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Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund Administration - Call off under the RM6322 - Fund Administration and Disbursement Services (FAADS) Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)

Department for Work & Pensions

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

29 Jul 2026 at 15:59

Award Notice
Award

12 Aug 2025 at 17:08

Award Notice
Tender

28 Nov 2022 at 12:26

Tender Notice
Planning

07 Mar 2022 at 22:45

Planning Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Work and Pensions commissioned administration of the Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund, a programme intended to test innovative approaches that help disabled people and people with health conditions move towards, enter and remain in work. The appointed service covers full programme management, including programme design and development, market engagement and promotion, grant application launch and assessment, award administration, evaluation, performance and financial monitoring, grant application refinement, and due diligence and counter-fraud services. The work supports grant-funded initiatives involving individuals, public, private, academic and third-sector organisations. Delivery covers England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is a public administration and contract administration services requirement, with the Department for Work and Pensions as the buyer and Crown Commercial Service managing the purchasing route.

The procurement is complete and was run as a further call-off competition under the RM6322 Fund Administration and Disbursement Services Dynamic Purchasing System, using a selective restricted procedure. The requirement was evaluated as the most economically advantageous tender: technical quality accounted for 60% and commercial considerations for 40%. The initial requirement was estimated at £4.25 million, while the wider DPS notice stated an estimated value of £280 million. Two active awards were recorded: Groundwork London Limited and Ernst and Young LLP. The Ernst and Young contract was signed on 17 July 2026 and is valued at £11.5 million; the Groundwork London contract was signed on 12 August 2025, with no contract value published here. The intended initial contract period was 20 months, with an option to extend by up to 24 months, subject to approval, funding and performance.

This award indicates demand for suppliers able to manage public innovation and grant programmes at national scale, rather than simply provide administrative support. Credible competitors would need capability across programme design, stakeholder and market engagement, grant application launch and refinement, assessment and award management, evaluation, performance and financial monitoring, and counter-fraud due diligence. Experience of generating robust evidence from innovative initiatives would be particularly relevant, as the fund is intended to identify approaches that could later be piloted and scaled. Suppliers should also be able to work with public, private, academic and third-sector organisations across all four UK nations. Compliance with Cyber Essentials is mandatory for relevant services, and bidders must be prepared to meet government security-classification requirements. Strong technical delivery, commercial discipline and equal-opportunity social value capability would support competitiveness.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund Administration - Call off under the RM6322 - Fund Administration and Disbursement Services (FAADS) Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)

Notice Description

These services relate to "light touch services" under the Light-Touch Regime as set out in Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, using common procurement vocabulary (CPV) codes. The Authority has conducted a call-off from the RM6322 Fund Administration and Disbursement Services Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for this requirement.<br/><br/>The Department for Work and Pensions "The Authority" has awarded a contract to deliver the Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund which aims to stimulate new ideas and test innovative approaches to supporting disabled people and those with health conditions towards, into and to remain in work. It responds to the widening disability employment gap and rising economic inactivity linked to long-term sickness. The Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund seeks to build evidence of what works through a wide range of grant funded initiatives across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, open to individuals, public, private, academic and third-sector organisations. <br/><br/>The key objective of the Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund will be to generate evidence of what works through the testing of approaches and ideas that have the potential to be piloted formally (gaining sufficient evidence) and then scaled up. Such evidence would be used to inform future policies that are aimed at supporting disabled people and those with health conditions towards and into work.

Lot Information

Lot 1

This procurement aims to appoint a Supplier to provide full programme management of the Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund. The Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund Administration Supplier will be required to provide the expertise and capability to make sure that the available funding is used to generate as much quality evidence as possible from genuinely innovative Initiatives via the Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund. Full programme management will include the following service requirements:
(a) Design and development.
(b) Market engagement and promotion.
(c) Application, assessment and award services.
(d) Evaluation services.
(e) Due diligence counter fraud services.

The initial value of the Pathways to Work: Innovation Fund Administration requirement is PS4.25m and has been procured as a further call-off competition under the RM6322 - Fund Administration and Disbursement Services (FAADS) Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS).

The Authority is awarding a contract for the services for an initial period of 20 months with an option (subject to governance approval, available funding and satisfactory performance) for the Authority to extend the contract for a further period of up to 24 months by giving the Supplier written notice of no less than 3 Months before the initial period of the contract expires, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the provisions of the Contract.

The award criteria is based on the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) using a Relative Assessment model. The Technical Envelope equates to 60% of the total evaluation score and the Commercial Envelope equates to 40% of the total evaluation score.

Renewal: Buyers may enter into a contract with a Supplier for a period of their determining which may exceed the RM6322 Fund Administration & Disbursement DPS Agreement, should this agreement be terminated at any time. The flexibility of the contracting period allows Buyers to determine appropriate contracting timelines required to enable the Supplier to meet Buyers needs.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-031eea
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071846-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Planning Notice
Procurement Type
Dynamic
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Restricted procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

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

CPV Codes

75100000 - Administration services

79994000 - Contract administration services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£280,000,000 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£11,500,000 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
29 Jul 20264 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
27 Nov 20305 years to go
Future Notice Date
5 Dec 2022Expired
Award Date
12 Aug 20251 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Department for Work & Pensions
Additional Buyers

London Borough of Merton

The Minister for the Cabinet Office acting through Crown Commercial Service

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LIVERPOOL
Postcode
SW1H 9NA
Postcode Area
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
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England), TLL Wales, TLM Scotland, TLN Northern Ireland
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
2
Supplier Names

Ernst and Young LLP

Groundwork London Limited

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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