Official UK procurement notice
Direct Payment Support Service · Newcastle City Council (Oct 2026)
Authority: Newcastle City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNewcastle City Council is seeking to appoint an organisation to provide a Direct Payment Support Service to adults, children and carers who use, or are considering using, direct payments to purchase or arrange services.
Direct payments can be used to purchase care and support service to meet the care and support needs of the person and carer.
Direct payments do involve additional complexity and responsibility for the service user and therefore many need some support and/or advice.
The Direct Payment Support Service Newcastle City Council are procuring will:
-Information and Advice
Explain the benefits and responsibilities of direct payments to Service Users
Assist with budgeting and expenditure decisions
Provide information about the range of services that provide payroll, insurance and pensions and signpost direct payment users.
-Employment Support
Provide advice on becoming an employer
Support payroll, tax, insurance and pensions
Supply employment templates
Assist recruitment and selection of Personal Assistants
Operate a matching service where appropriate
Assist with all aspects of pension auto-enrolment
Promote safer employment by encouraging and facilitating the completion of enhanced DBS
-Safeguarding and Compliance
Promote safe recruitment
Support DBS applications
Attend safeguarding meetings when required
Report and escalate risks to vulnerable adults, children and public funds.
-Workforce Development
Advise on training for Direct Payment users and Personal Assistants
Promote professional development and competency frameworks
-Other requirements
Provide advice and practical assistance on request to social care professionals when needed
Have a permanent base within Newcastle
Expected usage:
487 adults are currently receiving a direct payment in Newcastle
In the financial year 25/26 there were 315 people who used the service
This notice is for information only. At this stage, no further details are available beyond what is published here.
When this opportunity progresses, a Tender Notice will be published on the Central Digital Platform along with any relevant notices such as engagement.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1PlannedPublished value£661,917
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Newcastle City Council buys Health and social work services (CPV 85), and who usually turns up
Newcastle City Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Health and social work services (CPV 85) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning. Small firms win more of this buyer’s work than the market’s: 64% against 44%, n=45.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in North East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered. More of this buyer’s work stays local than in this market: 67% against 40%, n=64.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 30 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid5% / 24%
2–337% / 36%
4–626% / 20%
7+32% / 21%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate33% / 36%
Within ±2%56% / 58%
Above estimate11% / 6%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 85Published estimate£662k
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 85. The comparison uses that group.
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 174 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid24%
2–336%
4–620%
7+21%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEWCASTLE CARERSLive contract | Carers Support Serviceruns to Mar 2029 | — | — | Matched as the earlier contract |
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
41% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
41% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (41% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Carers Support Service — held by NEWCASTLE CARERS; the published contract ends 31 Mar 2029.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Oct 2026, 14:06 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 10 Jan 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-093865- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0780d6Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 15 Dec 2026
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
5 Oct 2026 → 1 May 2027 · 6 dates- Planning notice published21 days ago5 Oct 2026, 14:06 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 4 days31 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
Newcastle City Council will be holding an engagement event virtually on Microsoft Teams on the 19th of October from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
The event will be led by key representatives from across the Council and it is envisaged all those in attendance will have the opportunity to learn more about, and provide feedback on the service requirements.
We would anticipate the event will run as follows:
- 10.00 to 10.10 - Introductions NCC
- 10.10 to 10.20- Purpose of the consultation
- What we currently commission and why
- Utilisation
- 10.20 to 10:40 Feedback
- From people who have used the service
- Social workers
- CQC
- 10.40 to 10:50 Our ideas for future scope of the service
- What’s different
- 10:50-11:00 Break
- 11:00-11:30 Opportunity to feedback on the model
- 11:30-11:45 Pre-procurement tender readiness
- Using Open
- Tender documents
- 11:45-11:55 Indicative timeline
- 11:55-12:00 A.O.B
Please note-
- We will be recording the sessions
- We do not wish to engage extensively with suppliers prior to this event on clarifications or questions. This is a Market Engagement and we do appreciate a degree of interpretation and flexibility will be applied.
Please register to join the event here:
- Tender notice expectedin 19 days15 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 48 days15 Dec 2026
- Award decision expected byin 75 days10 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 185 days1 May 2027
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Oct 2026, 14:06 BSTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published5 Oct 2026, 14:17 BSTUK3
- Status changed to planned5 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
- Procurement method changed5 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
- Deadline published: 15 Dec 20265 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender