Tender

009048 - Back Office Traffic Management System

NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

TenderUpdate

20 Nov 2025 at 13:05

Tender

20 Nov 2025 at 12:57

PlanningUpdate

29 Apr 2025 at 13:39

Planning

24 Apr 2025 at 13:03

Summary of the contracting process

Newcastle City Council is seeking bids for the provision of a Back Office Traffic Management System, a part of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) network for the North East Combined Authority. This procurement falls under the "services" category, focusing specifically on traffic-monitoring equipment and software-related services. The process is currently at the tender stage, with the submission deadline set for 15th December 2025. Interested parties should note that this is an open procedure, allowing for electronic submissions. The contract, valued at £500,000 to £600,000, intends to enhance traffic data processing and management across regions including Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, and more. The procurement aims to transition from the outdated 'Cortex' system to a secure, up-to-date alternative with expansions in capacity and functionality.

This tender represents a significant opportunity for businesses involved in traffic management, software development, and data processing services. SMEs and VCSEs are encouraged to participate, with suitability criteria favouring such organisations. The procurement encourages quality and price competitiveness, offering a clear opportunity for firms that provide innovative solutions and technical support tailored to the transport and infrastructure sector. With a contract period extending potentially until 2034, the project offers a long-term growth avenue with potential extensions, promoting further business expansion and innovation in traffic management solutions.

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Notice Title

009048 - Back Office Traffic Management System

Notice Description

Newcastle City Council has a requirement for the provision of a Back Office Traffic Management System. The Tyne and Wear UTMC facility since 2013 operates a large network of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras on behalf of the North East Combined Authority (NECA) across Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland. The ANPR back-office system is used to receive number plate reads in real-time and derive journey times and car park occupancy.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: + 24 months + 12 months + 12 months option to extend

Planning Information

Please submit a response on the OPEN portal www.open-uk.org (reference 009048 - Back Office Traffic Management System) Project # OPEN2025726 Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (UK2) Invitation to Suppliers for ANPR Back-Office System Purpose: Developing procurement requirements and approach Introduction: We are seeking expressions of interest from suppliers who can fulfil our requirements for an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) back-office system. This system will be used to derive journey times and car park occupancy. We aim to engage with suppliers to understand the capabilities available in the market and to develop our procurement requirements and approach. Background: The Tyne and Wear UTMC facility operates a large network of ANPR cameras on behalf of the North East Combined Authority (NECA). As of April 2025, the ANPR back-office system: • Accepts data from over 478 ANPR cameras. • Calculates travel times for over 466 Journey Time Links. • Calculates occupancy for over 21 Car Parks & Park and Ride locations. Data for camera faults, journey time links, and car park occupancy are outputted on a user interface and to the UTMC Common Database to help alert staff of faults, inform users of live travel times, change traffic signal timings, and set variable message signs. The data transfer is currently sent to UTMC via outdated CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) adapters. Several reporting tools in the back-office system are used by the UTMC and Car Parking Services teams, for example, to determine when a vehicle entered/exited a car park including duration of stay. The current network of ANPR cameras communicates to the back-office over: • 2.5G (GPRS) • 4G (LTE/LTE Advanced) • 5G (NR-SA/NR-NSA) Communications are via a private APN using fixed IP addresses from Mobius Vodafone/Telenor or via Northumbria Police O2 contract. All data sent to the server conforms to standard UTMC protocols for ANPR data objects. The current ANPR back-office system, Cortex, was developed and installed in 2013 and is hosted at Northumbria Police on behalf of UTMC. While Cortex is still functional, it no longer supports the required functions, several features have ceased to function correctly, and it does not conform to the latest web security standards due to the supplier ceasing trading. UTMC is looking to procure a next-generation ANPR back-office system that provides the same current functionality, but with the following improvements: • A secure, maintainable, and supported system conforming to the latest software and security standards. • Re-enable functions which have ceased working. • Added functionality and flexibility to support additional cameras, car parks, and journey time links. • Potential for future development of the system such as a detailed Origin and Destination reporting platform. The preferred hosting location for the ANPR back-office system is on servers at a Northumbria Police facility on behalf of the UTMC. The servers and software must be able to cope with existing and future demands as the system expands and keep up to date with current and evolving data security requirements. The supplier would be required to provide maintenance and support of the back-office system. Purpose and Intended Outcomes: The purpose of this engagement is to: • Gather information on available solutions and technologies. • Understand supplier capabilities and innovations. • Develop a robust procurement strategy that meets our needs. • Ensure compliance with sections 16 and 12 of the Act. Engagement Process: We invite suppliers to participate in this preliminary market engagement by providing detailed information on how their solutions can meet our requirements. The engagement will be conducted through a series of activities, including: 1. Digital Webinar for SMEs: • Date: [TBC] • Time: [TBC] • Platform: Microsoft Teams • Purpose: To provide Suppliers with an opportunity to present their solutions and engage in discussions. 2. Submission of Information: • Suppliers are requested to submit detailed information on their solutions, including technical specifications and case studies. • Deadline for submissions: [16/05/2025] Selection Criteria: To ensure compliance with sections 16 and 12 of the Act, the selection of suppliers to participate in further engagement activities will be based on the following criteria: • Relevance and Suitability of the Solution to Our Requirements: Please send a response (1000 word limit) outlining how well your solution meets our needs stated above, including hosting, maintenance, support, experience and expertise in ANPR systems, and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. • Your response will be evaluated against the below evaluation criteria and the top 3 suppliers will be invited to participate in further discussion. "Score - Classification 100 - Exceptional response in all areas 90 - Exceptional response with some minor shortcomings, or very good response with some exceptional elements 80 - Very good response in all areas 70 - Very good response with some minor shortcomings, or good response with very good elements 60 - Good response in all areas 50 - Good response with some minor shortcomings, or acceptable response with good elements 40 - Acceptable response in all areas 30 - Acceptable response with some minor shortcomings, or poor response with some acceptable elements 20 - Poor response in all areas 10 - Very poor response that is significantly below expectations in all areas 0 - No response, or inappropriate response in all areas" Next Steps: Selected suppliers will be invited to participate in further discussion. This will include detailed requirements gathering and solution demonstrations. Contact Information: For any queries or to express interest in participating, please contact: • Name: James Wood • Email: james.wood@newcastle.gov.uk We look forward to your participation and insights to help us develop a comprehensive procurement strategy for our ANPR back-office system. Please submit a response on the OPEN portal www.open-uk.org (reference 009048 - Back Office Traffic Management System) Project # OPEN2025726

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-050703
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075654-2025
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation

48 - Software package and information systems

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

34970000 - Traffic-monitoring equipment

48100000 - Industry specific software package

72212100 - Industry specific software development services

72260000 - Software-related services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Nov 20253 months ago
Submission Deadline
15 Dec 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
16 May 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Mar 2026 - 28 Feb 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
corporate.procurement.team@newcastle.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode
NE1 8QH
Post Town
Newcastle upon Tyne
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLC North East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLC43 Tyneside
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)

Local Authority
Newcastle upon Tyne
Electoral Ward
Monument
Westminster Constituency
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West

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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