Official UK procurement notice
ESCC Crisis Payment Scheme
Authority: East Sussex County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is the successor of the Household Support Fund and provides a national Crisis Payment offer (distinct from Housing Payments). National guidance requires a cash first, needs based approach, proportionate evidence, accessible routes, and robust management information (MI). The Council has awarded a contract to a single provider for the Crisis Payment Scheme.
- No preliminary market engagement: Conversations with known local system wide stakeholders took place in early 2026, with the purpose being to test feasibility, refine the Specification, identify where further clarity is needed, understand the market challenges in order to reduce barriers as much as possible, and boost competition by raising awareness of the procurement with the local market. A PME Notice was not published as the national guidance for the Fund stated that "a local support network is key" and due to the engagement undertaken with known providers earlier in the year, and existing developed contacts, it was felt that a national public Notice would not be beneficial. The subsequent use of an open tender ensures transparent access to the opportunity for all interested providers. The engagement was limited to local VCSE organisations due to the place-based delivery model required by national guidance; however, no provider is excluded from bidding.
CPV: Administration services · Crisis management services · Health and social work services · Provision of services to the community
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£1,800,000
- Technical & professional ability
Bidders must be able to establish partnerships, referral pathways and collaborative working arrangements across statutory services and the voluntary and community sector in time for the contract start date.
Bidders must be have at least one of the below:
a) certification to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and/or able to demonstrate that its policies, procedures and information risk management processes are of a standard which is equivalent to that certification; or
b) hold a 'Cyber Essentials Plus' certificate; or
c) able to demonstrate an equivalent commitment to cyber security, provided that the parties agree that the risks associated with the Provider's processing of the Personal Data are low.
Bidders must, where applicable, be certified to the appropriate level of the 'Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard'.
Bidders must commit to ensuring that all staff and contractors with access to Personal Data meet the requirements of the 'Baseline Personnel Security Standard'.
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 award criteria (1)
- Quality
- Technical & professional ability
Bidders must be able to establish partnerships, referral pathways and collaborative working arrangements across statutory services and the voluntary and community sector in time for the contract start date.
Bidders must be have at least one of the below:
a) certification to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and/or able to demonstrate that its policies, procedures and information risk management processes are of a standard which is equivalent to that certification; or
b) hold a 'Cyber Essentials Plus' certificate; or
c) able to demonstrate an equivalent commitment to cyber security, provided that the parties agree that the risks associated with the Provider's processing of the Personal Data are low.
Bidders must, where applicable, be certified to the appropriate level of the 'Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard'.
Bidders must commit to ensuring that all staff and contractors with access to Personal Data meet the requirements of the 'Baseline Personnel Security Standard'.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 26 May 2026, 15:16 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Oct 2026, 11:54 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 27 Jul 2026
- Authority reference
PM3 16331- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-048911- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a3efFind a Tender
- Risks
Any financial efficiencies gained must be reinvested into the service, for example promoting the service, improving accessibility/reducing barriers to access, increasing outreach service.
The annual budget and total contract value may be increased or decreased, and the Finance Schedule and Specification may be reasonably varied. No Variation will be implemented unless the change is in accordance with the contract Variation clause.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 25 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 12 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗
Proactis Opportunity RFX1001497
Timeline
26 May 2026 → 19 Oct 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published147 days ago26 May 2026, 15:16 BST
- Clarification questions by129 days ago12 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline117 days ago25 Jun 2026, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected by84 days ago27 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent64 days ago17 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Contract starts49 days ago1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published1 day ago19 Oct 2026, 11:54 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 26 May 2026- Tender notice published26 May 2026, 15:16 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published17 Aug 2026, 12:37 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete17 Aug 2026, 12:37 BST
- Contract signature expected24 Aug 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published19 Oct 2026, 11:54 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CITIZENS ADVICE 1066VCSE24 Aug 2026 – 31 Mar 2029 · up to 31 Mar 2032Extensions: If funding is made available the contract can be extended for up to three years. | £1,800,000 | 5 Aug 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · CITIZENS ADVICE 1066VCSE
- Signed
- 1 Sept 2026
- Value
- £1,800,000
- Period
- 1 Sept 2026 – 30 Apr 2029 · up to 30 Apr 2032 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- up to three years extension option
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6final-stage tenders | 4 | 2 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- CITIZENS ADVICE 1066Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications This document was the presentation at the market engagement event in March 2026. Please note that some changes have been made since this event and Bidders must review all the tender documentation carefully before submitting.
Notices 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