Official UK procurement notice
HIV Community Services · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Somerset Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis request for expressions of interest is issued solely for the purpose of conducting market engagement and does not constitute any commitment by the Authority to undertake any procurement exercise in the future. This exercise includes no element of supplier evaluation.
No parties will be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this by the deadline, there is no commitment of any kind involved on either side. This request does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services and the Authority is not bound by any proposal offered.
If you are interested in this potential opportunity, then please express an interest by 18.09.2026 at 12:00pm by emailing [email protected]
NB - ensure you provide examples of contracts which demonstrate you have successfully delivered these services on a similar scale and in a similar environment (see below).
Somerset Council is looking to assess market interest in the provision of HIV community services providing targeted HIV prevention and outreach interventions for people most at risk and underserved populations. The service will include some limited provision of support to people newly diagnosed with HIV. The service will provide training aimed at those working with adults to raise awareness of HIV, reduce stigma and decrease barriers to service access. The potential value of the service is a maximum of £70,000 per year.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Somerset Council buys Health and social work services (CPV 85), and who usually turns up
Somerset 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: Health and social work services (CPV 85) →
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. Small firms win more of this buyer’s work than the market’s: 68% against 45%, n=95.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered. More of this buyer’s work stays local than in this market: 89% against 49%, n=108.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 35 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.
Both shares are minimums: 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 bid40% / 22%
2–323% / 38%
4–620% / 23%
7+17% / 18%
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 estimate44% / 32%
Within ±2%56% / 66%
Above estimate0% / 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.
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 85Published estimate£140k
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 85. The comparison uses that group.
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 240 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid22%
2–338%
4–623%
7+18%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medequip Assistive Technology LtdLive contract | Community Equipment and Wheelchair Serviceruns to Jul 2027 | — | £40m | Matched as the earlier contract |
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
- Below threshold
- 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
- 3 Sept 2026, 16:06 BST
- Last source update
- 3 Sept 2026, 16:06 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-083601- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f19aFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
3 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published52 days ago3 Sept 2026, 16:06 BST
- Market engagement37 days ago18 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The service will need to:
- Provide community outreach and digital interventions to raise awareness of HIV and encourage uptake of HIV testing and access to PrEP for those with the highest risk of HIV and underserved populations. This will be informed by the Somerset HIV Needs Assessment and align with the 5 population groups identified in the national 'HIV Action Plan for England, 2025-2030'.
- Provide condoms and point of care HIV testing in specific circumstances to people most at risk of HIV, and who are less likely to access mainstream sexual health services.
- Provide time limited support to people newly diagnosed with HIV and those living with HIV with an identified need. This should be in conjunction with the HIV treatment service with the primary purpose of secondary prevention.
- Working with commissioners and the Somerset Sexual and Reproductive Health Network, to lead on the provision of training and learning opportunities, for those working with adults, to increase HIV awareness and to reduce stigma and barriers to accessing health and social care services.
- Work in partnership with the specialist integrated sexual health service and HIV treatment service to promote self-care, access to condoms, testing for HIV other sexually transmitted infections, access to PrEP and other sexual health provision available for those with a high risk of HIV and underserved populations.
With reference to the requirements stated in this request for expressions of interest, please outline details below, of contracts which demonstrate you have successfully delivered these services on a similar scale and in a similar environment:
Name of your organisation:
Customer
Brief description of contract delivered
Contract Value (£)
Contract Start Date
Contract End Date
- Tender notice expected2 days ago23 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 157 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published3 Sept 2026, 16:06 BSTUK2
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