Official UK procurement notice
Breastfeeding Peer Support Service
Authority: Portsmouth City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Breastfeeding Network Service provide a community-based service, adopting multi-faceted approaches in order to improve breastfeeding initiation and prevalence rates in Portsmouth, therefore supporting a reduction in health inequalities. The service contributes to promoting a social and cultural shift where breastfeeding is recognised as the conventional way to feed an infant.
Their team of peer supporters and volunteers are in place to support mothers and expectant mothers throughout their breastfeeding journey and support with the many different factors and techniques involved, inclusive of Combination feeding, expressing, exclusively breastfeeding, chest-feeding, newborn stage, toddler stage, ending the breastfeeding journey and debriefing feelings about a previous journey.
Type of services provide by BfN
Community Groups - These are all drop-in groups, running throughout the week at various locations across the city.
Online support - This involves 1:1 support via Zoom from a trained Breastfeeding Network peer support volunteer.
CPV: Miscellaneous health services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1This notice is confirmation of an award being made due to an urgent circumstanceAwarded
This notice is confirmation of an award being made due to an urgent circumstance.
Currently the Breastfeeding Network (BfN) is subcontracted under Home-Start Portsmouth through a consortium arrangement, with Home-Start being the consortium lead. This arrangement was put in place via an open tender in 2023 and aligned with Portsmouth plans in relation to the Government funded Family Hub and Best Start for Life offer. The initial term of these Contracts was for 33 months, and are due to terminate 31st March 2025, however, the services were to be extended year on year dependent on the government's intention to continue to fund the Council for this programme.
The DfE have only recently confirmed that the Council will continue to be funded for this service for the 25/26 financial year, and there has been a severely limited timeframe to allocate funds to the appropriate service streams that all fall under this programme.
This consortium arrangement is unable to continue, therefore the decision has been taken to award a short term contract directly with the BfN to ensure minimum disruption to quality of service.
The Public Health Directorate are due to take over and manage these services later in the year, with the aim of awarding their own contract via PSR process by 1st September 2025.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 24 Apr 2025, 18:22 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Apr 2025, 18:22 BST
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-016893- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050743Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
The Provider Selection Regime recognises that there are limited occasions where relevant authorities may need to act urgently and award or modify contracts to address immediate risks to patient or public safety.
These circumstances include where:
- urgent quality/safety concerns pose risks to patients or the public and necessitate rapid changes
In the view of the Council the contract award was urgent due to the above circumstance. It is acknowledged that the discontinuation of such services will pose risks from a quality viewpoint, as BfN provide crucial peer and online support for the benefit of service users' mental health, social health, and relationships with their babies/toddlers/young children
Publisher note: This contract has been awarded under the urgent circumstances provision of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR).This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 or the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this award. The decision makers for this contract were the Integrated Children's Commissioning Team. No conflicts of interest were identified as part of this exercise.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Breastfeeding Network | £76,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 016893-2025-1 · The Breastfeeding Network
- Signed
- 27 Mar 2025
- Value
- £76,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Independent Patient Choice & Procurement PanelReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- The Breastfeeding NetworkAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.