Award

Collaboration on EXPLORE project Outcome Measures

NATURAL ENGLAND

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

02 Jan 2026 at 15:48

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process was executed by Natural England, a public authority within the central government, located in London. The tender titled "Collaboration on EXPLORE project Outcome Measures" falls under the research services industry category. This contract, valued at £45,000, was awarded to the University of Exeter who will be collaborating with Natural England to advance the development of the EXPLORE project. The awarded contract is active, with a timeline from the 30th of November 2025 until the 31st of March 2027. The procurement was conducted directly as a below-threshold Single Tender Action due to technical reasons, justified under the Procurement Act 2023.

This tender offers significant prospects for business growth, particularly for entities involved in strategic IT solutions and research services that align with local government priorities on health, wellbeing, nature, and sustainability. Given the direct award and specialized nature of the work involved, businesses that possess expertise in digital dashboards and web-based applications like the University of Exeter are well-suited to participate. This collaboration underscores an opportunity for organisations capable of delivering highly specialized and technically demanding projects in partnership with government bodies.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Collaboration on EXPLORE project Outcome Measures

Notice Description

This agreement has a value of PS45,000 and is between Natural England and the University of Exeter, to support the development of EXPLORE. The contract will run from the 30th November 2025 until the 31st March 2027. EXPLORE is a fully developed IT solution to support strategic decision-making by local authorities. It uses health, wellbeing, nature and sustainability as the common targets for almost all local government work. It has been codeveloped with local authorities, and will be published in Spring 2026. EXPLORE has four domains. These represent the final outcomes from almost all local authority activity and are Health, Wellbeing, Nature and Sustainability. To support Local Authorities in planning for these domains EXPLORE has three components. These are OUTCOME MEASURES (quantitative measure of current progress in each domain), FACTOR MAPS (diagrams show most of the things which influence outcomes) and HORIZON SCANNING. EXPLORE will support Local Authorities to do rapid and holistic planning supporting the government's development agenda. Under the Procurement Act 2023, this direct award is justified as 'due to an absence of competition for technical reasons and provided there are no reasonable alternatives, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required'. This is because the University of Exeter have been a key partner throughout the development of EXPLORE, through RENEW (A Natural Environment Research Council-funded project, which NE participates within). EXPLORE is built into theme 2 of RENEW. Key academic stakeholders have collaborated on the digital dashboards and other web-based components with Natural England and have the necessary expertise to ensure that the EXPLORE web-based components will be successfully delivered. Therefore, they are best placed to take over from the current supplier with regards to managing and keeping the web-based product up to date. Additionally, given the nature of this procurement (i.e. below the Procurement Act threshold of PS139,688), this is a below threshold STA and therefore is compliant with PA23.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05fed4
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000076-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - without competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

CPV Codes

73110000 - Research services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£45,000 Under £100K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Jan 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
30 Nov 20252 months ago
Contract Period
1 Dec 2025 - 31 Mar 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NATURAL ENGLAND
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
izabella.roberts@defra.gov.uk.defra
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 4DF
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

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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