Lot 1
No lot description published.
Buyer: Natural England →
View official notice ↗Official source
DNA-based methods have the potential to significantly change how we monitor and assess ecosystems. Natural England has been exploring the use of these methods for environmental monitoring for several years, delivering a series of reports which focus on the development of DNA-based methods with potential in a particular area. These methods are now being used more widely within Natural England, particularly the detection of ecological communities using environmental DNA (eDNA). This is often conducted by employing metabarcoding assays which target specific species assemblages (e.g. fish, mammals) or broader taxonomic groups (e.g. vertebrates, invertebrates, bacteria). The DNA Team aims to operationalise DNA-based methods and produces guidance for using them in monitoring projects. In order to provide sound recommendations, it is important that we understand the limitations of, and uncertainties with, DNA-based methods. Natural England staff need to be able to understand how DNA-derived data can be used, and the confidence they can have in data derived using different DNA-based methods which have been validated to different stages. Natural England previously commissioned the development of a framework to enable end users to assess confidence in metabarcoding assays and results (Pagaling and others, under review; a copy of the framework can be provided by Natural England upon request by emailing monitoring.innovation@naturalengland.org.uk). By using the checklist and levelled scale, end users can appropriately interpret results. It also provides validation and reporting standards for the development of new metabarcoding assays. The framework will enable end-users to determine the recommended scenarios for application of a given assay and improve assay performance with further validation. This project will advance the metabarcoding assay validation framework by expanding upon previous work to conduct a further literature review and meta-analysis, covering more assays being used for different purposes and in different contexts. In addition beta testing of the framework and user guide will be required, as well as the creation and delivery of training materials and course .
UK, GB
No lot description published.
| Item | Category | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Research and development services and related consultancy services, Environmental training services | Not published |
Benchmarked against retained Find a Tender procedures with CPV division 73. The category anchor is Research and development services and related consultancy services (73000000); this is a deliberately broad market comparator. The comparison is shown at several levels rather than pretending one company or region is always the best benchmark.
| Comparison set | Procedures | Reported bids per procedure | Named award suppliers | Price evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market: CPV division 73 | 868 | 3 median · 47.8 average (145 of 868 with a bid count) | 3.3 average (158 of 868 with named award suppliers) | Not published |
| Same buyer | 8 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Delivery region: UK | 323 | 2 median · 128.6 average (47 of 323 with a bid count) | 5.7 average (55 of 323 with named award suppliers) | Not published |
| Similar published value (0.5×–2×) | 213 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
“Reported bids” is an official aggregate, sometimes reported per lot; it is the closest available competition measure. “Named award suppliers” are winners, not all applicants.
Not enough comparable procedures currently publish both a GBP tender value and a usable lowest-valid-bid value to calculate a responsible price-reduction benchmark. Tenderline deliberately does not infer a saving from named award suppliers or from missing award values.
No planning milestones published.
No linked framework, prior procurement or reprocurement published.
Diagnostic view. “Not published” means this current release does not provide a value.
| OCID | ocds-h6vhtk-06d396 |
|---|---|
| Latest release ID | 076158-2026 |
| Latest release timestamp | Tue Aug 11 2026 10:54:32 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) |
| Source | find-a-tender |
| Official notice URL | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076158-2026 |
| Tender status | active |
| Procurement method | open |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition |
| Main procurement category | services |
| Above threshold | No |
| Legal basis | 2023/54 |
| Tender period: start | Not published |
| Tender period: end | 2026-08-17T09:00:00+01:00 |
| Expression of interest deadline | Not published |
| Enquiry deadline | 2026-08-10T14:00:00+01:00 |
| Award period: start | Not published |
| Award period: end | Not published |
| Submission method details | To apply for this opportunity you must submit your quotation meeting the requirements detailed in the Request for Quotation (RFQ) attached. Your response must be sent to monitoring.innovation@naturalengland.org.uk by 9:00 on 17/8/26 If you have any clarification questions linked to this opportunity or the procurement process please submit these via email to monitoring.innovation@naturalengland.org.uk. Please note that, unless commercially sensitive, both the question and the response will be circulated to all tenderers. |
| Submission languages | Not published |
| Electronic catalogue policy | Not published |
| Total tender value | £41,666 |
| Tender lots in source | 1 |
| Tender items in source | 1 |
| Tender documents in source | 5 |
| Awards in latest release | 0 |
| Contracts in latest release | 0 |
| Parties in latest release | 1 |
| Date | Event | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 2026 | tenderUpdate | 076158-2026 |
| 6 Aug 2026 | tenderUpdate | 074894-2026 |
| 4 Aug 2026 | tenderUpdate | 073810-2026 |
| 30 Jul 2026 | tenderUpdate | 072233-2026 |
| 29 Jul 2026 | tenderUpdate | 071753-2026 |
| 27 Jul 2026 | tenderUpdate | 070826-2026 |
| 24 Jul 2026 | tender | 070437-2026 |
Unmodified official OCDS data retained by Tenderline for this procurement process.
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"title": "Metabarcoding validation framework 2026/2027",
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"description": "DNA-based methods have the potential to significantly change how we monitor and assess ecosystems. Natural England has been exploring the use of these methods for environmental monitoring for several years, delivering a series of reports which focus on the development of DNA-based methods with potential in a particular area. These methods are now being used more widely within Natural England, particularly the detection of ecological communities using environmental DNA (eDNA). This is often conducted by employing metabarcoding assays which target specific species assemblages (e.g. fish, mammals) or broader taxonomic groups (e.g. vertebrates, invertebrates, bacteria).\nThe DNA Team aims to operationalise DNA-based methods and produces guidance for using them in monitoring projects. In order to provide sound recommendations, it is important that we understand the limitations of, and uncertainties with, DNA-based methods. Natural England staff need to be able to understand how DNA-derived data can be used, and the confidence they can have in data derived using different DNA-based methods which have been validated to different stages.\nNatural England previously commissioned the development of a framework to enable end users to assess confidence in metabarcoding assays and results (Pagaling and others, under review; a copy of the framework can be provided by Natural England upon request by emailing monitoring.innovation@naturalengland.org.uk). By using the checklist and levelled scale, end users can appropriately interpret results. It also provides validation and reporting standards for the development of new metabarcoding assays. The framework will enable end-users to determine the recommended scenarios for application of a given assay and improve assay performance with further validation.\nThis project will advance the metabarcoding assay validation framework by expanding upon previous work to conduct a further literature review and meta-analysis, covering more assays being used for different purposes and in different contexts. In addition beta testing of the framework and user guide will be required, as well as the creation and delivery of training materials and course .",
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