Official UK procurement notice
2526-0042 Locally Commissioned Services for Smoking
Authority: London Borough of Islington (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionIslington Council is commissioning providers to deliver its Community Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Locally Commissioned Service (LCS) under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) - Direct Award Process B.
This service offers structured support to smokers who wish to quit, delivered by trained professionals in community pharmacy settings. Providers will be expected to deliver a stop smoking intervention consisting of six one-to-one behavioural support sessions, including the supply of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). At least one session (the quit date) must be delivered face-to-face, and all sessions must align with the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) standard treatment programme (updated October 2019).
The contract will operate on an activity-based payment model:
£40 per client for assessment, registration, and quit date (subject to outcome recording).
£10 per client for those lost to follow-up.
£40 per client still smoking at 4 weeks post quit date.
£70 per client who quits at 4 weeks (self-reported or CO verified).
This notice confirms that preliminary market engagement has taken place via direct Expression of Interest (EOI) letters sent to eligible community pharmacies. All providers who meet the requirements and submit a completed EOI form will be awarded a contract.
CPV: Pharmacy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How London Borough of Islington buys Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514), and who usually turns up
London Borough of Islington’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) →
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.
Here, local means registered in Greater London.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Greater London.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 91 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 bid6% / 0%
2–325% / 70%
4–649% / 20%
7+21% / 10%
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 estimate24%
Within ±2%61%
Above estimate15%
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 8514Estimate not published
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 10 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–370%
4–620%
7+10%
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
- 10 Nov 2025, 14:24 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Nov 2025, 14:24 GMT
- Authority reference
2526-0042- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-072465- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05dddaFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Nov 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published344 days ago10 Nov 2025, 14:24 GMT
- Market engagement308 days ago15 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
The contracting authority is undertaking a Direct Award Process B under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 for the provision of Locally Commissioned Smoking Cessation Services (Ref: 2526-0042).
Preliminary market engagement has taken place via direct communication with eligible providers. Expression of Interest (EOI) letters have been issued to all pharmacies currently delivering the service, inviting them to confirm their continued participation.
The EOI form includes all necessary procurement questions under PSR and will be used to confirm eligibility and award contracts.
This notice is being published to ensure transparency and to notify the market that engagement has occurred. All providers who meet the requirements and submit a completed form will be awarded a contract.
Any clarifications required will be handled by commissioners via email.
- Contract starts202 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Nov 2025, 14:24 GMTUK2
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