Official UK procurement notice
VCSE Structure & Strategy to NHS BRISTOL, NORTH SOMERSET AND SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE (BNSSG) INTEGRATED CARE BOARD (ICB)
Authority: NHS Bristol North Somerset & South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (Central government)·On behalf of: NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (hosted by NHS England)
What is being bought
Published requirement description- This notice is placed as a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN) to inform the market of Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board's (ICB) (the Commissioner) intention to commission Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Structure & Strategy services. The Commissioner would like to understand the level of provider and partner interest in delivering these services.
- The Commissioner is seeking to secure a Provider that has the capability and capacity to deliver VCSE Structure & Strategy services. The purpose of the VCSE Structure & Strategy services is to provide structure within the VCSE sector so that it can be an equal partner in the BNSSG Integrated Care System (ICS). The objectives of the service are:
a. Provide VCSE structure / interface with VCSE sector and ICS - through culture, planning, decision-making, new models and innovation / improvement.
b. Support co-design and implementation of strategic commissioning and strategic developments, including the BNSSG VCSE Vision, Healthier Together 2040 and neighbourhood health.
- The Commissioner's intention is to source a single contract with a single contracting entity, for a service that will cover the entire BNSSG area.
- The service will be for three years and will start in the early part of the 26/27 FY.
- The following should be noted:
a. The VCSE sector in BNSSG is estimated to number 8,000 independent, diverse VCSE organisations, 80% of which are micro and small (with annual turnover up to £100,000, employing up to 5 people).
b. The BNSSG VCSE Vision and its goals (culture, planning, decision-making, new models and innovation / improvement) provide the framework for the VCSE Structure & Strategy service.
c. Activities similar to those to be commissioned are currently provided through a grant-funding arrangement between BNSSG ICB and the BNSSG VCSE Alliance. The VCSE Alliance is a collaboration between the ICB and the VCSE sector, which aims to
i. Encourage and enable the VCSE sector to work in a coordinated way to inform policy, strategy and decision-making.
ii. Provide the NHS and health and social care colleagues with a simple route of contact, engagement, and links to community.
iii. Better position the VCSE sector to contribute to the design and delivery of integrated care.
- Work is progressing to create the new ICB from the NHS BNSSG ICB and the NHS Gloucestershire ICB. The detail of the new ICB will become clear over time and it is possible that the VCSE Structure & Strategy service will need to include Gloucestershire as well as BNSSG.
- It is not possible to state that TUPE will or will not apply at this stage, as the requirements of the VCSE Structure & Strategy service will develop after this notice and market engagement.
- Following this exercise, the BNSSG ICB intends to hold pre-market engagement for another service: the "VCSE Support & Deliver service". In summary, the purpose (provisional) of the VCSE Support & Deliver service is to have a mature VCSE provider market in the form of a framework, that can deliver wellbeing / health outcomes through health and care services / activities in BNSSG. The objectives (provisional) of the service are:
a. Enable and support VCSE collaborations / partnerships to deliver in neighbourhoods and communities.
b. Test and provide approaches to targeted capacity building / market development support for priority VCSE organisations / communities.
c. Provide services that support wellbeing / health programmes to reach diverse and mature VCSE market and VCSE organisations to make innovative proposals for delivery.
- Early estimate envelope of c. £120k per annum, for a term of 3-years, totalling £360k. These figures are provided as a means for providers to ascertain scale and are highly liable to change before any formal procurement process is undertaken.
- The Commissioner is seeking for all interested parties to register their interest and provide responses to a supplementary market engagement questionnaire. Access detail have been included in the "Engagement" section of this notice. The Commissioner encourages all interested parties to engage with this process, be it potential prime providers, interested subcontractors or even parties who do not wish to bid but believe they may be impacted by this service.
This exercise is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner.
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How NHS Bristol North Somerset & South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board buys Health and social work services (CPV 85), and who usually turns up
NHS Bristol North Somerset & South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board’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: Health and social work services (CPV 85) →
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.
Here, local means registered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South West England. More of this buyer’s work stays local than in this market: 68% against 50%, n=81.
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 64 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 bid14% / 22%
2–343% / 37%
4–629% / 23%
7+14% / 18%
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 estimate25% / 33%
Within ±2%75% / 66%
Above estimate0% / 2%
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 #1Published estimate£288k
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 239 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid22%
2–337%
4–623%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLPEarlier contract | NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB) Provision of the Internal Audit Servicesnotice published May 2025 | — | £385k | Matched as the earlier contract |
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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
61% title match.
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.
61% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (61% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB) Provision of the Internal Audit Services — held by RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP; no contract end date published.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 27 Oct 2025, 08:25 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Oct 2025, 08:25 GMT
- Authority reference
C397214- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-068390- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05d3d3Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
27 Oct 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published360 days ago27 Oct 2025, 08:25 GMT
- Market engagement331 days ago24 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
Interested providers will be able to view this opportunity via the live opportunities list on the 'Health Family' e-procurement system, Atamis. Click on 'View our Live Opportunities' from the home page, available on the following link: health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗.
Once you have found the opportunity (via the search function, using the title or reference number), to gain full access to the relevant information and market engagement questionnaire, you will need to click on 'Register interest' - this will take you to the log-in page.
If you are not already registered on the system, you will need to do so before gaining full access to the documentation and to be able to submit your expression of interest / market engagement questionnaire using the placeholder provider within Atamis.
This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit the Authority or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. The Contracting Authority is looking to establish what interest there might be in providing such a service from suitably qualified, capable and competent organisations.
The Contracting Authority will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise. Interested parties should note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an automatic invitation to any subsequent formal procurement, which the commissioners will consider in due course.
- Tender notice expected204 days ago31 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts204 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Oct 2025, 08:25 GMTUK2
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
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (hosted by NHS England)Beneficiary authority
- NHS South Central and West CSUProcuring entityProcurement Support
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender