Official UK procurement notice
Technology Enabled Care · Alcove Limited for Norfolk County Council (Mar 2025)
Authority: Norfolk County Council (Local council)
Re-procurement openTechnology Enabled Care · bids close
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe requirement of the Provider will be to deliver a fully managed service encompassing all aspects of Technology Enabled Care to meet our strategic needs.
- The Provider will deliver a scalable service for the provision of equipment and monitoring via a Monitoring and Response Centre (MRS). The equipment service provided will include all aspects of the end-to-end process of ordering and sourcing, installation, maintenance, through to removal and reuse/recycling of equipment.
- The MRS will provide Virtual Care and an alarm monitoring service and contact centre function (which is both reactive and proactive, with a strong focus on the capture and use of data about our service users including the benefits and savings achieved).
Full details of the requirement can be found in the Service Specification, which forms a Schedule to the Terms and Conditions.
Please note that both Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council have approved a devolution deal which is expected to lead to the establishment of a Mayoral Combined County Authority with strategic powers, headed by an elected mayor. Subject to the government laying a Statutory Instrument and to its approval by Parliament to formally establish the new combined authority, the first Mayoral election is expected to be in May 2026.
- How the procedure runs: The process will be delivered in the following key stages: 1. Initial Tender Submission and Evaluation: a. Tenderers are invited to submit an initial tender which will be assessed on the basis of: i. Quality criteria - as set out in Form F of this ITT (100% weighting during this stage) ii. Pass/Fail criteria - as set out in Form B, C, and D of this ITT. iii. Pricing - Tenderers are required to submit initial pricing. At this stage, price will not be scored, but will be assessed on a pass/fail basis against the price cap. Any submission exceeding the price cap will be excluded from further consideration. b. Following the evaluation of the initial tenders the 3 highest scoring tenderers will be shortlisted to the dialogue stage (In the event of a tie the bidder who scored higher on the question with the highest weighting will proceed to the next stage. If this also a tie, then the bidder who scored higher on the question with the second highest weighting will proceed to the next stage, and so on. This process will repeat until we have shortlisted to 3 bidders). c. Unsuccessful Bidders will receive their scores for each of the Form F questions along with the rationale for receiving those scores. Unsuccessful Bidders will also be informed of the scoring range for the highest scoring 3 bidders and where their Bid was ranked. There will be no standstill period at this stage. Bidders being progressed to dialogue, will not receive their quality scores from initial tender stage. 2. Dialogue Period: a. Dialogue will likely take the form of multiple half day workshops on Teams during the dates outlined section 5.1. This stage is designed to: i. Clarify and refine proposals. ii. Explore solutions and pricing model in more detail. iii. Address any ambiguities or areas of development identified during the initial evaluation. b. The Council reserves the right to remove or add additional stages of dialogue to ensure both parties have a clear understanding of requirements and expectations before final the final tender submission where bidders can amend their bids. This may take the form of structured meetings or written communications. The Council also reserves the right to amend the specification and pricing model throughout this process. 3. Final Tender Submission: a. Following the conclusion of the dialogue period, tenderers will be invited to submit a final tender. These final tenders will be evaluated on both quality (70% weighting) and price (30% weighting) to determine the successful tender. The quality questions will be the same as the initial tender and the question weightings are defined in Form F. Tenders will be evaluated in accordance with the process and descriptors as set out in this Initial Invitation to Tender. b. Bidders are to provide a clean and marked up version of the final tender. This will assist the evaluation panel with understanding the updates made following receipt of Initial Tenders. c. When the Council has obtained all required internal approvals for the proposed award, Standstill letters, Assessment Summaries will be issued to all bidders that were invited to participate in dialogue. A Contract Award Notice will also be published. This will commence the 8 working day mandatory standstill period. d. Bidders that were excluded in prior to dialogue, will be issued with a redacted score sheet for the Bidders that were invited to participate in dialogue. They will not receive a standstill letter or assessment summary.
CPV: Health and social work services · Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£12,900,000
- Economic & financial standing
Conditions of participation are in the Invitation to Tender and include: Technical or professional ability, past performance, references, economic and financial standing, Modern Slavery Act requirements, health and safety, compliance with equality legislation, and willingness and ability to comply with contractual requirements
- Technical & professional ability
Conditions of participation are in the Invitation to Tender and include: Technical or professional ability, past performance, references, economic and financial standing, Modern Slavery Act requirements, health and safety, compliance with equality legislation, and willingness and ability to comply with contractual requirements
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published award criteria (2)
- Quality: Quality is weighted at 100% during initial tenders and 70% during final tenders. This is defined in the Competitive Flexible Process defined the in Procedure section of this notice.
