Official UK procurement notice
Prior Information Notice (PIN) /Request for Information (RFI) for Steps to Safety National Support Partner
Authority: Department of Health & Social Care (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Department of Health and Social Care ("The Authority") is publishing Prior Information Notice (PIN) and Request for Information (RFI) to outline the Authority’s intention to invite potential bidders to review and seek feedback on the draft service specification for the Steps to Safety National Support Partner. The Authority is seeking to commission a partner to provide national support to NHS Integrated Care Board (ICBs) rolling out the Steps to Safety programme for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence (DASV). The programme aims to better identify victims and survivors of violence and abuse, provide specialist support services, increase safety and reduce the health impacts of violence and abuse. The roll out of Steps to Safety will be phased in 3 phases across all ICBs with the aim of ensuring dedicated referral services exist in every area of England so that by 2029, any victim or survivor in England can access this support, wherever they live.<br/><br/>The Department of Health and Social Care will be running a market engagement session on 21/10/2026 at 1pm. Please contact the Steps to Safety team via the inbox [email protected] if you wish to join the session before 19th October 2026, 1200 miday.<br/><br/>All the interested suppliers should register at: health.atamis.co.uk to apply for the opportunity. The Atamis reference no.to seek this RFI is C481821<br/>For any Atamis queries email to: [email protected] or via Helpdesk Phone: 0800 9956035<br/>The RFI closing date is 2nd Nov 2026, 5pm.<br/><br/>This PIN/RFI is issued solely for preliminary market engagement. It does not constitute a call for competition, an Invitation to Tender (ITT), or a commitment by the Authority to undertake a future procurement. Potential bidders are invited to review and, if they wish, comment on the draft service specification for the Steps to Safety national support partner. Feedback received may inform the final specification and the design of any subsequent procurement process. All information is subject to change and is non-binding on the Authority.
CPV: Research and development services and related consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are seeking to commission a partner to…Planned
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are seeking to commission a partner to provide national support to NHS Integrated Care Board (ICBs) rolling out the Steps to Safety programme for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence (DASV). We require a supplier with the experience and capability to deliver a comprehensive support offer to ICBs working in partnership with the DHSC, ICBs and the sector; specialist elements may be subcontracted, with the lead supplier accountable for delivery. The supplier should have the following expertise:<br/>DASV expertise, Training capability, Programme delivery, Partnership working, Lived-experience engagement and Delivery principles.<br/>The Authority intends to conduct the tender process via GCA Dynamic Purchasing Framework (DPS) RM6126 Research and Insights under regulation PCR 2015. You will need to be a supplier on the GCA DPS RM6126 Research and Insights framework to take take part in any future procurement exercise.<br/>Please see the attached Draft specification and market consultation template. The market consultation template needs to be returned before 2nd Nov 2026, 5pm.<br/>To register your interest for market engagement session on 21/10/2026 at 1pm. <br/>Please contact the Steps to Safety team via the inbox [email protected] if you wish to join the session before 19th October 2026, 1200 midday.<br/><br/>To manage any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest arising between the Steps to Safety Evaluation and the National Support Partner procurements, the Contracting Authority will take appropriate and proportionate measures to prevent, identify and remedy such conflicts. In accordance with Regulation 24 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, these measures will seek to prevent any distortion of competition and ensure the equal treatment of all economic operators.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Department of Health & Social Care buys Research and development services (CPV 73), and who usually turns up
Department of Health & Social Care’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: Research and development services (CPV 73) →
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. Small firms win less of this buyer’s work than the market’s: 14% against 45%, n=22.
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside 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 29 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 bid30% / 10%
2–328% / 19%
4–626% / 33%
7+16% / 38%
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 estimate50% / 49%
Within ±2%50% / 47%
Above estimate0% / 4%
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 #1The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are seeking to commission a partner to…Estimate not published
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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 42 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–319%
4–633%
7+38%
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- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 14 Oct 2026, 11:08 BST
- Last source update
- 14 Oct 2026, 11:08 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096878- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078742Find a Tender
How it was run
Official noticeTender documents are also served through a separate tool: https://atamis-1928.my.site.com/s/Welcome ↗
- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
14 Oct 2026 → 14 Oct 2026 · 2 dates- Tender notice expected8 days ago14 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
- Notice published8 days ago14 Oct 2026, 11:08 BST
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
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.