Award

Literature review and guidance for communicating health-risks during Chemical, B

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

05 Mar 2026 at 13:42

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has completed a public procurement process for a service titled "Literature review and guidance for communicating health-risks during Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) recovery." This contract specifically falls under the Social research services category, with the procurement taking place through a selective method, namely a call-off from a framework agreement. The contract, valued at £30,000, has been awarded to Thinks Insight and Strategy (Britain Thinks) Limited. It ran from 12th January 2026 to 31st March 2026, covering various locations including the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, and broader territories such as Europe and British Overseas Territories. The award, marked as active, was published on 5th March 2026, indicating the finalisation of the procurement process.

This tender opens diverse opportunities for businesses specialising in social research services, particularly those experienced in handling complex communications scenarios like those involving Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear incidents. While small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary community social enterprises (VCSEs) were not targeted for this procurement, larger established consultancy firms with a strong track record in crisis communication and health-risk communication could find similar service opportunities beneficial for expanding their reach and enhancing their portfolio. Given Defra’s pivotal role in managing environmental challenges, engaging in such contracts could position firms strategically within the realm of governmental crisis management and recovery efforts.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Literature review and guidance for communicating health-risks during Chemical, B

Notice Description

Literature review and guidance for communicating health-risks during Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) recovery The National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) risk register describes the most significant types of risk the UK could face. Defra is responsible for recovery from a range of risks within the NSRA related to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents. This usually includes policy and operational responsibility for environmental remediation and decontamination following major CBRN incidents. Throughout recovery, Defra may need to provide technical risk information for other government departments to inform their decision-making and communication of health-risks with the public. Effective communication is critical because the framing used in risk communications will influence the public's interpretation of risk. This, in turn, will impact critical recovery behaviours such as willingness to return to impacted areas and compliance with safety protocols. Due to the rarity of large-scale CBRN incidents, direct evidence into effective communication for CBRN contexts is scarce. Currently, the evidence informing CBRN recovery communications predominantly relies on guidance for other crisis contexts. One key limitation of this guidance for CBRN recovery contexts, is that it focuses on predominantly preparedness on response. For example, a key resource for informing crisis communications currently is "Crisis communication: A behavioural approach", which provides an overview of theory and practical considerations for communicating during crisis contexts. Whilst this guidance does include some considerations for communicating risk, these considerations mainly focus on encouraging protective behaviours by increasing risk-perception. This is useful for crisis preparedness and response, but is less suited to recovery, where communications must also de-escalate risk to promote safe return, normalisation, and trust in decontamination operations. Additionally, current guidance does not account for the unique nature of risks associated with CBRN incidents. The risks posed by CBRN agents differ to many of the risks in other crises as they usually have less immediate impacts (as is the case for RN incidents), and/or are less well-understood by the public due to their complex and uncommon nature. This impacts risk-perception and the challenges facing effective communications. Due to the scarcity of evidence exploring CBRN communications in specific, it is still necessary to draw from evidence from other hazard and health-risk communication contexts as guidance does currently. However, the current guidance is lacking in that it does explore the applicability of this evidence to CBRN recovery contexts, nor provide sufficient detail into the communication of complex risks more broadly. This means it is still unclear which lessons to draw from other crisis/hazard communications guidance.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-a5ec663d-d2cc-45c0-b81d-660ec1b38767
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4edea78f-b4f0-44a1-b848-888cf36d7fd9
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Call-off from a framework agreement
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79315000 - Social research services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£30,000 Under £100K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£30,000 Under £100K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
5 Mar 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
20 Feb 2024Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
25 Feb 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
12 Jan 2026 - 31 Mar 2026 1-6 months
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 ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 4DF
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

THINKS INSIGHT AND STRATEGY (BRITAIN THINKS

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

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. 

