Official UK procurement notice
DHSC: Request for Information Fair Pay Agreement: Negotiation and sector support
Authority: Department of Health & Social Care (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Department of Health and Social Care is seeking information on your views regarding a ‘Negotiation Support Fund’ for the Adult Social Care Fair Pay Agreement that is due to be delivered during the 2026/27 financial year. The aim of the Request for Information (RFI) is to explore your views on a proposed negotiation support fund offer. Responses will help to shape the specification for potential competitive tender as per the applicable procurement regulations and build a tailored offer.
This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute an Invitation to Tender (ITT) or a promise to issue an ITT in the future. This RFI does not commit the Authority to contract for any supply or service whatsoever.
Background:
The government is committed to transforming adult social care and supporting adult social care workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500m funding to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce. The Employment Rights Bill establishes a framework for Fair Pay Agreements, through which an agreement for the adult social care sector can be negotiated. Following public consultation, we expect regulations establishing the Negotiating Body will be laid in 2026 and negotiations will be held in 2027. Negotiations between employee and employer representatives will shape how the funding will be used to enhance pay, terms and conditions, as well as other matters, such as training and professional development.
There is currently no single body that is representative of all ASC employers. Further, because FPAs are new to the sector, experience of collective bargaining at national level (both for employer and employee representatives) in this sector is limited. Accordingly, any potential representative body will need to adapt and upskill in order to be ready to begin effective, sector-wide negotiations which are due to commence in 2027-28.
Therefore, the Authority is considering providing funding to support organisations who may be participating in or supporting the collective bargaining process, for one year preceding the first ASC FPA negotiations only, to sufficiently upskill, organise and prepare them for negotiations.
The contract would be awarded for one year only in 2026-27. Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) are eligible to apply for this RFI, if they have the relevant experience.
Responses are due no later than Friday 21st November 2025 at 16:00 and shall be submitted via the Atamis e-sourcing portal. All the interested suppliers should register at: health.atamis.co.uk to apply for the opportunity. For any Atamis queries, email to: [email protected] or via Helpdesk Phone: 0800 9956035.
CPV: Other community, social and personal services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Department of Health & Social Care buys Other community, social and personal services (CPV 98), and who usually turns up
Department of Health & Social Care’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: Other community, social and personal services (CPV 98) →
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.
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 29 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.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: 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 bid30%
2–328%
4–626%
7+16%
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 estimate50%
Within ±2%50%
Above estimate0%
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 #1Published estimate£250k
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 417 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid26%
2–340%
4–625%
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
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 4 Nov 2025, 15:26 GMT
- Last source update
- 4 Nov 2025, 15:26 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-070925- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05da18Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
4 Nov 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published351 days ago4 Nov 2025, 15:26 GMT
- Market engagement329 days ago26 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
If there is sufficient interest, we will be hosting a webinar for potential suppliers on Wednesday 26th November at 11:30-12:30. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and provide verbal feedback. To register and help us confirm the event, please email [email protected] or [email protected] by Monday 17th November 2025 at 16:00.
- Tender notice expected254 days ago9 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts204 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published4 Nov 2025, 15:26 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