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Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 12 Nov 2026, 15:10 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

CBC-2191-RFI-RL - (Request for Information) Debt Advice and Financial Resilience Service

Official notice
Competition analysis

Authority: Central Bedfordshire Council (Local council)

ServicesSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Community & Cultural Services (98) Delivery: East of England (UKH25)
Planned pipeline value£350,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Mar 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 31 Mar 2028 · starts 1 Apr 2027
Notice summaryFrom the published notice

The Council is seeking information from suitably qualified organisations capable of delivering a comprehensive debt advice and financial resilience services. The services would support residents experiencing financial difficulties and help prevent future financial hardship. Organisations must be regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Council is seeking information from suitably qualified organisations capable of delivering a comprehensive debt advice and financial resilience services. The services would support residents experiencing financial difficulties and help prevent future financial hardship. Organisations must be regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This Request for Information (RFI) exercise is part of the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Two service lots :

Lot1: Debt Advice & Income maximisation

Lot 2: Accessible savings & affordable credit

CPV: Other community, social and personal services

More open work like this

Other notices open now · live search, filters set

Open tenders from Central Bedfordshire CouncilSearch filtered to this authorityOpen tenders in Community & Cultural ServicesSearch filtered to CPV 98Contracts ending in Community & Cultural ServicesRetender Radar, CPV 98: incumbents and end dates for the next 12 months

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yrSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2028 (1 yr)
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
98000000 Other community, social and personal services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Central Bedfordshire Council buys Other community, social and personal services (CPV 98), and who usually turns up

Central Bedfordshire 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: Other community, social and personal services (CPV 98) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerCentral Bedfordshire Council · all categories
The marketOther community, social and personal services (CPV 98) · East of England
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Buyer: 153 of 183 known-size awards · market: division 98 · East of England, n=119
84%73%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East of England.

Buyer: 22 of 36 known-location awards · market: division 98 · East of England, n=135
61%32%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i
Buyer: 25 decided notices · market: division 98 · East of England, n=33
61 days29 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 61 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Buyer: at least 31 of 80 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 98 · East of England, n=149
39%63%

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
This buyer31 lots with bid counts · all categories
13% had one bid
The market44 lots with bid counts · division 98 · East of England
27% had one bid
% of lots with a published bid count: this buyer (31) / the market (44) · select a colour for counts
1 bid13% / 27%
Buyer: 4 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 12 of 44 lots with published bid counts.
2–329% / 43%
Buyer: 9 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 19 of 44 lots with published bid counts.
4–632% / 30%
Buyer: 10 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 13 of 44 lots with published bid counts.
7+26% / 0%
Buyer: 8 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 44 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i
This buyer19 lots with estimate and award · all categories
32% below estimate
The market31 lots with estimate and award · division 98 · East of England
29% below estimate
% of lots with an estimate and award: this buyer (19) / the market (31) · select a colour for counts
Below estimate32% / 29%
Buyer: 6 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 31 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%53% / 55%
Buyer: 10 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 17 of 31 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate16% / 16%
Buyer: 3 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 31 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 9812 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£350k

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 98. The comparison uses that group.

Expected competition
i

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 44 past lots.

—No model forecast yet27% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 44 similar lots
1 bid27%
12 of 44 similar past lots received 1 bid (27%).
2–343%
19 of 44 similar past lots received 2–3 (43%).
4–630%
13 of 44 similar past lots received 4–6 (30%).
7+0%
0 of 44 similar past lots received 7+ (0%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £350k, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Estimates, labelled. The price range, possible competitors and earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards, not published facts, win chances or price advice. The buyer’s own record and the wider market are shown apart, never mixed.
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0, updated through the day and rebuilt nightly. Not every figure uses both feeds, and each one shows how many records it rests on: see 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
Unspecified in notice
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
12 Nov 2026, 15:10 GMT
Last source update
13 Nov 2026, 13:32 GMT
Authority reference
CBC-2191-RFI-RL
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-108024
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Other community, social and personal services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH25)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07baca Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

12 Nov 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published2 days ago
    12 Nov 2026, 15:10 GMT
  2. Today
    14 Nov 2026
  3. Market engagementin 17 days
    1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The objective of this RFI is to identify whether the supply market has both capacity and capability to deliver the draft service specification. This would ensure alignment between the Authorities expectations and the market potential.

    By analysing responses to the RFI questionnaire the Authority is looking learn innovative practices, which may in turn inform further amendments to the service specifications.

    The outcome of this RFI will also inform the Authority the market landscape to inform the appropriate procurement procedure and how to remove barriers faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) when tendering to public contracts.

    Please refer to instructions document for the timeline.

    There are two lots, each with its own questionnaire. Organisations are invited to respond to either or both.

  4. Tender notice expectedin 135 days
    30 Mar 2027, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract startsin 136 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 12 Nov 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Nov 2026, 15:10 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    13 Nov 2026, 13:32 GMT
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Website to e-procurement updated.

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

Central Bedfordshire Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PVNH-1137-QJBX Priory House, Monks Walk, Chicksands, Shefford, East of England, SG17 5TQContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure