Notice Information
Notice Title
Portsmouth Advice Service
Notice Description
Portsmouth City Council ('the council') is inviting tenders from suitably qualified suppliers to provide an open access social welfare advice service for adults in Portsmouth. The service will provide specialist and generalist advice to residents and improve outcomes for anyone living or working within the boundaries of the city and also be accessible by Portsmouth City Council (Portsmouth Homes) tenants accommodated outside of the city. Service background The purpose of the Service is to: "Provide the right advice and appropriate support to help me solve my problem". The Service will provide expert advice on housing, welfare benefits, debt, income maximisation, employment rights, general family issues, and consumer issues, and general advice on other queries, such as access to services and support. The service will hold registration with the Financial Conduct Authority for specialist debt counselling, and employ or have volunteers that are approved intermediaries for Debt Relief Orders. All advice provided must be completely free of charge, confidential and impartial. The Service will be accessible in-person from a central location(s) within Portsmouth, as well as by telephone, email, and other channels that meet customers' needs. Home visits will also be offered where deemed necessary and appropriate. The key outcomes for the service are centred around; financial wellbeing, housing stability, access to rights and entitlements, family and social stability, health and wellbeing, digital and self-advocacy, and service/system level outcomes. The service will aim to provide early help to prevent customers reaching crisis point, and for those customers in crisis, it will help them to find solutions and address the underlying root causes to reduce the risk of future crisis. This tender is for the re-procurement of an existing service. The current provider, You Trust, were awarded the contract following an advertised tender process undertaken in 2022. TUPE will apply to this service. In 2024/25, 14,288 people accessed the service with 13,666 receiving direct support. The service assists approximately 1,150 people per month and around 265 per week. The highest areas of demand currently are: welfare benefits, debt, housing, consumer issues, and other issues including family and employment rights. Contract value The contract is being funded via two sources. The council's internal department budget will be used to fund the core contract at a value of PS295,000 per annum and PS1,475,000 over the maximum 5-year term. External funding via the Crisis and Resilience Fund (which runs for 3-years, 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2029) will be used to supplement the core contract for the purpose of providing outreach and community-based provision with the aim of increasing accessibility. This funding totals PS241,666 over the initial 3-year contract term. The procurement will be run in accordance with the following timetable, however the council may depart from this where needed. 1. Contract notice published on FTS 27 May 2026 2. Procurement documents available on In-tend 27 May 2026 3. Deadline for requests for clarification 17 June 2026 4. Tender return deadline 3 July 2026 5. Evaluation & Moderation 6 July - 24 July 2026 6. Interviews/Presentations w/c 27 July 2026 7. Final evaluation of tenders completed 31 July 2026 8. Notify suppliers 18 August 2026 9. Standstill period 19 - 28 August 2026 10. Contract award 1 September 2026 11. Start of Contract 1 December 2026
Lot Information
Lot 1
Options: Following Local Government Reorganisation, the total opportunity value and volume of requirements may fluctuate. This may include an increase or decrease in the scale of Advice Services to accommodate integrating merging authorities, broader corporate estates, or adjusted geographical boundaries.
Renewal: The contract term will be for 3 years with options to extend in increments to be agreed up to a maximum of 5 years.
Planning Information
Portsmouth City Council (the council) are looking to engage with providers who can deliver an open access social welfare advice service for adults in Portsmouth. This service will provide specialist and generalist advice to improve outcomes and maximise use of resources for all people living or working within the boundaries of the city, and for Portsmouth City Council tenants living in Havant. As part of this consultation document there is a questionnaire for providers to complete which will help us in deciding our future commissioning models. We welcome any feedback from interested parties. Providers are encouraged to complete as many of the questions within the questionnaire as possible. The questionnaire can be found via this link https://in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home Interested providers should return the PME Questionnaire by 18th January 2026. Portsmouth City Council reserves the right to engage further with selected providers who indicate that they can meet the service as described within the questionnaire.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-05f80a
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/049909-2026
- 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
-
- CPV Codes
85312300 - Guidance and counselling services
85312310 - Guidance services
85312400 - Welfare services not delivered through residential institutions
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £1,716,666 £1M-£10M
- Lots Value
- £1,716,666 £1M-£10M
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 27 May 20264 weeks ago
- Submission Deadline
- 3 Jul 20262 weeks to go
- Future Notice Date
- 18 Jan 2026Expired
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 1 Nov 2026 - 31 Oct 2029 3-4 years
- Recurrence
- 2029-05-15
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Active
- Lots Status
- Active
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- PORTSMOUTH CITY 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
- PORTSMOUTH
- Postcode
- PO1 2AL
- Post Town
- Portsmouth
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLJ South East (England)
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLJ31 Portsmouth
- Delivery Location
- TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight, TLJ31 Portsmouth
-
- Local Authority
- Portsmouth
- Electoral Ward
- Charles Dickens
- Westminster Constituency
- Portsmouth South
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/049909-2026
27th May 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000369-2026
5th January 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083919-2025
17th December 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
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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