Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 2 Apr 2026, 15:50 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Live Sign Language Solution

Authority: The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria (Police & fire)

GoodsCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 12 Aug 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 2 Oct 2030 · up to 2 Oct 2032 with extensions · starts 3 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Northumbria Police are looking to procure a live and on-demand 24/7 service for sign language interpretation to be able to provide appropriate support to deaf members of the community when required.

CPV: Software package and information systems

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 4 yrsSME
Contract period: 3 Oct 2026 – 2 Oct 2030 (4 yrs) · up to 2 Oct 2032 with extensions
Delivery: North EastEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: This contract may include two 12 month optional extensions to be taken at the discretion of the Force.

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria buys Software package and information systems (CPV 48), and who usually turns up

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria’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) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bidWhat to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 8 known-size awards · market: division 48 · North East England, n=360
13%33%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
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 North East England.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 1 known-location awards · market: division 48 · North East England, n=475
1 of 15%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North East England.

How long to a decision?
i

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 9 decided notices · market: division 48 · North East England, n=27
73 days42 days

Half of these awards were announced within 73 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 7 of 11 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 48 · North East England, n=568
64%67%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer10 lots with bid counts · all categories
10% had one bid
The market37 lots with bid counts · division 48 · North East England
14% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid10% / 14%
Buyer: 1 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 37 lots with published bid counts.
2–340% / 38%
Buyer: 4 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 14 of 37 lots with published bid counts.
4–630% / 35%
Buyer: 3 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 13 of 37 lots with published bid counts.
7+20% / 14%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 37 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer7 lots with estimate and award · all categories
43% below estimate
The market24 lots with estimate and award · division 48 · North East England
67% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate43% / 67%
Buyer: 3 of 7 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 16 of 24 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%29% / 13%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 24 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate29% / 21%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 24 lots with an estimate and award.
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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #148 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
Expected competition
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 37 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 37 similar lots
1 bid14%
5 of 37 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–338%
14 of 37 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–635%
13 of 37 similar past lots received 4–6 (35%).
7+14%
5 of 37 similar past lots received 7+ (14%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

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.

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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Goods
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
2 Apr 2026, 15:50 BST
Last source update
2 Apr 2026, 16:03 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 30 Sept 2026
Authority reference
NP0546
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-031092
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Software package and information systems
Delivery area
North East (UKC)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067c32 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
18 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
19 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
Accepted languages
en

Timeline

2 Apr 2026 → 3 Oct 2026 · 7 dates
  1. Planning notice published203 days ago
    2 Apr 2026, 15:50 BST
  2. Market engagement196 days ago
    9 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST

    Interested suppliers should look to download and complete the RFI included in the planned procurement notice found here: www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031079-2026 ↗ and return to [email protected] by 12:00 noon 9 April 2026.

  3. Tender notice expected71 days ago
    12 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Clarification questions by64 days ago
    19 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
  5. Submission deadline34 days ago
    18 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
  6. Award decision expected by22 days ago
    30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  7. Contract starts20 days ago
    3 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Apr 2026
  1. Planned procurement notice published
    2 Apr 2026, 15:50 BST
    UK3
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    2 Apr 2026, 16:03 BST
    UK2

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

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PCZY-7834-QRMM 2nd Floor, Victory House, Balliol Business Park, Longbenton, Newcastle, North East, NE12 8EWContact email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure