Official UK procurement notice
Domestic Combustion Tracking and Evaluation
Authority: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDefra is seeking to commission a multi-year research programme to strengthen the evidence base around solid fuel burning across the UK, with a focus on domestic settings. The contract is expected to run from March 2026 until 28th February 2030 with the possibility of a one (1) year extension (which is not guaranteed), and is structured around four interlinked work packages. Previous research, similar in nature, can be found here;
sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails ↗
sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails ↗
This work is essential for informing trends in emissions from domestic burning, both indoors and outdoors and will support better policy and intervention development.
- How the procedure runs: This procurement is being conducted as a Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. Completion and submission of all documents will be conducted via the Authority’s eSourcing system. Following the evaluation stages 1-5 referenced in the Bidder Pack, the authority reserves the right to reissue the technical evaluation questions, pricing schedule, or any part thereof to the two highest scoring bidders, or any other bidder, for a Best and Final Offer (BAFO). Please note that all bidders will be invited to submit improved responses on the same items. Bidders will have 10 calendar days to review, revise and resubmit their bid via Atamis. There will be a period of 5 calendar days for clarification questions. The exact dates of these periods and deadlines for submission will be shared with the relevant bidders. ! IMPORTANT – This is an optional stage for the Authority to ensure that the Most Advantageous Tender is selected, that the requirement has been fully understood, and that bidders are provided a fair chance to compete where the Authority does not feel ready to award after Stage 5 evaluation. Bidders should submit their best possible tender and price in the first instance, as it is not guaranteed that this stage will be used.
CPV: Air quality management · Research and development consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£1
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 60%
- Price: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical
- Price
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 18 Sept 2025, 14:19 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Mar 2026, 14:49 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Jan 2026
- Authority reference
C30822- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-075745- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-059d35Find a Tender
- How it runs
This procurement is being conducted as a Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. Completion and submission of all documents will be conducted via the Authority’s eSourcing system.
Following the evaluation stages 1-5 referenced in the Bidder Pack, the authority reserves the right to reissue the technical evaluation questions, pricing schedule, or any part thereof to the two highest scoring bidders, or any other bidder, for a Best and Final Offer (BAFO).
Please note that all bidders will be invited to submit improved responses on the same items. Bidders will have 10 calendar days to review, revise and resubmit their bid via Atamis. There will be a period of 5 calendar days for clarification questions. The exact dates of these periods and deadlines for submission will be shared with the relevant bidders.
! IMPORTANT – This is an optional stage for the Authority to ensure that the Most Advantageous Tender is selected, that the requirement has been fully understood, and that bidders are provided a fair chance to compete where the Authority does not feel ready to award after Stage 5 evaluation. Bidders should submit their best possible tender and price in the first instance, as it is not guaranteed that this stage will be used.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 18 Dec 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 11 Dec 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
atamis-9529.my.site.com/s/Welcome ↗
Submissions must be made via the Authority's eSourcing platform.
Timeline
18 Sept 2025 → 23 Mar 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published393 days ago18 Sept 2025, 14:19 BST
- Market engagement379 days ago2 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
Defra is seeking to commission a multi-year research programme to strengthen the evidence base around solid fuel burning across the UK, with a focus on domestic settings.
Work Package Overview
Work Package 1: National Estimates of Domestic Burning (UK wide)
This package aims to generate robust, reliable and nationally representative data on domestic burning practices and develop UK wide estimates of solid fuel use, including a public facing Core Activity Survey (CAS), to monitor trends in indoor and outdoor burning. As part of this work package, the successful bidder will be expected to scale and quantify collected data to produce UK wide estimates of solid fuel use, supporting Defra’s National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) and DESNZ’s Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES).
Work Package 2: Behavioural Insights (England only)
The aim of this work package is to explore the motivations driving burning behaviours, as well as attitudes held, and knowledge of air quality impacts related to burning. This survey should be designed to enable segmentation analysis and as a minimum cover; why people burn solid fuels and how this varies by demographic; awareness of health and environmental impacts; barriers/enablers to behaviour change and potential levers for intervention; views of non-burners to contextualise public perception.
Work Package 3: Real-World Burning Practices & Indoor Air Quality (England only)
This package aims to deepen our understanding of domestic burning behaviours and their impact on indoor air pollution. This work package should be designed to build on the data collected from the CAS. We anticipate this to be a qualitative study of burners that would provide detailed contextual information such as fuel choices, sourcing, storage, appliance use habits, as well as detailed measurements of how much fuel is being burnt, and the moisture content of wood fuels in use.
Work Package 4: Stakeholder Engagement, Market Insight & Evaluation
This package will support evolving policy and evidence needs related to domestic combustion. This may include, but is not limited to, engagement with key stakeholders, such as industry, local authorities, and consumers. It may also include evaluation activities and desk-based research. Potential methods include focus groups, workshops, and stakeholder interviews; mystery shopping, market compliance assessments and market research; evaluation of interventions, communications, or supply chain practices. This work will help contextualise findings from other work packages and support implementation planning. Suppliers should be confident in their ability to deliver robust qualitative and quantitative research to support these aims.
If you have an interest in this requirement please get in touch with the procurement team, no later than 15:00 on Thursday 2nd October 2025, at:
[email protected] inbox referencing this opportunity.
The team are interested in gaining some information from the market, so any interested party should register their interest by email to the address above, with their answers to the following questions.
- Can you identify and recommend any potential data sources that could aid or improve the research through data linkage?
- Are there additional areas that a core activity survey could address in which would improve our estimates of emissions from domestic burning (indoor and/or outdoor)? (sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails ↗)
- Next notice expected358 days ago23 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published330 days ago20 Nov 2025, 14:51 GMT
- Clarification questions by309 days ago11 Dec 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Submission deadline302 days ago18 Dec 2025, 15:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by274 days ago15 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts258 days ago1 Feb 2026
- Assessment summaries sent240 days ago19 Feb 2026
- Standstill ends228 days ago2 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published207 days ago23 Mar 2026, 14:49 GMT
Notice history
9 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 18 Sept 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Sept 2025, 14:19 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published20 Nov 2025, 14:51 GMTUK4
- Status changed to active20 Nov 2025, 14:51 GMT
- Procurement method changed20 Nov 2025, 14:51 GMT
- Deadline published: 18 Dec 2025, 15:00 GMT20 Nov 2025, 14:51 GMT
- Contract award notice published19 Feb 2026, 16:40 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete19 Feb 2026, 16:40 GMT
- Contract signature expected6 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published23 Mar 2026, 14:49 GMTUK7
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-09: 1 release · 18 Sept 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPSOS (MARKET RESEARCH) LTDDomestic Combustion Tracking and Evaluation 20269 Mar 2026 – 8 Mar 2030 · up to 8 Feb 2031Extensions: 1 x 12 month extension · Options: Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) option if required | £1,640,687 | 19 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Domestic Combustion Tracking and Evaluation 2026 · IPSOS (MARKET RESEARCH) LTD
- Signed
- 11 Mar 2026
- Value
- £1,640,687
- Period
- 16 Mar 2026 – 15 Mar 2030 · up to 15 Mar 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 1 x 12 month extension
- Options
- Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) option if required
No agreed KPIs: Under £5M so not required to publish KPIs
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- IPSOS (MARKET RESEARCH) LTDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
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
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender