Official UK procurement notice
MoJ & HMPPS Enquiry Service
Authority: Ministry of Justice (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Authority is preparing to launch a retender for the provision of Ministry of Justice (MoJ) & HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) public enquiry communication services. Please note, this notice does not constitute a call for competition, it is to inform the market of a future potential opportunity. Please do not respond to this notice. The details included in this notice remain subject to change as the Authority further develops the future strategy.
The service currently comprises several enquiry lines, including the MoJ Public Enquiry Line, the HMPPS Public Enquiry Line, the HMPPS Prison Enquiry Centre, and the National Incident Management Unit (NIMU) incident line. These services handle enquiries from members of the public, families of prisoners and other stakeholders across the justice system. Enquiries may range from general information requests and case-related queries to sensitive matters such as prisoner welfare concerns or operational incident reporting.
The future service will provide a secure, reliable and a primarily customer-focused telephony capability to manage these enquiries effectively. The provider will be expected to deliver trained call-handling staff, operate within defined service levels, and support the delivery of high-quality customer service across multiple enquiry lines. Services may include the use of technologies such as interactive voice response (IVR) and other tools to improve efficiency and user experience.
Overall, the procurement aims to ensure MoJ and HMPPS continue to provide accessible and responsive enquiry services that support the effective operation of the justice system and maintain public confidence.
CPV: Call centre
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Justice buys Telephone-answering services (CPV 7951), and who usually turns up
Ministry of Justice’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: Telephone-answering services (CPV 7951) →
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 Greater London (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in Greater London.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 49 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 bid10% / 20%
2–358% / 24%
4–620% / 12%
7+12% / 44%
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 estimate54% / 39%
Within ±2%31% / 48%
Above estimate15% / 13%
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 7951Published estimate£15m
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 225 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–320%
4–636%
7+33%
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.
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.
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
- Award under framework
- 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
- 17 Mar 2026, 11:59 GMT
- Last source update
- 7 Apr 2026, 15:23 BST
- Authority reference
prj_16748- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-031566- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066c10Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
17 Mar 2026 → 23 Nov 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published217 days ago17 Mar 2026, 11:59 GMT
- Latest notice published196 days ago7 Apr 2026, 15:23 BST
- Market engagement173 days ago30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
The Authority is preparing to launch a Early Market Engagement event for the provision of Ministry of Justice (MoJ) & HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) public enquiry communication services on 16th April 2026 at 10:00am.
This event will be held for suppliers listed on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Outsourced Services framework (RM6295).
The preliminary market engagement is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market testing and engagement.
Interested parties will not be prejudiced or advantaged by any response or lack thereof to the preliminary market engagement.
During the event itself, we will share with Suppliers our customers' journey, process maps, current pressure points, and our high-level. We are particularly interested in potential innovative solutions to how the current Public Enquiry Service could be improved to allow the service to become more efficient, and potentially allow customers alternative contact routes to what is currently in place.
The information provided by Supplies during this event will feed into our business case and supporting documents to guide the authority on any potential future procurement.
After the event, we will offer Suppliers the opportunity to schedule 1-to-1 meetings which will provide an opportunity for clarification questions and to discuss topics in further detail.
The information contained in this notice, including information relating to the nature and scope of the requirements, the estimated value, the service classification of this requirement and the list of CPV codes, is only indicative of current thinking and is neither exhaustive nor binding and the Authority reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend it at the time of issue of any further notices or at any other time. The publication of this notice in no way obliges the Authority to commence any competitive tender process.
The Authority is not and shall not be liable for any costs incurred by those expressing an interest in participating in this premarket engagement exercise.
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 33 days23 Nov 2026
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Mar 2026- Pipeline notice published17 Mar 2026, 11:59 GMTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Apr 2026, 15:23 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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender