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999 Risk Assessment

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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22 Sep 2026 at 10:59

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) commissioned an independent network and cyber risk assessment of the UK Public Emergency Call Service (PECS), accessed through 999 and 112. The work covers the end-to-end emergency call chain, including communication providers, BT as the centralised handling authority, and emergency authority control rooms for police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services. It is intended to improve understanding of risks, particularly at the interfaces between organisations, systems and contractual responsibilities, and to support the resilience of this critical national service. The assessment concerns complex telecommunications infrastructure, including legacy TDM/PSTN networks and newer IP and cloud technologies. Delivery may cover the United Kingdom and associated international locations.

This procurement is complete and was awarded on 14 August 2026 to ACTICA CONSULTING. The contract value is £199,020 including the stated currency of GBP, for a period from 3 September 2026 to 31 March 2028. The requirement was procured as a selective call-off from a dynamic purchasing system. The tender submission deadline was 31 July 2026 at 1pm. DSIT identified the services as research and development and related consultancy services. The opportunity was marked as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. The award is active, and the published outcome records ACTICA CONSULTING as the selected supplier. The procurement was for services rather than goods or works.

This requirement indicates demand for independent consultancy combining cyber security, telecommunications resilience and whole-system risk assessment. Relevant suppliers would need to understand how fixed-line, mobile and VoIP networks originate and route emergency calls, how centralised call handling connects with emergency authorities, and how risks arise across organisational and contractual boundaries. Credible capability would include assessing legacy TDM/PSTN infrastructure alongside IP and cloud technologies, analysing dependencies between multiple operators and public services, and turning technical findings into practical risk information and response arrangements. Experience of critical national infrastructure, public emergency services, telecoms operations or major incident reviews would be directly relevant. Suppliers should also be able to work independently with government, regulators, communication providers, BT and emergency-service stakeholders.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

999 Risk Assessment

Notice Description

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) is seeking to commission an independent Network and Cyber Risk Assessment of the UK Public Emergency Call Service (PECS), accessed via 999 and 112. PECS is the public's primary route to emergency help and is a critical national service relied on by the public, emergency services, Government and industry. Around 37 million 999/112 calls were made in 2025. This procurement is funded through the Integrated Security Fund (ISF) and is being led by DSIT's Telecoms Security and Resilience team within the Digital Infrastructure Directorate. DSIT leads UK Government policy on the resilience of the 999 service and provides the secretariat for the 999/112 Liaison Committee. The Committee brings together lead Government departments, Ofcom, emergency services, BT as the call handling agent, Communication Providers, devolved administrations and other relevant organisations. It provides a forum for technical and operational oversight of PECS, supports escalation of issues across the system, and maintains the PECS Code of Practice. On 25 June 2023, BT experienced a major technical failure affecting its role as the Centralised Handling Authority (CHA) for 999 calls in the UK. The fault lasted for over ten hours and resulted in almost 10,000 unique callers being unable to reach 999 or 112. This was the first significant disruption to the service in nearly 90 years. The outage prompted significant public concern and formal review activity, including Ofcom's review and Government's post-incident review. Those reviews highlighted weaknesses in cross-system visibility, response arrangements and the absence of a single set of comprehensive procedures or risk information across the end-to-end call chain. The 999/112 call chain is a multi-organisation system involving several interdependent parties: - Communication Providers (CPs) - who originate and route 999 calls from fixed-line, mobile, and VoIP networks; - BT as the Centralised Handling Authority (CHA) - which receives, triages and routes calls to the appropriate emergency authority; - Emergency Authorities (EAs) and their control rooms - including Police, Fire, Ambulance and Coastguard - which receive and handle the calls. In broad terms, a caller dials 999 or 112; the originating Communication Provider transfers the call to BT's CHA switch sites; BT's 999 call handling operation identifies the appropriate Emergency Authority and routes the call onward; and the receiving Emergency Authority control room determines and coordinates the emergency response. Risks can arise at any point in this chain, but are particularly likely to emerge at the interfaces between organisations, systems and contractual responsibilities. Section 2 Specification of Requirements OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Each segment relies on complex telecommunications infrastructure, a mix of legacy TDM/PSTN and next-generation IP/cloud technologies, and mu

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-40a43d60-17dc-479a-93fe-258e9efea7d0
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0d8130e5-af61-45d5-bb0f-1e3a86615274
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Dynamic
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Call-off from a dynamic purchasing system
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

CPV Codes

73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£199,020 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£199,020 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
22 Sep 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
14 Aug 20261 months ago
Contract Period
3 Sep 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
MANCHESTER
Postcode
M3 5BS
Postcode Area
Manchester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD34 Greater Manchester South West
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Salford
Electoral Ward
Blackfriars & Trinity
Westminster Constituency
Salford

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Actica Consulting Ltd

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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