competition, but the ICB must publish a transparency notice once the decision is made.
Process C — Competitive Process
Used where neither Process A nor Process B applies — typically for new contracts, significant re-procurements, or where multiple providers could plausibly deliver the service. The ICB must publish a Prior Information Notice (or equivalent pre-market notice) before issuing the formal tender. Above-threshold contracts must be published on Find a Tender Service. This is the process most care providers are familiar with, but it is not the default under the PSR.
What this means in practice
Most ICB care contracts are awarded under Process A or Process B — meaning no formal tender is ever published. Monitoring Find a Tender and Contracts Finder will only surface Process C opportunities. To be considered under Process B, you need to be visible to ICB commissioning teams before they make a selection decision: registered on ICB-approved lists, active at provider forums, and known to Place-based commissioners. Pre-market engagement notices and ICB board papers are your early warning system — not tender portals.
When Process C is used, the ICB must publish a transparency notice on Find a Tender alongside the formal contract notice. Monitoring FTS for these notices remains worthwhile — but under the PSR, it captures only a fraction of total ICB commissioning activity. The practical implication is that demonstrating capability and maintaining relationships with commissioners matters more than bid-writing speed.
How ICBs commission care services
ICBs commission NHS-funded care across several distinct streams. Understanding which stream a particular contract falls into matters — because the qualification requirements, procurement routes, and contract management arrangements differ considerably between them.
We've seen providers win CHC-approved list status but remain unaware that the same ICB was separately commissioning community care packages through a different portal. Missing one stream because you didn't know it existed is frustratingly common. Here's how the main commissioning streams break down.
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)
Fully NHS-funded care for people with a primary health need. ICBs assess eligibility and commission approved providers directly. Significant contract values — often well above LA rates for equivalent care.
Funded Nursing Care
NHS-funded contribution toward nursing care costs for residents in nursing homes. ICBs set local rates and manage approved provider lists. Usually lower complexity than full CHC but still requires ICB approval.
Joint Commissioning (Section 75)
Pooled budget arrangements where ICBs and local authorities jointly commission services. One tender, one contract, two funders. Growing in older adults and learning disability commissioning.
Community Health & Care Packages
Domiciliary and community-based packages commissioned by ICBs for complex health needs. Often overlaps with LA domiciliary care but is separately commissioned and managed.
NHS Continuing Healthcare is worth particular attention. It's a significant commissioning stream — fully NHS-funded, with no means-testing — and the rates ICBs pay for CHC packages are typically higher than equivalent LA-funded care. For a care home with nursing, getting onto your local ICB's CHC-approved list can meaningfully shift the revenue mix. The application process sits completely separately from LA commissioning, and providers who've never engaged with it often don't realise how accessible it is.
Place-based commissioning in 2026
As ICBs mature, Place-based partnerships are taking on more commissioning responsibility. A single ICB might have three or four Place teams, each with slightly different priorities and procurement approaches. In practice this means a tender notice might appear under the ICB's name but the commissioning decisions are being driven at Place level. Engaging with your local Place team directly — attending provider forums, responding to commissioning intentions consultations — gives you better market intelligence than portal monitoring alone.
ICB vs local authority commissioning — what's different?
Local authority commissioning is relatively standardised. Most councils publish through a handful of well-known portals, use similar DPS and framework structures, and apply broadly comparable qualification criteria. You can learn the pattern for one council and apply most of that knowledge to the next.
ICB commissioning is less predictable. Each of the 42 ICBs has developed its own procurement approach since July 2022, and there's no equivalent of the local authority procurement frameworks that create consistency across councils. Some ICBs publish everything on FTS; others use internal NHS procurement hubs; some still rely on inherited CCG portal arrangements. Providers tell us this inconsistency is one of the most frustrating aspects of NHS commissioning.
| Factor | ICB Commissioning | LA Commissioning |
|---|---|---|
| Procurement portals | Varies by ICB — FTS, NHS Supply Chain, own portals | Mostly standardised — ProContract, Delta, In-Tend |
| Tender frequency | Less frequent; approved lists can last 5–8 years | Regular DPS re-opens and framework renewals |
| Funding source | NHS budget — no means-testing for CHC | Council budget — means-tested for most services |
| Joint commissioning | Section 75 agreements common for older adults | Section 75 agreements common for older adults |
| CQC requirements | Current registration + often specific rating (Good+) | Current registration; rating requirements vary |
| Payment rates | Typically higher for CHC; set by ICB/NHS England | Varied; set through local fee negotiations |
One practical difference that providers often underestimate is the frequency of ICB tender windows. A local authority DPS stays open continuously, so you can apply whenever you're ready. ICB approved lists and frameworks often have fixed application windows — sometimes once every three to five years. Miss the window and you're out until the next re-procurement. That makes it much more important to track when ICB commissioning cycles are opening, rather than assuming there'll always be a route in.
The good news is that ICBs are also increasingly using Section 75 joint commissioning arrangements with local authorities. Where these are in place, a single procurement process can qualify you for both NHS and LA-funded packages in a given area. We've seen this work particularly well in older adult and mental health commissioning, where the boundary between health need and social care need is genuinely blurred.
CQC rating requirements also tend to be stricter for ICB frameworks. Most LA DPS arrangements accept any currently registered provider. ICB CHC frameworks frequently specify a minimum 'Good' rating — and some require 'Outstanding' for specialist clinical services. If you're targeting domiciliary care contracts from NHS commissioning bodies, your CQC position matters more than it does for most LA contracts.
