Planning

001236 - Soft Market Testing Exercise for the Provision of a Deputy and Appointee Banking and Software Solution

DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

20 Mar 2025 at 11:05

Summary of the contracting process

Durham County Council is in the planning stage of a public procurement process to identify potential solutions for the provision of a Deputy and Appointee banking and software solution. The industry category for this procurement falls under software packages and information systems, as well as banking and investment services. The procurement process commenced on 20th March 2025, with key market engagement sessions scheduled to conclude by 30th April 2025. The project location is the United Kingdom, specifically within the Durham region.

This tender offers significant business growth opportunities for companies specialising in financial software solutions and banking services that are suitable for both SMEs and VCSEs. Companies providing innovative and integrated systems for managing financial transactions and virtual accounts would be well-placed to compete. With the contract period starting in October 2025 and running until September 2029, this represents a substantial and attractive long-term business engagement opportunity.

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Notice Title

001236 - Soft Market Testing Exercise for the Provision of a Deputy and Appointee Banking and Software Solution

Notice Description

Durham County Council Deputy and Appointee Team (DAT) are exploring banking and software solutions to support the Deputy and Appointee functions of its customers. Currently, we support circa 950 customers with appointeeship or deputyship in any financial year. The DAT are responsible for managing the finances, including all daily living expenses and household bills, for individuals deemed to lack capacity to manage their financial affairs. Individual need will vary from monthly personal allowance payments to individuals who require their funds to be paid daily. For appointee cases, the DAT will access Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits and for CoP cases, this can range from investment accounts, private pensions, existing individual bank accounts and DWP benefits, and will also include property as applicable. Our current operating model is as follows: * One main bank account for Durham County Council (DCC). * All payments/income are paid into the main DCC bank account. * Support function to translate one main bank account into 950 individual virtual accounts and undertake reconciliation activity. * Software package as Client Record Management System (CRMS). * Pre-paid cards to make individual payments to customers daily, weekly, monthly. * Individual reconciliation of pre-paid card payments and transactions to individual virtual accounts. We are looking for an incorporated system for all financial transactions for our customers, reducing the duplication, interdependencies, and potential multiple impacts of the current system. Previous system ref DN742339

Planning Information

Previous Soft Market Testing in the form of a SMT Questionnaire was completed in October 2024 (Under PCR2015) to try to identify potential market developments and available solutions for the Deputy & Appointee team to begin a review of their banking processes. As part of the next stages of this procurement activity, it is anticipated that unscored virtual demonstration sessions will be conducted with suitable suppliers as part of the market engagement prior to a procurement exercise being considered. These sessions are to take place in April 2025, should availability in-house and externally with the suitable suppliers allow.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04ef8f
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010338-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

66 - Financial and insurance services


CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

66100000 - Banking and investment services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Mar 202511 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
30 Apr 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
30 Sep 2025 - 30 Sep 2029 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
DURHAM
Postcode
DH1 5WB
Post Town
Durham
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLC North East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLC41 Durham
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England)

Local Authority
County Durham
Electoral Ward
Framwellgate and Newton Hall
Westminster Constituency
City of Durham

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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