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NEPO537 Payments, Appointeeships & Disbursements Services (PADS)

THE ASSOCIATION OF NORTH EAST COUNCILS LIMITED

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Tender

03 Mar 2026 at 12:38

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

24 Nov 2025 at 16:01

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Association of North East Councils Limited, in collaboration with Leicestershire County Council (trading as ESPO) and Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO), is actively seeking to establish a competitive framework agreement titled "NEPO537 Payments, Appointeeships & Disbursements Services (PADS)" within the services sector. The procurement process, currently in the tender stage, indicates involvement in financial and insurance services, financial information systems, and magnetic card sectors, focusing primarily on transactional and payment solutions. The process offers several delivery locations including the United Kingdom, Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey, with key dates such as the expression of interest deadline on 2nd April 2026 and an enquiry period ending on 24th March 2026.

This tender presents substantial opportunities for organisations adept in digital payment systems, appointeeship management, and financial consultancy services, particularly those capable of delivering comprehensive prepaid, corporate, and appointeeship payment solutions across large territories. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) with proven capacity in services ranging from magnetic card services to enterprise resource planning software are well-suited to compete. The competitive flexible procedure provides a platform for businesses to innovate, negotiate, and refine solutions, fostering growth and establishing long-term partnerships with leading public authorities throughout the UK.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

NEPO537 Payments, Appointeeships & Disbursements Services (PADS)

Notice Description

NEPO in collaboration with ESPO and YPO are seeking to establish a new solution in relation to the supply of Prepaid, Corporate and Appointeeship payments. It is envisaged that the solution will comprise four lots: Lot 1 - Prepaid Payments, providing prepaid card accounts that operate like standard debit cards but without an overdraft facility, enabling secure, controlled fund disbursement; Lot 2 - Corporate Payments, offering commercial procurement cards (P-Cards) to streamline purchasing, enhance spend visibility and deliver process efficiencies; Lot 3 - Appointeeship & Deputyship Accounts, designed to manage direct payments, appointee and deputyship programmes, with strong safeguarding, spend controls, and real-time monitoring; Lot 4 - Fund Disbursements, enabling authorities to make high-volume, secure, and instant digital payments for purposes such as grants, payroll, hardship funds, and emergency support.

Lot Information

Lot 1 - Prepaid Payments

Prepaid Payments provide Contracting Authorities with a controlled mechanism for distributing and managing funds by preloading balances for use across approved payment channels. Solutions may support physical and virtual payment instruments and enable payments to merchants, service providers and individuals, including online and in-person transactions, bill payments and, where required, cash withdrawals, without extending credit or overdraft facilities.

Renewal: A period of 48 months with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months. The Framework Agreement is anticipated to exceed 48 months in duration. This is due to the commercial and contractual complexity of the Framework Agreement combined with the cost of administrating the procurement for NEPO, ESPO, YPO, Contracting Authorities and Suppliers.

Corporate Payments

Corporate Payments (aka Commercial Procurement Cards, P-Cards, Purchasing Cards, Corporate Cards) provide public sector organisations with a secure and efficient mechanism for managing and settling operational expenditure outside of traditional purchase to pay processes. These solutions support a range of payment types and instruments, enabling the controlled purchase of goods and services while aligning with public sector governance, transparency and audit requirements. Corporate Payments typically operate using a centrally managed credit or settlement arrangement established by the Contracting Authority with the payment provider. Transactions are consolidated and settled on an agreed billing cycle, providing visibility of spend at both organisational and transactional levels. The timing of settlement may influence any applicable rebates or commercial benefits, incentivising timely reconciliation and effective financial management.

Renewal: A period of 48 months with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months. The Framework Agreement is anticipated to exceed 48 months in duration. This is due to the commercial and contractual complexity of the Framework Agreement combined with the cost of administrating the procurement for NEPO, ESPO, YPO, Contracting Authorities and Suppliers.

Appointee & Deputyship Accounts

This lot is designed to address the complex, sensitive, and often high-risk financial requirements associated with supporting vulnerable individuals and households. It encompasses the disbursement, management, and oversight of funds provided by Contracting Authorities to individuals eligible for social care and related support, including direct payments, personal budgets, and managed or partially managed accounts. This lot will enable Contracting Authorities to manage funds efficiently, securely, and in a timely manner, supporting personalisation by empowering recipients to arrange and manage their own care and support services in line with assessed needs and statutory guidance. This lot includes support for Appointeeship and Deputyship arrangements, where individuals require support to manage their financial affairs. In such cases, Contracting Authorities or formally appointed representatives act as Corporate Appointees or Deputies, enabling them to manage day-to-day expenditure on behalf of service users.

Renewal: A period of 48 months with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months. The Framework Agreement is anticipated to exceed 48 months in duration. This is due to the commercial and contractual complexity of the Framework Agreement combined with the cost of administrating the procurement for NEPO, ESPO, YPO, Contracting Authorities and Suppliers.

Fund Disbursements

This lot is focused on enabling Contracting Authorities to deliver fast, secure and controlled Fund Disbursements using modern payment mechanisms. The primary outcome is to improve the speed, accessibility and effectiveness of distributing funds at scale, while maintaining strong governance, transparency and value for money. This lot will support the disbursement of funds for a range of use cases, including grants, hardship funds, emergency assistance, payroll-related payments (where applicable), and other targeted financial interventions. Supplier solutions should enable Contracting Authorities to distribute funds quickly through secure digital channels, particularly in time-critical or high-volume scenarios, while retaining appropriate oversight and assurance. This includes the provision of physical or digital Vouchers, Wallets and other similar Fund Disbursement mechanisms that can be issued individually or in bulk and delivered instantly via channels such as email, SMS or QR code. Solutions should enable real-time visibility of issuance and redemption, configurable controls over where and how funds can be used, and straightforward reconciliation to support audit and financial management.

Renewal: A period of 48 months with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months. The Framework Agreement is anticipated to exceed 48 months in duration. This is due to the commercial and contractual complexity of the Framework Agreement combined with the cost of administrating the procurement for NEPO, ESPO, YPO, Contracting Authorities and Suppliers.

Planning Information

NEPO intends to hold meetings with interested suppliers via Microsoft Teams during the period from week commencing 1st December 2025 to 9th January 2026. A presentation will be given by NEPO and there will be an opportunity to ask questions in the session. Time slots will be provided to those whom express an interest in attending a session by contacting corporate.services@nepo.org. Attendance at the Microsoft Teams meeting is optional and does not provide suppliers with an advantage in any future related procurement. Attendance also does not constitute as an intention to tender for any future related procurement. Please note the above information may be subject to change and is indicative only. NEPO also intend to publish a preliminary market engagement questionnaire via Open e-Tendering system (www.open-uk.org). (https://www.open uk.org).) The questionnaire responses will help NEPO design the framework by providing the level of market interest and provide insight from suppliers on the shaping of the future provision. The questionnaire will be made accessible via the Open e-Tendering system on 5th December 2025 with a submission deadline of 12:00 noon on 9th January. Suppliers wishing to access and complete the questionnaire must first register on the e-Tendering system using the following link https://www.open uk.org (https://www.open-uk.org) For guidance on how to create an account or submit your questionnaire response through Open, please visit https://www.open-hub.org/training (https://www.open-hub.org/training) to access the available Training Guides. If you need technical assistance from the Open Support team, this can be requested via open.support@nepo.org. PLEASE NOTE: Open is accessible 24/7 however, technical support is available Monday to Thursday 08:30 - 17:00 and Friday 08:30 - 16:30.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e7b7
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018905-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

30 - Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages

48 - Software package and information systems

66 - Financial and insurance services

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

CPV Codes

30160000 - Magnetic cards

48812000 - Financial information systems

66000000 - Financial and insurance services

66110000 - Banking services

66133000 - Processing and clearing services

66171000 - Financial consultancy services

66172000 - Financial transaction processing and clearing-house services

72212451 - Enterprise resource planning software development services

72222300 - Information technology services

72261000 - Software support services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£6,000,000,000 £1B-£10B
Lots Value
£6,000,000,000 £1B-£10B
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
3 Mar 20267 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
24 Jan 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
20 Sep 2026 - 20 Sep 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE ASSOCIATION OF NORTH EAST COUNCILS LIMITED
Additional Buyers

Leicestershire County Council

YPO

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

Buyer Location

Locality
GATESHEAD
Postcode
NE8 3DF
Postcode Area
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
Not specified
Local Authority
Gateshead
Electoral Ward
Bridges
Westminster Constituency
Gateshead Central and Whickham

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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