- Price: Price is weighted at 0% during initial tenders and 30% during final tenders. This is defined in the Competitive Flexible Process defined the in Procedure section of this notice.
- Economic & financial standing
Conditions of participation are in the Invitation to Tender and include: Technical or professional ability, past performance, references, economic and financial standing, Modern Slavery Act requirements, health and safety, compliance with equality legislation, and willingness and ability to comply with contractual requirements
- Technical & professional ability
Conditions of participation are in the Invitation to Tender and include: Technical or professional ability, past performance, references, economic and financial standing, Modern Slavery Act requirements, health and safety, compliance with equality legislation, and willingness and ability to comply with contractual requirements
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Cancelled
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Mar 2025, 15:19 GMT
- Last source update
- 19 Dec 2025, 14:15 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 16 Oct 2025
- Authority reference
NCCT43137- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-037560- Latest notice
- Procurement termination notice (UK12)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04eb1aFind a Tender- Contract terms summary
As per the terms and conditions issued with this procurement
- How it runs
The process will be delivered in the following key stages:
- Initial Tender Submission and Evaluation:
a. Tenderers are invited to submit an initial tender which will be assessed on the basis of:
i. Quality criteria - as set out in Form F of this ITT (100% weighting during this stage)
ii. Pass/Fail criteria - as set out in Form B, C, and D of this ITT.
iii. Pricing - Tenderers are required to submit initial pricing. At this stage, price will not be scored, but will be assessed on a pass/fail basis against the price cap. Any submission exceeding the price cap will be excluded from further consideration.
b. Following the evaluation of the initial tenders the 3 highest scoring tenderers will be shortlisted to the dialogue stage (In the event of a tie the bidder who scored higher on the question with the highest weighting will proceed to the next stage. If this also a tie, then the bidder who scored higher on the question with the second highest weighting will proceed to the next stage, and so on. This process will repeat until we have shortlisted to 3 bidders).
c. Unsuccessful Bidders will receive their scores for each of the Form F questions along with the rationale for receiving those scores. Unsuccessful Bidders will also be informed of the scoring range for the highest scoring 3 bidders and where their Bid was ranked. There will be no standstill period at this stage. Bidders being progressed to dialogue, will not receive their quality scores from initial tender stage.
- Dialogue Period:
a. Dialogue will likely take the form of multiple half day workshops on Teams during the dates outlined section 5.1. This stage is designed to:
i. Clarify and refine proposals.
ii. Explore solutions and pricing model in more detail.
iii. Address any ambiguities or areas of development identified during the initial evaluation.
b. The Council reserves the right to remove or add additional stages of dialogue to ensure both parties have a clear understanding of requirements and expectations before final the final tender submission where bidders can amend their bids. This may take the form of structured meetings or written communications. The Council also reserves the right to amend the specification and pricing model throughout this process.
- Final Tender Submission:
a. Following the conclusion of the dialogue period, tenderers will be invited to submit a final tender. These final tenders will be evaluated on both quality (70% weighting) and price (30% weighting) to determine the successful tender. The quality questions will be the same as the initial tender and the question weightings are defined in Form F. Tenders will be evaluated in accordance with the process and descriptors as set out in this Initial Invitation to Tender.
b. Bidders are to provide a clean and marked up version of the final tender. This will assist the evaluation panel with understanding the updates made following receipt of Initial Tenders.
c. When the Council has obtained all required internal approvals for the proposed award, Standstill letters, Assessment Summaries will be issued to all bidders that were invited to participate in dialogue. A Contract Award Notice will also be published. This will commence the 8 working day mandatory standstill period.
d. Bidders that were excluded in prior to dialogue, will be issued with a redacted score sheet for the Bidders that were invited to participate in dialogue. They will not receive a standstill letter or assessment summary.
- Risks
Please note Norfolk County Council has joined the government's Devolution Priority Programme.
This process has the potential to lead to the establishment of a county combined authority for Norfolk and Suffolk, with strategic powers, headed by an elected mayor. A consultation is under way.