How to find ICB care tenders in 2026
There's no single portal that captures all ICB procurement activity. That's the blunt reality. The approach that works is monitoring multiple channels simultaneously — which is time-consuming if you're doing it manually. Here's what you need to check, and why each matters.
Find a Tender Service (FTS)
Above-threshold ICB contract notices must be published on the Find a Tender Service at find-tender.service.gov.uk. Procurement Act 2023 notices (from February 2025 onwards) also appear here. Search by CPV code — 85000000 for health and social care services, 85310000 for social work services without accommodation. Filter by buyer type and region. Not all ICBs are consistent about publication, but FTS is your first stop.
Contracts Finder
Lower-value ICB contracts, pre-market engagement notices, and pipeline information often appear on Contracts Finder at contractsfinder.service.gov.uk. Some ICBs use this as their primary portal for spot purchase frameworks and CHC approved list applications. Worth checking alongside FTS rather than instead of it — the two portals overlap but neither is comprehensive on its own.
ICB Procurement Portals
Many ICBs run their own procurement portals — typically NHS Supply Chain, Atamis, or a regional NHS procurement hub. These often host opportunities that don't appear on national portals, particularly CHC-approved provider applications and funded nursing care frameworks. You'll need to register separately on each portal relevant to your geography. Check your ICB's website under 'procurement' or 'commissioning' for the specific platform they use.
ICB Commissioning Intentions Documents
Most ICBs publish annual commissioning intentions or procurement pipelines. These documents are invaluable because they tell you what's coming before a formal tender is published. You can prepare in advance, attend pre-market engagement events, and make sure you meet qualification criteria before the notice drops. We recommend checking these every quarter — ICB commissioning plans can shift mid-year as budgets are revised.
Beyond the portal monitoring, relationships matter more in ICB commissioning than in LA procurement. ICBs are legally required to engage with providers and the public on their commissioning intentions. Attending provider engagement events, responding to soft market testing exercises, and being visible to Place commissioning teams all increase your chances of knowing about opportunities before they're formally advertised.
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to expanding community and home-based care — and ICBs are the bodies responsible for delivering that shift. That means more tender opportunities for care providers in community and domiciliary settings, particularly for providers who can demonstrate clinical quality and integration with NHS teams. The volume of ICB commissioning is growing. The challenge is staying on top of when and where it's published.
CareBids tracks ICB tender opportunities alongside local authority contracts — all in one dashboard.
No more checking multiple portals manually. One alert, one place, every commissioning source.
How CareBids monitors ICB opportunities
When we built CareBids, the fragmentation of ICB procurement was one of the problems we most wanted to solve. We spoke to dozens of care home operators and domiciliary care providers during the CCG-to-ICB transition period, and the same frustration came up repeatedly: "We know there are NHS contracts out there but we don't know where to look."
The answer wasn't to build a better search tool for a single portal. It was to aggregate across all the portals simultaneously. CareBids connects to Find a Tender Service, Contracts Finder, NHS procurement hubs, and individual ICB portals, normalising the data so you see every relevant opportunity in one place regardless of where it was published.
Multi-source monitoring
We track FTS, Contracts Finder, NHS Supply Chain, and individual ICB portals. You don't need to log into each one separately.
Instant tender alerts
New ICB notices matching your service type and geography hit your dashboard the same day they're published — not days later when you happen to check.
Relevance scoring
Every opportunity is scored against your provider profile — CQC registration, service type, location, and capacity — so you can prioritise what to bid on.
LA and ICB in one view
Local authority DPS opportunities and ICB commissioning notices sit side by side. Your pipeline covers every commissioning source, not just one.
The providers who benefit most from this are those running multiple services across several local authority areas. They're dealing with a patchwork of LA DPS frameworks, ICB CHC-approved lists, and regional joint commissioning arrangements — and keeping track of all of them manually is a part-time job. Centralising the monitoring through CareBids typically saves those businesses several hours a week.
We also track commissioning intentions and pipeline documents published by ICBs. These documents — often buried on ICB websites — tell you what's coming months before a formal tender appears. Being aware of an upcoming CHC framework re-procurement three months in advance means you can prepare your application, check your CQC position, and make sure your financial documents are current before the window opens. That preparation time makes a real difference to application quality.
Explore how the CareBids platform works, or see the full list of tender alert features available to registered providers.
Key takeaways for care providers
- ICBs replaced CCGs on 1 July 2022 under the Health and Care Act 2022. There are 42 ICBs in England, each responsible for NHS commissioning in their area.
- ICBs commission NHS Continuing Healthcare, funded nursing care, and joint packages with local authorities. Each stream has a different procurement route.
- ICB procurement is less standardised than LA commissioning. Some ICBs use FTS; others use NHS portals or their own platforms. No single portal covers all opportunities.
- ICB approved provider windows can be infrequent — sometimes open once every few years. Missing the window can mean waiting years for the next re-procurement.
- Section 75 agreements allow ICBs and local authorities to jointly commission. One tender can qualify you for both NHS and LA-funded care in the same area.
- CareBids monitors ICB and LA tender sources simultaneously, so you never miss an opportunity because it was published on the wrong portal.
Related Reading
How to Apply for a Care DPS
Step-by-step guide to joining a Dynamic Purchasing System for care contracts, including CQC requirements and how mini-competitions work.
CQC Outstanding Rating Tender Advantage
How your CQC rating affects eligibility and scoring in local authority and NHS care tenders — and what commissioners check beyond the headline verdict.
Social Value in Care Tenders
How social value is scored in care contracts in 2026 — covering the Procurement Act 2023 MAT framework, PPN 002, and how to write a winning response.
ICB care tender FAQ
The questions care providers ask us most often about ICB commissioning and NHS care tenders.
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