Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 23 Jan 2026, 10:25 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

COM26002 Crisis Resilience Fund - Preliminary Market Engagement

Authority: Worcestershire County Council (Local council)

ServicesLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrs 11 moends 31 Mar 2029 · starts 1 May 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Please note: This is NOT a call for competition.

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) will be made available to local authorities (LAs) in England to support low-income households who encounter a financial shock and to support activity that builds individual and community financial resilience. This funding covers the period of 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 inclusive.

Guidance on CRF can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗

This market engagement includes a focus on two specific area of support: information and advice, and energy resilience. Clear, trusted guidance is essential for helping individuals navigate financial challenges, understand their rights, and make informed decisions. At the same time, targeted energy support, ranging from physical interventions to targeted advice, plays a critical role in reducing vulnerability, improving household sustainability, and mitigating the impact of rising energy costs.

We are seeking to understand the capacity, innovation, and expertise within the market to deliver services that will form part of local CRF delivery. By engaging with potential providers, we aim to shape a commissioning approach that is responsive, inclusive, and founded in real‑world insight. This process will help ensure that funding reaches those who need it most, supporting long‑term resilience for residents.

You can access the questionnaire by clicking "Synopsis" or going to the Clarifications tab.

Please return completed forms to [email protected] by 4pm on Friday 6th February.

CPV: Other community, social and personal services · Provision of services to the community

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 2 yrs 11 moSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 May 2026 – 31 Mar 2029 (2 yrs 11 mo)
Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Worcestershire County Council buys Provision of services to the community (CPV 7520), and who usually turns up

Worcestershire County Council’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: Provision of services to the community (CPV 7520) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerWorcestershire County Council · all categories
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 15 of 51 known-size awards · market: CPV 7520 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=35
29%80%

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

How often do local suppliers win?
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 West Midlands (authority’s region).

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 43 of 72 known-location awards · market: CPV 7520 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=40
60%85%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in West Midlands.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 12 decided notices · market: CPV 7520 · UK-wide, n=35
39 days41 days

Half of these awards were announced within 39 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 40 of 67 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7520 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=18
60%44%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer24 lots with bid counts · all categories
17% had one bid
The market29 lots with bid counts · CPV 7520 · West Midlands (authority’s region)
34% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid17% / 34%
Buyer: 4 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
2–346% / 34%
Buyer: 11 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
4–613% / 21%
Buyer: 3 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
7+25% / 10%
Buyer: 6 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 29 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer11 lots with estimate and award · all categories
55% below estimate
The market26 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7520 · West Midlands (authority’s region)
38% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate55% / 38%
Buyer: 6 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 10 of 26 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%45% / 62%
Buyer: 5 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 16 of 26 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 0%
Buyer: 0 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 0 of 26 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

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

Lot #1CPV 752035 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
Expected competition
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 29 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet34% single-bid risk
Past bids on 29 similar lots
1 bid34%
10 of 29 similar past lots received 1 bid (34%).
2–334%
10 of 29 similar past lots received 2–3 (34%).
4–621%
6 of 29 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+10%
3 of 29 similar past lots received 7+ (10%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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.

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.

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
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
23 Jan 2026, 10:25 GMT
Last source update
23 Jan 2026, 10:25 GMT
Authority reference
COM26002
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-006065
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Other community, social and personal servicesProvision of services to the community
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060d04 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

23 Jan 2026 → 1 May 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published270 days ago
    23 Jan 2026, 10:25 GMT
  2. Market engagement255 days ago
    6 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    Suppliers can complete and return a questionnaire, which will inform the Council of the existing interest and capabilities on the market.

  3. Contract starts172 days ago
    1 May 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    23 Jan 2026, 10:25 GMT
    UK2

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

Worcestershire County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PRPQ-4584-WLPQ County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, West Midlands, WR5 2NPContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure