Official UK procurement notice
Money & Advice Service · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Exeter City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionExeter City Council is commissioning a Money Advice & Resilience Service as part of the Crisis & Resilience Fund (CARF). The service will provide income maximisation, budgeting support, priority-debt advice, savings and income-smoothing interventions, and practical advocacy to help residents withstand and recover from financial shocks. The provider will act as the primary warm-referral destination from Crisis Payments, Housing Payments, Housing Needs and VCSE partners, delivering a trauma-informed, accessible, multi-channel service.
- How the procedure runs: This service falls under the Light Touch Regime Services listed in Schedule 1 of the Procurement Regulations 2024 under CPV code 85300000‑2 — Social work and related services. Therefore, this procurement is conducted under Section 9 of the Procurement Act 2023. This procurement is being carried out in accordance with Sections 20–22 of the Procurement Act 2023, as applied to Light Touch Regime Contracts. This procedure enables the Authority to design a proportionate, flexible competitive process suited to the nature of CRF Resilience Services. In accordance with Section 18 of the Procurement Act 2023, the Authority has considered whether the contract should be divided into lots and has determined that a single‑lot approach is appropriate. The Crisis & Resilience Fund requires an integrated, end‑to‑end delivery model that combines crisis triage, income maximisation, regulated and unregulated debt advice, budgeting support, warm‑referral pathways, and multi‑agency coordination across ECC, DCC, Housing Options, Crisis Payments, and VCSE partners. Dividing the service into lots would fragment delivery, increase interface and system‑integration risks, and undermine the joined‑up model required by CRF guidance. This service is not a user‑choice contract and therefore the direct award justification under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 does not apply. Any Quote that exceeds the Year 1 budget allocation of £260,000 (excluding VAT) may be considered unaffordable and therefore rejected, in line with the approved financial envelope for the initial contract period. Upon receipt of responses, the lead officer will check each Quote for completeness. Incomplete responses may be deemed non‑compliant and therefore rejected. This proportionate compliance check is consistent with the Authority’s obligations under the Procurement Act 2023 to ensure integrity, transparency and fair treatment. Quotes will then be evaluated using the methodology set out in subsection 1.4. The successful Supplier and all unsuccessful Suppliers will be informed of the outcome of the evaluation as soon as possible following completion of the assessment. A Tender Notice will be published on the central digital platform in accordance with Section 15 of the Procurement Act 2023, and in line with the Authority’s transparency obligations outlined in the Procurement Strategy. In accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, the Authority will also publish all required statutory notices to the central digital platform, including the Tender Notice, Contract Award Notice, and Contract Details Notice.
- No preliminary market engagement: Time critical.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£780,000
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 award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Price
- 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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 Mar 2026, 12:18 GMT
- Last source update
- 20 Jul 2026, 15:57 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 20 Apr 2026
- Authority reference
PR142026 CR 2307- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-026226- Accelerated
- Light touch contract
- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06714dFind a Tender
- How it runs
This service falls under the Light Touch Regime Services listed in Schedule 1 of the Procurement Regulations 2024 under CPV code 85300000‑2 — Social work and related services. Therefore, this procurement is conducted under Section 9 of the Procurement Act 2023.
This procurement is being carried out in accordance with Sections 20–22 of the Procurement Act 2023, as applied to Light Touch Regime Contracts. This procedure enables the Authority to design a proportionate, flexible competitive process suited to the nature of CRF Resilience Services.
In accordance with Section 18 of the Procurement Act 2023, the Authority has considered whether the contract should be divided into lots and has determined that a single‑lot approach is appropriate. The Crisis & Resilience Fund requires an integrated, end‑to‑end delivery model that combines crisis triage, income maximisation, regulated and unregulated debt advice, budgeting support, warm‑referral pathways, and multi‑agency coordination across ECC, DCC, Housing Options, Crisis Payments, and VCSE partners. Dividing the service into lots would fragment delivery, increase interface and system‑integration risks, and undermine the joined‑up model required by CRF guidance.
This service is not a user‑choice contract and therefore the direct award justification under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 does not apply.
Any Quote that exceeds the Year 1 budget allocation of £260,000 (excluding VAT) may be considered unaffordable and therefore rejected, in line with the approved financial envelope for the initial contract period.
Upon receipt of responses, the lead officer will check each Quote for completeness. Incomplete responses may be deemed non‑compliant and therefore rejected. This proportionate compliance check is consistent with the Authority’s obligations under the Procurement Act 2023 to ensure integrity, transparency and fair treatment.
Quotes will then be evaluated using the methodology set out in subsection 1.4. The successful Supplier and all unsuccessful Suppliers will be informed of the outcome of the evaluation as soon as possible following completion of the assessment.
A Tender Notice will be published on the central digital platform in accordance with Section 15 of the Procurement Act 2023, and in line with the Authority’s transparency obligations outlined in the Procurement Strategy.
In accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, the Authority will also publish all required statutory notices to the central digital platform, including the Tender Notice, Contract Award Notice, and Contract Details Notice.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 10 Apr 2026, 12:01 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 31 Mar 2026, 17:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
23 Mar 2026 → 20 Jul 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published211 days ago23 Mar 2026, 12:18 GMT
- Clarification questions by203 days ago31 Mar 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline193 days ago10 Apr 2026, 12:01 BST
- Award decision expected by183 days ago20 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts173 days ago1 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent133 days ago10 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published92 days ago20 Jul 2026, 15:57 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Mar 2026- Tender notice published23 Mar 2026, 12:18 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published9 Jul 2026, 09:28 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete9 Jul 2026, 09:28 BST
- Contract signature expected9 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published20 Jul 2026, 15:57 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAVIGATEVCSEPR142026 Exeter City Council Money Advice & Resilience10 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 · up to 30 Jun 2029Extensions: 2 x optional 12 month extensions | £780,000 | 10 Jun 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · NAVIGATEVCSE
- Signed
- 9 Jul 2026
- Value
- £780,000
- Period
- 10 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 · up to 30 Jun 2029 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 2 x optional 12 month extensions
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 2 | 2 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the noticeOfficial documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: www.advantageswtenders.co.uk
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender