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Published 23 Sept 2026, 14:14 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for The Provision of FCA Regulated Debt Advice Services in County Durham

Authority: Durham County Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Financial and insurance services (66)Health & Social Care (85)Community & Cultural Services (98) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Budget not disclosedValue not published
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrsup to 3 yrs with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Durham County Council (DCC) is undertaking a market engagement exercise to inform its consideration of future arrangements for the provision of regulated debt advice services for County Durham residents. The information gathered will help DCC understand market capacity, capability and delivery approaches, and will be used to support the development of the future service specification, commissioning approach and procurement strategy. The current contract is due to expire on 31 March 2027.

CPV: Financial consultancy services · Guidance and counselling services · Other community, social and personal services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Lot 1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 — 1 Apr 2029 (2 yrs) · up to 3 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions
Extension options published
66171000 Financial consultancy services85312300 Guidance and counselling services98000000 Other community, social and personal services

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
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
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
23 Sept 2026, 14:14 BST
Last source update
23 Sept 2026, 14:14 BST
Authority reference
003912 OPEN20262107
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Financial consultancy servicesGuidance and counselling servicesOther community, social and personal services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0778ab

How it was run

Submission deadline
—

Timeline

3 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice published1 day ago
    23 Sept 2026, 14:14 BST
  2. Market engagementin 36 days
    30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMTInterested parties should complete and return the market engagement questionnaire which has been published and can be accessed, free of charge, at www.open-uk.org ↗ using reference OPEN20262107
  3. Contract startsin 188 days
    1 Apr 2027, 01:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    23 Sept 2026, 14:14 BSTUK2

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Durham County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PMPB-8772-VYWM Corten House, Dunholme Close, Durham, North East, DH1 5WB

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure