Official UK procurement notice
STEP Whole Programme Cost Estimate - Independent Assurance
Authority: UK Fusion Energy Ltd (Public body)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionIndependent review of the STEP Whole Programme Cost Estimate as appropriate for finance cases as part of UK Government business case submission following the Green Book1:
- Review of the current version of the model considering; accuracy of data, methodology used, calculations, uncertainty, escalation and inflation.
- Provide comments on the current version of the model in an appraisal report.
- Identification of missing content, as applicable.
- Identification of areas of future work, as applicable.
- This review activity should follow the guidelines specified in the AQuA Book2 and in the IPA Cost Estimating Requirements, STEP 6: Review and Assure3
Expected inputs:
- STEP Whole Programme Cost Estimate Report
- STEP Estimating Strategy
- STEP Cost Breakdown Structure
- Individual Product Area Reports and Cost Models
- STEP Whole Programme Cost Estimate Spreadsheet
CPV: Calculation of costs, monitoring of costs · Project and design preparation, estimation of costs
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewalPublished value£200,000
- Technical & professional ability
Previous Involvement with the STEP Programme -
Due to the independent requirement for this assurance, suppliers with background or experience working on the STEP programme cannot be considered for this package. Suppliers will have to confirm they have no background or experience working within the STEP programme in order to participate.
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)
- Price
- Quality
- Social Value
- Technical & professional ability
Previous Involvement with the STEP Programme -
Due to the independent requirement for this assurance, suppliers with background or experience working on the STEP programme cannot be considered for this package. Suppliers will have to confirm they have no background or experience working within the STEP programme in order to participate.
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Fusion Energy Ltd buys Architectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124), and who usually turns up
UK Fusion Energy Ltd’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: Architectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124) →
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in the delivery region.
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 25 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 buyer’s 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 bid0%
2–363%
4–625%
7+13%
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 estimate33%
Within ±2%67%
Above estimate0%
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 #1CPV 7124Published estimate£200k
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. The bar shows 25 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–328%
4–640%
7+28%
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- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 9 Jan 2026, 14:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 28 May 2026
- Authority reference
PP-UKIFS-175- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-027381- Accelerated
- Qualifying planned procurement notice
- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0602e9Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 19 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
9 Jan 2026 → 1 Jun 2026 · 7 dates- Planning notice published286 days ago9 Jan 2026, 14:05 GMT
- Market engagement272 days ago23 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
Please return the questionnaire included within the tenderbox completed with your answers. Clarification questions will be accepted until 16th January.
- Latest notice published211 days ago25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMT
- Tender notice expected171 days ago4 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline156 days ago19 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Award decision expected by147 days ago28 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts144 days ago1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
6 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Jan 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published9 Jan 2026, 14:05 GMTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMTUK3
- Status changed to planned25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMT
- Procurement method changed25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMT
- Deadline published: 19 May 2026, 23:59 BST25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMT
- Buyer details updated25 Mar 2026, 14:22 GMT
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
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- UK Industrial Fusion Solutions LtdContracting authorityPublic undertaking
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender