Award

Smokefree County Durham

DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

09 Jan 2026 at 08:01

Tender

21 Oct 2025 at 07:26

Planning

24 May 2025 at 16:24

Summary of the contracting process

Durham County Council is initiating a significant public procurement process to enhance health and social work services with the "Smokefree County Durham" programme. This contract is a re-procurement phase, aiming to deliver specialist stop smoking support services across County Durham. The procurement process is governed by the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, indicating an open procedure. The process has reached the "Award" stage, with the intention to award the contract to THRIVE TRIBE LIMITED. The contract, valued at £10,000,000, covers the period from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2029, with the possibility of extension for three additional 12-month periods. Key deadlines for representations are set for 20th January 2026. The service includes evidence-based interventions, behavioural support, and pharmacotherapy for quit attempts, along with additional initiatives like regional app-based support and training of support providers, predominantly for residents in County Durham.

This procurement offers substantial opportunities for businesses proficient in health and social services, particularly those with expertise in implementing smoking cessation programmes. The successful supplier, THRIVE TRIBE LIMITED, a large-scale provider from London, reflects opportunity for business growth for large organisations capable of managing comprehensive health support systems. Companies that can offer innovative solutions for health engagement, marketing strategies, and detailed data management will find this an attractive contract. The process encourages collaboration across healthcare sectors and engagement in developing sustainable health initiatives, thus presenting a competitive edge to firms with a strategic focus on health outcomes and social value within the public sector.

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Notice Title

Smokefree County Durham

Notice Description

This notice is an intention to award a contract under the competitive process under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. This is re-procurement of an existing service being awarded to a new provider and the contract period is 1/4/2026 - 31/3/2029 with an option to extend for a further 3 periods of 12 months each from the actual end date subject to funding and commissioner approval. The estimated contract value is PS10,000,000. The specialist stop smoking support service is for people who live / work in County Durham, and is comprised of evidence-based interventions including behavioural support and access to pharmacotherapy to support quit attempts. The service is to offer support that includes dedicated Stop Smoking Advisors (Level 3 provision) - responsible for direct support to key target groups. The Provider will be responsible for a coordinated approach to delivery of stop smoking support including but not limited to: *Promotion of services through the coordination and management of effective marketing and communications strategies. *Development and maintenance of local referral pathways and networks across a range of services including primary and secondary care within the NHS. *Direct provision of specialist stop-smoking support for targeted groups and people with complex needs. *Management, payment and coordination of universal stop smoking support provision (Level 2). *Provision of the recruitment, training, support and resource for the Vape + and NRT + offer (Level 1.5). *Sub-contract of the Smokefree App, or equivalent in consultation with commissioners, to ensure that there is a coordinated regional approach to app-based support to compliment behavioural support for those in service, but also to provide self-support for those who are not ready or do not feel that traditional stop smoking service support is for them. *Training of stop smoking support providers. *Building capacity of the wider health and social care workforce (Primary Care Networks, acute trust, mental health trust), and voluntary and community sector in very brief advice. *Contribution to place-based and settings work facilitated by Public Health. *Development of and access to self-help support, including, but not limited to the Smokefree App. *Coordination and management of data collection for the quarterly submissions to the Department of Health and Social Care. *Management of referrals and allocation to the correct advisor. *Membership of the Tobacco Control Alliance. *Supply a case management system from Year 2 of the contract. This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The standstill period begins on the day after the publication of this notice. Five tenders were received of which one was successful. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by midnight on the 20th January 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award a contract under the competitive process of the PSR. There were no conflicts of interest identified. Decision makers were officers of the Public Health team and Commissioning Team. The evaluation criteria included : contract specific essential pass/fail criteria seven technical questions - 100% (1. Quality & Innovation 25%, 2. Value 10%, 3. Integration, Collaboration and Service Sustainability 20%, 4. Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice 20%, 5. Performance Monitoring 15%, 6. Social Value 5%, 7. County Durham Approach to Wellbeing 5%) Pricing - Pass / Fail Criteria Five tenders were received of which one was successful. Written representations should be raised via the correspondence section on Open (www.open-uk.org) on the Smokefree County Durham project.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: *Funding for these services is reliant upon the continued availability of funds from the Council's Public Health core budget. Funding amounts and sources are uncertain over the contract term, including available extensions, and therefore DCC may need to invoke either contract extensions, modifications or termination as permitted under the relevant sections of the contract terms and conditions. At the Council's discretion, should the Council acquire further funding, including from different sources, additional services may be required and may differ to that detailed in the Specification but will fall under the remit or compliment delivery of stop smoking services. The Council reserves the right to apply inflationary uplifts to the contract value at its sole discretion and will be based upon the availability of funding and commissioning priorities. The Council reserves the right to modify the contract specification if new legislation and/or guidance regarding stop smoking services is published by the Government and or Governing Bodies. The case management system must meet the essential requirements of Appendix B, as a minimum however, please note, Appendix B requirements may change subject to policy, legislation and future needs and should be reviewed with commissioners before proceeding.

Renewal: The proposed contract is to be let with an option to extend for a further 3 periods of 12 months each from the actual end date subject to funding and commissioner approval.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0525b2
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001668-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services


CPV Codes

85000000 - Health and social work services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£10,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£10,000,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
£10,000,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
9 Jan 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
21 Nov 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
1 Jan 2026Expired
Award Date
7 Jan 20261 months ago
Contract Period
31 Mar 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
2031-10-01

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
corporate.procurement@durham.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

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), TLC14 Durham

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

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

THRIVE TRIBE

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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