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-b5fd17-a5ec663d-d2cc-45c0-b81d-660ec1b38767-2026-03-05T13:42:24Z",
    "date": "2026-03-05T13:42:24Z",
    "ocid": "ocds-b5fd17-a5ec663d-d2cc-45c0-b81d-660ec1b38767",
    "language": "en",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "tender": {
        "id": "CF-0616300D8d000003VQwdEAG",
        "title": "Literature review and guidance for communicating health-risks during Chemical, B",
        "description": "Literature review and guidance for communicating health-risks during Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) recovery The National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) risk register describes the most significant types of risk the UK could face. Defra is responsible for recovery from a range of risks within the NSRA related to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents. This usually includes policy and operational responsibility for environmental remediation and decontamination following major CBRN incidents. Throughout recovery, Defra may need to provide technical risk information for other government departments to inform their decision-making and communication of health-risks with the public. Effective communication is critical because the framing used in risk communications will influence the public's interpretation of risk. This, in turn, will impact critical recovery behaviours such as willingness to return to impacted areas and compliance with safety protocols. Due to the rarity of large-scale CBRN incidents, direct evidence into effective communication for CBRN contexts is scarce. Currently, the evidence informing CBRN recovery communications predominantly relies on guidance for other crisis contexts. One key limitation of this guidance for CBRN recovery contexts, is that it focuses on predominantly preparedness on response. For example, a key resource for informing crisis communications currently is \"Crisis communication: A behavioural approach\", which provides an overview of theory and practical considerations for communicating during crisis contexts. Whilst this guidance does include some considerations for communicating risk, these considerations mainly focus on encouraging protective behaviours by increasing risk-perception. This is useful for crisis preparedness and response, but is less suited to recovery, where communications must also de-escalate risk to promote safe return, normalisation, and trust in decontamination operations. Additionally, current guidance does not account for the unique nature of risks associated with CBRN incidents. The risks posed by CBRN agents differ to many of the risks in other crises as they usually have less immediate impacts (as is the case for RN incidents), and/or are less well-understood by the public due to their complex and uncommon nature. This impacts risk-perception and the challenges facing effective communications. Due to the scarcity of evidence exploring CBRN communications in specific, it is still necessary to draw from evidence from other hazard and health-risk communication contexts as guidance does currently. However, the current guidance is lacking in that it does explore the applicability of this evidence to CBRN recovery contexts, nor provide sufficient detail into the communication of complex risks more broadly. This means it is still unclear which lessons to draw from other crisis/hazard communications guidance.",
        "status": "complete",
        "classification": {
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "id": "79315000",
            "description": "Social research services"
        },
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "postalCode": "SW1P 4DF"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "British Oversea Territories"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Channel Islands"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Europe"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Isle of Man"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "Rest of the World"
                    },
                    {
                        "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "value": {
            "amount": 30000,
            "currency": "GBP"
        },
        "procurementMethod": "selective",
        "procurementMethodDetails": "Call-off from a framework agreement",
        "tenderPeriod": {
            "endDate": "2024-02-20T12:00:00Z"
        },
        "contractPeriod": {
            "startDate": "2026-01-12T00:00:00Z",
            "endDate": "2026-03-31T23:59:59+01:00"
        },
        "suitability": {
            "sme": false,
            "vcse": false
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services"
    },
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-CFS-281541",
            "name": "Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street",
                "locality": "London",
                "postalCode": "SW1P 4DF",
                "countryName": "UK"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "name": "Defra Group Commercial",
                "email": "procurement@defra.gov.uk",
                "telephone": "03459335577"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ]
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-CFS-309837",
            "name": "Thinks Insight and Strategy (Britain Thinks) Limited",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Thinks Insight and Strategy (Britain Thinks) Limited"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "West Wing, Somerset House, London WC2R 1HL"
            },
            "roles": [
                "supplier"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-CFS-281541",
        "name": "Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs"
    },
    "awards": [
        {
            "id": "ocds-b5fd17-a5ec663d-d2cc-45c0-b81d-660ec1b38767-1",
            "status": "active",
            "date": "2026-02-25T00:00:00Z",
            "datePublished": "2026-03-05T13:42:24Z",
            "value": {
                "amount": 30000,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "suppliers": [
                {
                    "id": "GB-CFS-309837",
                    "name": "Thinks Insight and Strategy (Britain Thinks) Limited"
                }
            ],
            "contractPeriod": {
                "startDate": "2026-01-12T00:00:00Z",
                "endDate": "2026-03-31T23:59:59+01:00"
            },
            "documents": [
                {
                    "id": "1",
                    "documentType": "awardNotice",
                    "description": "Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder",
                    "url": "https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4edea78f-b4f0-44a1-b848-888cf36d7fd9",
                    "datePublished": "2026-03-05T13:42:24Z",
                    "format": "text/html",
                    "language": "en"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}