Official UK procurement notice
NENC057 LGBTQ+ Mental Health Support Service Sunderland and South Tyneside Invitation to Tender NHS North East North Cumbria Integrated Care Board
Authority: NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (the Contracting Authority), have undertaken a procurement to commission LGBTQ+ Mental Health Support Service Sunderland and South Tyneside under NHS Standard Contract 25/26 within the Sunderland and South Tyneside areas.
The contract term is for an initial period of 3 years commencing on 01 April 2026, with an option to extend for a further 2 years at the discretion of the Contracting Authority and subject to satisfactory contractual and financial performance.
The closing date for submission of tenders was by 12 noon 31 October 2025.
This tender opportunity has now closed
The publication of this notice marks the conclusion of an adopted Voluntary Standstill Period beginning 22 December 2025 and ending midnight 05 January 2026.
This UK7 Contract Details Notice is being published following the completion of the voluntary standstill period and contract award.
CPV: Guidance and counselling services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£600,000
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).
Lot awarding rule: The bidder who has passed each stage of the process and has submitted the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) by scoring the highest combined score for quality and finance and passed Stage 1, evaluated against the published evaluation criteria, will be reported to the Contracting Authority as the Highest Scoring Bidder. In the event that two or more bidders achieve the same combined score, the bidder with the highest overall score in the highest weighted macro section within the quality criteria will be as the most advantageous tender. In the event that two or more bidders still achieve the same score the rule will be applied to the next highest weighted macro section and so forth. Macro Sections and Weightings: • Quality and Safety (30%) • Service Aims and Objectives (25%) • Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice (15%) • Service Specific (10%) • Social Value (10%) • Finance (10%) 8.2.2 Stage 2 - Economic and Financial Standing of the Highest Scoring Bidder - Scoring of Capability and Capacity Financial Assessment - Due Diligence for Highest Scoring Bidder(s) only This stage validates the evidence provided by the Highest Scoring Bidder. The bidder who achieves the highest score and passes all of the criteria for stages 1 and 2 will be put forward as the Recommended Bidder
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Below threshold - open competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 29 Aug 2025, 12:42 BST
- Last source update
- 6 Jan 2026, 10:35 GMT
- Authority reference
NENC057- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-063992- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-059062Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 31 Oct 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
The ICB is utilising an electronic tendering tool to manage this procurement and communicate with potential bidders. Accordingly, there will be no hard copy documents issued to potential bidders and all communications with the ICB, including bid submissions, will be conducted via the Atamis portal at: health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗. It is free to register on the portal and it can be accessed at any time of day providing you have a working internet connection. Should bidders have any queries, or are having problems registering on the portal; they should contact the Atamis helpdesk via:
[email protected] or phone number 02922 809277
The helpdesk is open Monday - Friday between 08.00 am - 06.00 pm
Tender documentation will be available on the e-tendering site from 10 October 2025
Timeline
29 Aug 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 6 dates- Planning notice published29 Aug 2025, 12:42 BST
- Market engagement12 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
NENC057- LGBTQ+ Mental Health Support Service - Sunderland and South Tyneside - Request for Information - NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board
NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (the Contracting Authority), are conducting a Request for Information (RFI) exercise in order to gain a better understanding of the capacity and appetite of the market to deliver LGBTQ+ Mental Health Support Service - Sunderland and South Tyneside for young people within the South Tyneside and Sunderland areas of the ICB footprint.
It is anticipated that TUPE may apply to the South Tyneside current service elements.
This is a Procurement Act 2023 intended approach notice.
The awarding of this contract is subject to the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this service.
It is important to note that this PIN/RFI is not a call for competition and as such potential providers will need to express an interest in any future tender opportunity once a contract notice is published on Find and Tender on the Central Digital Platform ( CDP).
It should be noted that this PIN/RFI invites individuals and organisations to express an interest in this RFI exercise only, and it is NOT part of any pre-qualification or selection process. This PIN/RFI is intended as an awareness, communication, and information gathering exercise. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process nor does it infer any preferential or special status on those individuals and organisations who express an interest.
To register an interest in responding to this market engagement exercise and obtain a copy of the Request for Information documentation please go to the e-tender portal: health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗.
Please note that the deadline for RFI responses is
12 noon on Friday 12 September 2025.
Please note that all communications and RFI submissions will be conducted via the Atamis e-tender portal only.
It is free to register on the portal and it can be accessed at any time of day providing you have a working internet connection. Should bidders have any queries, or are having problems registering on the portal; they should contact the Atamis helpdesk via:
Phone number 02922 809277 and by email at [email protected]
The helpdesk is open Monday - Friday between 9am - 5.30pm
RFI documentation will be available on the e-tendering site from 29 August 2025.
- Tender notice published375 days ago10 Oct 2025, 09:17 BST
- Submission deadline354 days ago31 Oct 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Latest notice published287 days ago6 Jan 2026, 10:35 GMT
- Contract starts202 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
9 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Aug 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published29 Aug 2025, 12:42 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published10 Oct 2025, 09:17 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active10 Oct 2025, 09:17 BST
- Procurement method changed10 Oct 2025, 09:17 BST
- Deadline published: 31 Oct 2025, 12:00 GMT10 Oct 2025, 09:17 BST
- Contract award notice published19 Dec 2025, 09:05 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete19 Dec 2025, 09:05 GMT
- Contract signature expected31 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published6 Jan 2026, 10:35 GMTUK7
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-08: 1 release · 29 Aug 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Pathways LtdSME1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2029 · up to 31 Mar 2031Extensions: Option to extend for a futher 24 months subject to satisfactory financial and contractual performance and at the discretion of the Contracting Authority. | £592,000 | 12 Dec 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Crystal Pathways LtdSME
- Signed
- 6 Jan 2026
- Value
- £592,000
- Period
- 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2029 · up to 31 Mar 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Option to extend for a further 2 years at the discretion of the Contracting Authority and subject to satisfactory contractual and financial performance.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- CRYSTAL PATHWAYS LTDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices 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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender