Official UK procurement notice
Pre paid card system for use with children and young people who are looked after and care leavers
Authority: Somerset Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSomerset Council is undertaking soft market testing to inform the potential future procurement of a pre paid card system for use with children and young people who are looked after and care leavers.
The Authority is exploring alternatives to current cash based arrangements, with the aim of improving safeguarding, financial oversight, operational efficiency, and outcomes for young people. A 12 month pilot is being considered to assess feasibility, usage, and value for money.
This exercise is non binding, will not form part of any evaluation, and will be used solely to shape the Authority's commissioning and procurement approach.
What is needed:
The proposed solution would be used by:
- Young people and care leavers (typically aged 16-25)
- Social workers and leaving care professionals authorised to allocate and monitor funds
The system would support:
- One off and recurring payments
- Day to day living expenses
- Reduced reliance on cash payments
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Somerset Council buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up
Somerset 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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →
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.
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 South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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 63 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 bid36% / 10%
2–325% / 23%
4–620% / 27%
7+18% / 40%
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 estimate37% / 39%
Within ±2%53% / 45%
Above estimate11% / 16%
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 72Estimate not published
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. 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 81 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–323%
4–627%
7+40%
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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- 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
- 6 May 2026, 08:49 BST
- Last source update
- 6 May 2026, 08:49 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-041290- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0691f4Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
6 May 2026 → 1 Sept 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published176 days ago6 May 2026, 08:49 BST
- Market engagement156 days ago25 May 2026, 23:59 BST
This request for expressions of interest is issued solely for the purpose of conducting market engagement and does not constitute any commitment by the Authority to undertake any procurement exercise in the future. This exercise includes no element of supplier evaluation. No parties will be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this by the deadline, there is no commitment of any kind involved on either side. This request does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services and the Authority is not bound by any proposal offered.
If you are interested in this potential opportunity, then please express an interest by 25th May 2026 at 12:00pm by email to: stephen.barker@somerset.gov.uk and provide responses to the following questions:
Core Functionality
- Please describe your pre paid card solution, including:
o Type of card provided
o Where and how the card can be used (in store, online, ATM access, etc.)
o Availability of contactless and chip and PIN functionality
- Can cards be issued individually and replaced if lost or stolen?
o Please describe the process and timescales.
Controls and Safeguarding
- What controls are available to the Authority, for example:
o Spending category or merchant controls
o Transaction limits
o Temporary suspension or cancellation
- How does your system support safeguarding and fraud prevention?
- How does your solution ensure compliance with GDPR and UK data protection requirements?
Practitioner Experience
- Describe the system available to authorised staff, including:
- How funds are allocated or topped up
- Access to balances and transaction history
- User permission controls
- What training and support do you provide to practitioners?
Young Person Experience
- How do young people access and manage their account (e.g. app, online portal, statements)?
- How does your solution support financial independence and confidence?
- What accessibility features are available (e.g. simple language, support needs, digital inclusion)?
Implementation and Pilot Delivery
- What would a typical implementation look like for a local authority pilot?
- Onboarding timescales
- Card rollout process
- Support arrangements
Commercial Model (Indicative)
- Please outline your pricing model
- Onboarding timescales
- Support arrangements
- Training/roll out delivery
Experience and Case Studies
- Please provide brief examples of:
- Similar services delivered
- Outcomes achieved
- Lessons learned from pilots or live implementations
Thank you
- Contract starts58 days ago1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published6 May 2026, 08:49 BSTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender