Official UK procurement notice
Vocalink Fixed Extranet Maintenance Services
Authority: Department for Work & Pensions (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is a contract to provide maintenance to the two pairs of diverse Fixed Extranet connections installed in DWP Data Centres for access to the banking network through the Central Payment System.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 15 May 2026, 15:44 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Jul 2026, 16:46 BST
- Authority reference
C10070- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-064905- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069a41Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights
- Published justification
This is a contract for support and maintenance services for two pairs of diverse Fixed Extranet Connections installed in our data centres.
The Vocalink Fixed Extranet Connections hardware connects DWP’s Central Payment System (CPS) to the international banking system, offering continuous, secure, and reliable connectivity to UK payment services. The Central Payment System is DWP’s tool for managing Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) and processing payments to citizens.
The Vocalink Fixed Extranet Service is critical to citizen payments transacted using the Central Payment System, such as State Pensions, Benefits Payments, and allowances. This service is deployed for access into, Bacs, ICS, CASS, PayPort and the Payment Services Website.
Vocalink International Ltd retains an exclusive contractual right to maintain its own proprietary hardware and there are no reasonable alternatives to these maintenance services. The maintenance fee ensures that DWP receives over 99.999% availability for the Central Payment System with proactive line monitoring, 24/7/365 helpdesk management, and a 4-hour fault response time.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
18 Jun 2026 → 9 Jul 2026 · 2 dates- Standstill ends130 days ago18 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Notice published109 days ago9 Jul 2026, 16:46 BST
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 May 2026- Transparency notice published15 May 2026, 15:44 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published7 Jun 2026, 10:09 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected19 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published9 Jul 2026, 16:46 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vocalink International Ltd1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2028 · up to 30 Jun 2029Extensions: This contract contains a 12 month optional extension. | £445,739 | 20 May 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Vocalink Fixed Extranet Maintenance Services · Vocalink International Ltd
- Signed
- 24 Jun 2026
- Value
- £445,739
- Period
- 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2028 · up to 30 Jun 2029 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- This contract contains a 12 month optional extension.
No agreed KPIs: Not required under Section 52(1) of the Procurement Act 2023 and Service Levels agreed within contract.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Vocalink International LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender