Official UK procurement notice
Income Management System · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Cornwall Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCornwall Council is seeking market feedback to inform the development of a final specification for a future income management solution. The Council invites suppliers to respond to this Request for Information (RFI) to help shape a solution that meets operational, technical, and compliance needs.
The Council requires a cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) income management system that:
Core Functional Requirements
- Provides a central transaction database to control, reconcile, and report on income.
- Re-formats and exports data to update a range of back-office financial management systems (FMS).
- Is accessible via a browser and supports integration with third-party applications used by Cornwall Council.
- Offers self-tailoring configurable import/export functionality to enable full system ownership and flexibility.
Payment Processing Capabilities
- Supports payments via telephone (call centre), face-to-face (card, cash, cheque), and opportunistic payments initiated by staff.
- Integrates with a Secure Bureau Service (SBS) for PCI DSS-compliant card authorisation.
- Includes a portal interface for retrieving customer and payment details during calls, with seamless access from host systems.
- Includes transaction visibility through APACS reporting.
Security & Compliance
- Ensures cardholder data is not accessible to Council staff or stored on Council infrastructure.
- Provides automated, secure card entry to simplify PCI DSS compliance and reduce SAQ scope.
Staff Tools & Satellite Office Support
- Enables staff to submit electronic forms with ledger codes and banking summaries, particularly for satellite offices without full receipting systems.
Customer Present Transactions
- Supports Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) for chip & PIN payments.
- Includes terminal management and smart client software for secure device operation.
Online & E-Commerce Payments
- Offers a fully hosted internet payment solution with shopping cart, miscellaneous payments, and a Digital Wallet for card reuse.
- Provides tools to customise hosted payment pages.
Third-Party Integration
- Supports integration with external applications via SOAP and REST APIs.
- Allows secure transaction handoff and return for receipting and system updates.
- Accepts alternative payment methods including PayPal, Pingit, and Visa Checkout.
System Compatibility
- Integrates with existing systems such as Microsoft Dynamics.
Automated Telephony
•,Provides a fully hosted automated telephony solution for 24/7/365 payments and balance enquiries.
Data Access & Refunds
- Enables real-time transaction viewing, balance queries, and customer refund processing.
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- The SLA will define minimum acceptable service levels, including system uptime, response times, and resolution times for incidents.
- Support hours, escalation procedures, and contact channels must be clearly documented.
- Regular service reviews will be conducted to ensure SLA compliance.
- Penalties or service credits may apply for failure to meet agreed service levels.
Performance Management
- Performance will be monitored against agreed KPIs, including transaction processing speed, system availability, and customer satisfaction.
- The supplier must provide regular performance reports and participate in review meetings.
- Continuous improvement plans should be in place to address any performance gaps.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Software package and information systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Cornwall Council buys Software package and information systems (CPV 48), and who usually turns up
Cornwall 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: Software package and information systems (CPV 48) →
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.
Here, local means registered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South West England.
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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 39 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?
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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 bid12% / 12%
2–346% / 24%
4–615% / 45%
7+27% / 18%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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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 estimate18% / 55%
Within ±2%64% / 35%
Above estimate18% / 10%
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£400k
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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 33 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–324%
4–645%
7+18%
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIVICA UK LIMITEDEarlier contract | Electoral Management system and AHRnotice published Feb 2023 | — | £150k | 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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
43% title match.
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.
43% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (43% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Electoral Management system and AHR — held by CIVICA UK LIMITED; no contract end date published.
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
- 8 Nov 2025, 19:01 GMT
- Last source update
- 8 Nov 2025, 19:01 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-072227- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05dd33Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
8 Nov 2025 → 7 Sept 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published348 days ago8 Nov 2025, 19:01 GMT
- Market engagement317 days ago8 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
Cornwall Council is planning to undertake market engagement to review available options for delivering its income management solution. The Council currently uses the Access Income Management System (AIMS) across multiple entities and service departments.
With the existing contract due to expire in the coming years, this provides an opportunity to explore the market for a single enterprise-level software solution. At this stage, the Council wishes to gain a high-level understanding of alternative products available, comparing functionality and indicative costs.
Suppliers interested in participating should contact Alex Kirk ([email protected]) to request a copy of the Request for Information (RFI) document. As part of developing our procurement plans and contract specifications, we are issuing the RFI for suppliers to provide written responses. Please note that all information contained in the RFI is classified as Confidential.
Responses will help inform the development of a business proposal. Any such proposal will be subject to the creation and approval of a formal business case, and therefore this exercise does not imply any commercial commitment. This is not a formal tender document.
Participation in this soft market assessment will not prejudice suppliers from taking part in any future procurement process.
We anticipate holding 60-minute sessions for suppliers to present and discuss their responses to the RFI from Monday 12 January 2026 to Friday 23 January 2026, though this may change depending on the number of responses.
Suppliers should contact Alex Kirk by email to express their interest in attending a session and confirm their intention to submit a response. Once the response deadline has passed, session invites will be issued to those who submitted responses.
These sessions are intended to give suppliers flexibility to steer the conversation and focus on the key elements of their RFI response that they believe represent the most important and value-adding aspects for the Council. Suppliers should be prepared to demonstrate the key capabilities of their system or present a comprehensive overview of their solution. The Council will also take the opportunity to ask questions and provide input during the session to clarify aspects of the response.
The deadline for RFI submission will be Monday 8 December 2025.
- Tender notice expected219 days ago16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts45 days ago7 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Nov 2025, 19:01 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