Government has also invited participation by Norfolk in Local Government Review. This process has the potential to lead to unitary local government in Norfolk. One of these changes could happen without the other. The contract may be assigned or novated to any successor authority(ies) to Norfolk County Council or to any joint body incorporating or formed by any such successor. The County Council or a successor authority or joint body may order services on behalf of other local authorities serving any area within Norfolk's current geographical boundaries.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 4 Aug 2025, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 28 Jul 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
This procurement will be managed electronically via the Councils e-procurement system. To participate in this procurement, applicants must first be registered on the system at in-tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc ↗. Full instructions for registration and use of the system can be found at in-tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc/aspx/Buyer… ↗. Once registered you will be able to see the procurement project under the tenders section and express an interest to view the documentation and access any clarifications. If you encounter any difficulties whilst using the system you can contact the In-tend support team by phoning +44 8442728810 or e-mailing support@in-tend.co.uk.
Timeline
10 Mar 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published10 Mar 2025, 15:19 GMT
- Market engagement15 Apr 2025, 00:59 BST
Norfolk County Council (NCC) is transforming its Technology Enabled Care (TEC) provision and is seeking to award, from 1st April 2026, a contract for Technology Enabled Care (TEC). The new provision will support residents through the use of technology, to stay well and independent, in the place they call home. The contract aims to fully integrate TEC within Adult Social Care and the successful Provider will support NCC in delivering change and ongoing innovation.
The requirement of the Provider will be to deliver a scalable service for the provision of equipment and monitoring via an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC). The equipment service provided will be for all aspects of the end-to-end process of ordering and sourcing, installation, maintenance, through to removal and reuse/recycling of equipment. The ARC service will provide both a reactive and proactive alarm monitoring service and include a full range of data services. Monitoring services will include benefit realisation capture.
We wish to initially engage with the market during the 24th and 25th March 2025. This will be one to one meetings via teams. The Council may engage in further market engagement activities beyond this date where appropriate to help inform the specification and model.
If you would like to discuss this opportunity with us, then please contact sourcingteam@norfolk.gov.uk. The meetings will be of a maximum of an hour duration and will be held via Microsoft Teams. Please indicate your preferred date and time and the e-mail addresses of those you would like to attend.
- Next notice expected3 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published4 Jul 2025, 16:27 BST
- Clarification questions by28 Jul 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline4 Aug 2025, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected by375 days ago16 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent368 days ago24 Oct 2025, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends356 days ago4 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published311 days ago19 Dec 2025, 14:15 GMT
- Contract starts209 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
13 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Mar 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Mar 2025, 15:19 GMTUK2
- Pipeline notice published23 May 2025, 08:21 BSTUK1
- Published value published: £5,500,00023 May 2025, 08:21 BST
- Status changed to planned23 May 2025, 08:21 BST
- Tender notice published4 Jul 2025, 16:27 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £12,900,0004 Jul 2025, 16:27 BSTwas £5,500,000
- Status changed to active4 Jul 2025, 16:27 BST
- Procurement method changed4 Jul 2025, 16:27 BST
- Deadline published: 4 Aug 2025, 12:00 BST4 Jul 2025, 16:27 BST
- Contract award notice published24 Oct 2025, 16:39 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete24 Oct 2025, 16:39 BST
- Contract signature expected5 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Procurement termination notice published19 Dec 2025, 14:15 GMTUK12
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-05: 1 release · 23 May 2025
- 2025-03: 1 release · 10 Mar 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcove LimitedSMENCCT43137 - Technology Enabled Care1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2029 · up to 31 Mar 2031Extensions: The Contract may be extended by up to 24 months at the Council's discretion. | £11,183,028 | 24 Oct 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Alcove LimitedSME
- Signed
- date not published
- Value
- —
- Period
- … – 31 Mar 2029
- Status
- cancelled (18 Dec 2025), The contracting authority could not be confident that it had correctly identified the most advantageous tender. A letter outlining the reasons for terminating this procurement was provided to all bidders who submitted a final assessed tender.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 1 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonALCOVE LIMITEDSME · East of England
- did not winLIVITY LIFE LIMITED · South East England
- did not winMEDEQUIP ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED · Greater London
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- ALCOVE LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- LIVITY LIFE LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- MEDEQUIP ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
Official documents & specifications (11)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Bidding documents and specifications All schedules are either attached in this notice or detailed within the document: NCCT43137 - Service Agreement and Terms.docx
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Bidding documents and specifications
Notices published for this procedure
- Procurement termination notice Procurement termination notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender