Official UK procurement notice
Thematic Evaluation - Community Connection
Authority: Big Lottery Fund, operating as The National Lottery Community Fund
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionOur Evidence and Impact Strategy sets out an ambition to increase the proportion of our funding supported by independent impact evaluations. A key way for achieving this is through commissioning and publishing cross-Fund impact evaluations on themes linked to our missions (e.g. environmental sustainability and community connection). To support this ambition, the Impact & Evaluation (I&E) Team is undertaking a project designed to:
a. develop an pproach for carrying out cross-Fund thematic evaluation
b. test this approach through a pilot thematic evaluation
c. make recommendations for embedding thematic evaluation into future practice
While the fund regularly commissions evaluations for specific programmes, undertaking an evaluation focused on a theme cutting across multiple portfolios is new. This pilot evaluation will therefore generate both impact evidence on a theme, and methodological learning from the process to support in decisions about rollong this approach out more widely.
- No preliminary market engagement: This tender did not require any PME.
CPV: Evaluation consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£200,000
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 sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 85%
- Commercial: 15%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical
- Commercial
- Price carries 15 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 1.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
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
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 29 Jun 2026, 21:01 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Sept 2026, 11:50 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Sept 2026
- Authority reference
C0163- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-060964- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06bf8eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 24 Jul 2026, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 17 Jul 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
29 Jun 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published118 days ago29 Jun 2026, 21:01 BST
- Clarification questions by101 days ago17 Jul 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline94 days ago24 Jul 2026, 15:00 BST
- Award decision expected by54 days ago1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent48 days ago8 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published47 days ago9 Sept 2026, 11:50 BST
- Standstill ends37 days ago18 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts25 days ago1 Oct 2026
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Jun 2026- Tender notice published29 Jun 2026, 21:01 BSTUK4
- Tender notice published30 Jun 2026, 11:54 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published9 Sept 2026, 11:50 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete9 Sept 2026, 11:50 BST
- Contract signature expected23 Sept 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Published amendments (1)
The evaluation criteria was incorrect and has now been amended to reflect the correct breakdown of award criteria
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheffield Hallam UniversityThematic Evaluation - Community Cohesion1 Oct 2026 – 31 Mar 2028 | £199,535 | 26 Aug 2026standstill to 18 Sept 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12final-stage tenders · 21 at stage one | 7 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Sheffield Hallam UniversityAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender