Official UK procurement notice
School Payroll and HR Administration Services
Authority: Cumberland Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCumberland Council plans to establish a framework of up to 4 suppliers who can offer an effective, timely and cost-effective Payroll & HR Administration service to maintained non-chequebook schools within the footprint of Cumberland Council.
Currently there are 74 schools who plan to initially use this framework which are predominantly Primary Schools, and range in size of staffing numbers however the numbers may change subject to individual school needs.
It is envisaged that a maximum of 4 suppliers will be awarded onto the framework.
Further competitions will be conducted under the framework by individual schools (or by the Council on behalf of individual schools) and these will be awarded on price alone.
CPV: Personnel and payroll services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- every call-off is a further competition among the appointed suppliers
- Places
- up to 4 suppliers · 7 bids received (1.8 per place) · 4 appointed (full)
- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 1 Aug 2025
Published description of the framework
Further competitions will be conducted under the framework by individual schools (or by the Council on behalf of individual schools) and these will be awarded on price alone.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£642,000
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 (3)
- Quality
- Price
- Social Value
- Price carries 35 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “School Payroll and HR Administration Services” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 4 suppliers, not a single contract: each call-off is a further competition, so the pricing contest starts after appointment.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 27 May 2025, 14:38 BST
- Last source update
- 14 Aug 2025, 15:19 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Jun 2025
- Authority reference
DN775783- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-027781- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-052722Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 23 Jun 2025, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 11 Jun 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
The documents are available via The Chest - www.the-chest.org.uk ↗
For support using the chest please contact Proactis, using the supplier support area.
For clarifications, please ensure all correspondence is via The Chest using the message area.
Suppliers wishing to express an interest and obtain access to the tender documents should go to www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ and click on current opportunities from the navigation area on the left of the screen. On the next screen enter the contract Reference (DN775783) in the box labelled 'contains' then click search.
Click on the Blue link for the contract title to view the opportunity.
To express an interest you will need to login. If you are not already
registered on the www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ you will need to return to the home page and click on Register. Register FREE link in the navigation area on the left of the screen. Registration is free of charge and your username and password will be emailed to you.
Cumberland Council is fully supportive of all aspects of diversity including ethnicity,race, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation. In this respect Cumberland Council welcomes expressions of interest from ethnic minority, disabled and other diverse business communities and the voluntary sector.
Economic operators are therefore required to fully comply with all statutory obligations/applicable legislation and there will be a requirement to participate in the Authority's supplier audits on all aspects of diversity.
The Contracting Authority expressly reserves the right:
(i) not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and
(ii) to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition; and in no circumstances will the Contracting Authority be liable for any costs incurred by the candidates. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of potential suppliers.
The contracting authority reserve the right to use any electronic portal during the life of the agreement.
The value provided in this notice is only an estimate.
Timeline
27 May 2025 → 14 Aug 2025 · 8 dates- Tender notice published27 May 2025, 14:38 BST
- Clarification questions by11 Jun 2025, 12:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown23 Jun 2025, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected by30 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent7 Jul 2025, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends17 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts1 Aug 2025, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published14 Aug 2025, 15:19 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 27 May 2025- Tender notice published27 May 2025, 14:38 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published7 Jul 2025, 18:10 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete7 Jul 2025, 18:10 BST
- Contract signature expected29 Jul 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published14 Aug 2025, 15:19 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capita Business Services Ltd, Liberata UK Ltd, Payroll Easy Group LimitedSME, TIVAAM LTDSME1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2029 | £642,000 | 4 Jul 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
School Payroll and HR Administration Services · Capita Business Services Ltd, Liberata UK Ltd, Payroll Easy Group LimitedSME, TIVAAM LTDSME
- Signed
- 12 Aug 2025
- Value
- £642,000
- Period
- 12 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2029
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7final-stage tenders | 5 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
4 commercial parties on the notice- CAPITA BUSINESS SERVICES LTDFramework contractor
- LIBERATA UK LIMITEDFramework contractor
- PAYROLL EASY GROUP LIMITEDFramework contractor
- TIVAAM LTDFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (3)
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