Official UK procurement notice
Interpretation and Translation Services
Authority: Lancashire County Council (Local council)·On behalf of: SOCIAL VALUE PORTAL LTD
What is being bought2 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionIMPORTANT: This Contract Award Notice is a replacement for the Contract Notice that was published on the 31st July 2025 @ 3:27pm - Publication Reference 2025/S 000-044841
This is under the same Procurement Identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-050668
Contract 3 stated in this notice replaces Contract 1 from the original notice and Contract 2 replaces Contract 4 from the original notice.
PROCUREMENT DESCRIPTION:
The contract is to provide language services including spoken and non-spoken Interpretation and Translation services to the Authority.
The contract will be tendered in two (2) Lots;
Lot 1 - Face to Face interpreting for Social Service requirements, interviews, meetings, consultation, for spoken languages, telephone interpretation and document translation services. Video interpretation will only be accepted as a substitute in instances when Face to Face fulfilment cannot be fulfilled; this must be agreed in advance with a relevant representative from the Authority. Of the language services provided in the financial year 2024-25, Polish, Urdu, Arabic and Bengali have been the most requested. However, the Authority provided services to 68 different languages during this period, including reasonably high numbers for Punjabi, Romanian and Kurdish / Kurdish Sorani.
Lot 2 - Face to Face interpreting for Social Service requirements, interviews, meetings, consultation, for non-spoken communication including British Sign Language, lipspeaking and Palantypist. Video interpretation will only be accepted as a substitute in instances where Face to Face fulfilment cannot be fulfilled; this must be agreed in advance with a relevant representative from the Authority.
The Authority provides a wide range of services across the county; therefore, the interpretation and translation requirements will cover a wide range of services. Currently, the service is predominately provided for Social Care; however, it is expected that any service within the Authority should be able to access the agreement as and when required.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 22 Apr 2029, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Interpretation services · Translation services
Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure
2 lots · all with a published value (£1,156,000 together) · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1Spoken Interpretation and TranslationAwardedRenewalPublished value£1,040,000
Face to Face interpreting for Social Service requirements, interviews, meetings, consultation, for spoken languages, telephone interpretation and document translation services. Video interpretation will only be accepted as a substitute in instances when Face to Face fulfilment cannot be fulfilled; this must be agreed in advance with a relevant representative from the Authority.
The Authority provided services to 68 different languages during 2024-25.
The 2023-24 cost of procuring the required language interpretation services was circa £260,000. Of this spend, most requests for spoken interpretation were related to Children's Services, with the remainder related to Adult Services. Circa £82,000 of this cost was for document translation.
Lot #2Non Spoken ServicesAwardedRenewalPublished value£116,000
Face to Face interpreting for Social Service requirements, interviews, meetings, consultation, for non-spoken communication including British Sign Language, lipspeaking and Palantypist. Video interpretation will only be accepted as a substitute in instances where Face to Face fulfilment cannot be fulfilled; this must be agreed in advance with a relevant representative from the Authority.
The 2023-24 annual cost of procuring non spoken services was circa £29,000.
The Authority provides a wide range of services across the county; therefore, the interpretation and translation requirements will cover a wide range of services. Currently, the service is predominately provided for Social Care; however, it is expected that any service within the Authority should be able to access the agreement as and when required.
There are approximately 270 requests made per year with the majority being for British Sign Language services; however, other services may be requested throughout the duration of the contract as required.
The service is also inclusive of document translation services, translating into an appropriate format, such as video.
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 (8)
- Quality Management: 15%
- Method Statement: 5%
- Vetting and Reviewing Procedures: 10%
- Booking Confirmation and Timescales: 10%
- Security Arrangements: 5%
- Implementation Requirements: 5%
- Price: 40%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (8)
- Price
- Quality Management
- Method Statement
- Vetting and Reviewing Procedures
- Booking Confirmation and Timescales
- Security Arrangements
- Social Value
- Implementation Requirements
- 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
- Open 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
- Yes · next expected 22 Apr 2029
- First published
- 23 Apr 2025, 14:25 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2025, 14:02 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 8 Jul 2025
- Authority reference
JS/CORP/LCC/24/104- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-016550- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050668Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 23 May 2025, 11:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 7 May 2025, 23:59 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
The tender documents are available on Lancashire County Council's electronic tendering site: www.lancashire.gov.uk/fusion-supplier-portal/ ↗
Use of this system does not require high specification IT equipment or connections, nor high-level personal IT skills/capabilities. Access to the system/software and advice is free of charge. Registration is necessary in order to view the tender details and obtain tender documentation. Tenderers are advised to allow plenty of time for registration and to do this as early as possible during the tender period.
Please see www.lancashire.gov.uk/business/tenders-and… ↗ for further information.
Timeline
23 Apr 2025 → 3 Oct 2025 · 8 dates- Tender notice published23 Apr 2025, 14:25 BST
- Clarification questions by7 May 2025, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline23 May 2025, 11:00 BST
- Award decision expected by8 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts1 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent393 days ago24 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published393 days ago24 Sept 2025, 14:02 BST
- Standstill ends383 days ago3 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
Notice history
6 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Apr 2025- Tender notice published23 Apr 2025, 14:25 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published31 Jul 2025, 15:27 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete31 Jul 2025, 15:27 BST
- Contract signature expected13 Aug 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract award notice published24 Sept 2025, 14:02 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected6 Oct 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1 · Spoken Interpretation and Translation2 awards | |||
| DA Languages Limited13 Oct 2025 – 12 Oct 2028 · up to 12 Oct 2029Extensions: The Authority has the option to extend this agreement beyond the Initial Term by a further period up to a maximum of 12 months in addition to the Initial Term. · Options: The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. | £1,040,000 | 24 Sept 2025standstill to 3 Oct 2025 | Standstill |
| DA Languages Limited1 Sept 2025 – 31 Aug 2028 · up to 31 Aug 2029Extensions: The Authority has the option to extend this agreement beyond the Initial Term by a further period up to a maximum of 12 months in addition to the Initial Term. · Options: The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. | £1,040,000same award published again · counted once | 30 Jul 2025standstill to 12 Aug 2025 | Standstill |
| Lot 2 · Non Spoken Services2 awards | |||
| SIGN SOLUTIONS (SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING AGENCY) LTDSME13 Oct 2025 – 12 Oct 2028 · up to 12 Oct 2029Extensions: The Authority has the option to extend this agreement beyond the Initial Term by a further period up to a maximum of 12 months in addition to the Initial Term. · Options: The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. | £116,000 | 24 Sept 2025standstill to 3 Oct 2025 | Standstill |
| SIGN SOLUTIONS (SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING AGENCY) LTDSME1 Sept 2025 – 31 Aug 2028 · up to 31 Aug 2029Extensions: The Authority has the option to extend this agreement beyond the Initial Term by a further period up to a maximum of 12 months in addition to the Initial Term. · Options: The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. | £116,000same award published again · counted once | 30 Jul 2025standstill to 12 Aug 2025 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Lot | Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Spoken Interpretation and Translation | 5final-stage tenders · 6 at stage one | 5 | 0 | — |
| 2 · Non Spoken Services | 4final-stage tenders | 4 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- SOCIAL VALUE PORTAL LTDProcuring entityEvaluation of the Social Value Criteria
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- D A LANGUAGES LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- Sign Solutions (Sign Language Interpreting Agency) LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender