Official UK procurement notice
SPS-02361 Substance Screening & Related Services
Authority: Scottish Prison Service·Consortium: 2 public authorities
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) require a supplier to provide substance screening kits and associated services, including the supply of point of care screening devices, confirmatory analysis services, reporting services, training and support. The SPS will commence this procurement process in good faith and with the intention of awarding a contract.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) require a supplier to provide substance screening kits and associated services, including the supply of point of care screening devices, confirmatory analysis services, reporting services, training and support.
CPV: Analysis services · Drug detection apparatus · Laboratory services · Services provided by medical laboratories
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The SPS will commence this procurement process in good faith and with the intention of…Renewal
The SPS will commence this procurement process in good faith and with the intention of awarding a contract. Following publication of the Contract Notice, an Invitation to Tender (ITT) including the Single Procurement Document (Scotland) (SPD) will be published by SPS and will be made available to bidders on Public Contract Scotland-Tender (PCS-T). Tender responses will then be evaluated by the SPS in accordance with the ITT.
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 sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 40%
- price: 60%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical: 40
- Price: 60
- Condition of participationno text publishedMinimum: Bidders must have the following minimum insurance levels: Public and Product Liability Amount is 1,000,000 GBP Professional Indemnity Amount is 1,000,000 GBP Employer’s liability insurance in accordance with any legal requirements for the time being in force;
- Technical & professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents.
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Price carries 60 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 6 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Scottish Prison Service buys Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 3854), and who usually turns up
Scottish Prison Service’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring (CPV 3854) →
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.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 36 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.
The market share is a minimum: 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 bid10% / 50%
2–338% / 50%
4–633% / 0%
7+19% / 0%
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 estimate60%
Within ±2%20%
Above estimate20%
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 SPS will commence this procurement process in good faith and with the intention of…CPV 3854Estimate not published
i
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid25%
2–338%
4–619%
7+18%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alere Toxicology PlcEarlier contract | 01793 Addiction Testing & Related Servicesnotice published Feb 2021 | Point of Contact Test Kits for Controlled & Illegal Drugs | £260k | Matched as the earlier contract |
| SYNLAB Laboratory ServicesEarlier contract | 01793 Addiction Testing & Related Servicesnotice published Feb 2021 | Laboratory-Based Confirmatory Analysis Service | £144k | Matched as the earlier contract |
| SYNLAB Laboratory ServicesWorked for this buyer | 01793 Addiction Testing & Related Servicesnotice published Feb 2021 | Laboratory-Based Confirmatory Analysis Service | — | Similar wording and category |
| Motorola Solutions UK LtdWorked for this buyer | SPS-02293 The Provision of Body Worn Video Cameras (BWVC)notice published Feb 2026 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Alere Toxicology PlcLarge | — | None on file | no comparable pairs |
| £269m25 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 3 live · £161m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 22% below n=2 | |
| £201m4 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 1 live · £1.7m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs | |
| £448m47 awards in 36m · last this month | 12 live · £48m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 21% below n=5 | |
| £38m64 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 29 live · £29m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 3% below n=13 |
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. Contracts Finder contracts appear on the Retender Radar, not yet in these figures.
- 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 · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- 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
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 17 Sept 2026, 16:27 BST
- Last source update
- 27 Oct 2026, 16:33 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- 1 Dec 2026 – …
- Authority reference
SPS-02361- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-101747- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0774c8Find a Tender
Publisher note: The buyer is using PCS-Tender to conduct this ITT exercise. The Project code is 32867. For more information see: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx?ID=2343 (SC Ref:846690)
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Public Contracts Scotland- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 1 Dec 2026, 14:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 60 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 1 Dec 2026, 14:00 GMT
Timeline
22 Oct 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 4 dates- Next notice expected13 days ago22 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
- Notice published8 days ago27 Oct 2026, 16:33 GMT
- Today4 Nov 2026
- Submission deadlinein 26 days1 Dec 2026, 14:00 GMT
- Bids openedin 26 days1 Dec 2026, 14:00 GMT
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 27 Oct 2026- Status changed to active27 Oct 2026, 16:33 GMT
- Procurement method changed27 Oct 2026, 16:33 GMT
- Deadline published: 1 Dec 2026, 14:00 GMT27 Oct 2026, 16:33 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS)Contracting authority
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Edinburgh Sheriff CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice; the tender pack is on the portal.