Award

Management and Delivery of a Belfast Citywide Appeals Service

BELFAST CITY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

26 Nov 2025 at 09:26

TenderUpdate

22 Sep 2025 at 10:23

Tender

11 Sep 2025 at 09:44

Planning

28 Jul 2025 at 08:06

Planning

09 Jun 2025 at 06:51

Summary of the contracting process

Belfast City Council procured the "Management and Delivery of a Belfast Citywide Appeals Service" through an open procedure, concluding with the contract award on 26th November 2025. This procurement falls under the services category, with a focus on community services, particularly those related to civic betterment and support. The procurement is governed by the UK Procurement Act 2023, and the appointed supplier is "Advice Space", a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) based in Belfast. The contract period is set to start on 1st April 2026 and run through 31st March 2028, with options for renewal up to 2030. This contract seeks experienced contractors to deliver high-quality advisory and representation services in appeals across a range of issues such as welfare benefits, housing, and health, ensuring accessibility and confidentiality for clients.

This tender presents significant business growth opportunities for SMEs specialised in community services and capable of providing advisory support to a diverse population. The procurement process was open, enabling fair competition among qualified service providers. Businesses with a strong background in telecommunications, face-to-face counselling, and those capable of leveraging modern technologies for client engagement are particularly well-suited to compete in similar future procurements. The potential to extend the contract further underscores the long-term business relationship opportunities with Belfast City Council, offering stability and a platform for SMEs looking to expand their service reach within the public sector.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Management and Delivery of a Belfast Citywide Appeals Service

Notice Description

This procurement is in relation to the management and delivery of a Belfast Citywide Appeals Service. Belfast City Council wishes to appoint an experienced Contractor who will provide suitably qualified advisors and administration support, to provide an accessible, high quality, confidential Belfast City appeals service that will provide support for people to prepare cases that will be considered by the Appeals Service administered by the Court Service (Northern Ireland), and provide representation at relevant appeals, ensuring an effective appeals service for clients.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: If required, Council reserves the right to add additional requirements to the management and delivery of the Service under this Contract during the Contract Period including but not limited to: * Additional services:- changes associated with the Appeals Service that would accommodate changes to policies, procedures and working practices around the Welfare Benefits' System. The Council reserves the right to add or remove objectives to or from the Contract in line with requirements. Any contract variation may be subject to further Council internal approvals and be in accordance with the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023.

Renewal: The Council reserves the right to extend/renew the Contract up to a further two periods of twelve months. Any extension may be subject to further approval by Council Committee, availability of funding and satisfactory performance of the Contractor.

Planning Information

​​As previously mentioned, the Council wishes to appoint an experienced Contractor to manage and deliver a Belfast Citywide Appeals Service, which will cover a full range of issues including benefits, appeals / tribunal support and representation, basic money and debt, consumer issues, basic immigration, administration of justice, human rights, employment, housing, education and health & disability​ The aim is to have a contract that will run for a maximum of 4.5 years to provide flexible delivery of the service with engagement with clients, based on individual needs and circumstances, by telephone, face-to-face, on-line, etc. making use of technology and modern methods of delivery / engagement. The service will make use of mechanisms that will enable referrals, linking clients with the required appeals support around issues that include, debt, employment, housing, education, health and disability, immigration and complex social security issues. With the appropriately qualified advisors, the service should be delivered in premises that are fully disabled accessible; have private interview room/s; be in a location which is accessible by public transport and considered neutral and acceptable to all sections of the community; have appropriate facilities for storage of confidential information and equipment; open five days per week with at least one early evening or weekend session. The Council will be holding a consultation session at 11am on Wednesday 13th August 2025. The session will be a short presentation on MS Teams, which will give a brief overview of the requirements of the new Citywide Appeals Service and an overview of the procurement process, including an indicative timeline. Representatives from the Councils Community Support and Commercial and Procurement Services teams will be present. Those interested in attending should register their interest by sending an email “FAO Rachel Crothers” to cps@belfastcity.gov.uk no later than 4pm Tuesday 11th August 2025.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0544e3
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077080-2025
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
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

98 - Other community, social and personal services


CPV Codes

75200000 - Provision of services to the community

98000000 - Other community, social and personal services

98133100 - Civic betterment and community facility support services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,080,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£1,080,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£1,296,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
26 Nov 20251 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
23 Oct 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
1 Sep 2025Expired
Award Date
26 Nov 20251 weeks ago
Contract Period
31 Mar 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
2029-08-01

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
BELFAST CITY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
cps@belfastcity.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
BELFAST
Postcode
BT2 8DJ
Post Town
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN06 Belfast
Delivery Location
TLN06 Belfast

Local Authority
Belfast
Electoral Ward
Central
Westminster Constituency
Belfast South and Mid Down

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ADVICE SPACE

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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