Notice Information
Notice Title
Short Term Payment Contingency Service
Notice Description
Description The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wish to give notice of a market engagement opportunity in relation to two linked but separate future procurements for DWP payment contingency services (together referred to in this notice as the "Payment Contingency Services ("PCS")). The intention of the PCS is to ensure DWP has robust contingencies in place to make benefit and pension entitlement payments to its customers on the dates they are due. The PCS are invoked only in exceptional circumstances where there is a delay in DWP releasing Bacs payment file(s). The DWP intends for the relevant services to be provided under two separate, interdependent contracts (both of which are required to allow for invocation of PCS) as follows: - Short Term Payment Contingency ("STPC") - Lot 1: This service reformats Bacs payments files into Faster Payment files for onward submission into the Faster Payment infrastructure - Sponsor Bank ("SB") - Lot 2: This service is required for the settlement of funds with the Bank of England. These market engagement activities relate to both the STPC and SB procurements. Please note that as these are separate procurements, different procurement processes and/or commercial approach may apply to each procurement. In addition, each procurement may be awarded, delayed, or withdrawn independently of the other. This notice relates specifically to the STPC procurement. A separate Preliminary Market Engagement Notice has been issued for the SB procurement, which can be found on Find a Tender Service.
Planning Information
Engagement The date for the group event is 12/05/2026 at 10:00 am – 11:00 am. This will be followed up with One-to-One events, which will take place between 01/06/2026 and 05/06/2026. The above dates are indicative and may be subject to change. Engagement process description General Information The main purpose of this preliminary market engagement is to assist the DWP and potential suppliers to prepare for a procurement process in respect of the STPC Service. The DWP will gather information, which it will use to assess the market's capacity, strengthen the procurement strategy and finalise conditions of participation. The engagement aims to: - Communicate objectives, scope, and strategic priorities - Gain a greater understanding of current and emerging market provisions and the supplier database - Gain insight into market, including supplier capabilities, capacity and to identify innovative solutions that could support DWP in protecting customer payments and ensuring timely delivery - Gather insights from suppliers to help with strengthening the procurement strategy - Identify any potential challenges, risks and commercial considerations for ensuring timely delivery of payments to DWP’s customers - Strengthen commercial strategy and finalise the route to market - Finalise conditions of participation - Finalise business requirements and specifications Please note: - This notice is for market engagement and exploratory purposes and is not a call for competition. - Participation in pre-market engagement is voluntary and will not offer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement. The DWP will take steps to ensure fair and equal treatment of all suppliers. - The DWP reserves the right not to enter any formal processes or agreements. - Accordingly, the DWP will not be liable for any expenditure, work, or effort incurred by a provider in acting based on this notice. - DWP reserves the right to add or remove stages throughout the procurement process. - It is mandatory for any interested suppliers to register on the new Central Digital Platform which is part of the enhanced Find a Tender Service in order to participate in any future procurements. - The DWP does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information provided during pre-market engagement, and suppliers should not rely on it when forming any commercial or financial decisions. - Suppliers must not seek to influence the procurement design in a way that would result in an unfair competitive advantage. The authority reserves the right to take appropriate steps to address any risk of distortion of competition. - Suppliers that participate in the PME are deemed to acknowledge and accept the DWP’s approach to confidentiality for each stage of pre-market engagement (as summarised below). Stages: 1) Group Event via Microsoft Teams. Group Event will take place on 12/05/2026 at 10:00 am – 11:00 am. Please note that the Group Event is intended to cover both the STPC and SB procurements. Participation in the Group Event does not require suppliers to express interest in both procurements. Please note that the Group Event will be conducted on a non-confidential basis, and suppliers are advised not to disclose confidential, commercially sensitive or proprietary information during the Group Event. Information from the Group Event (including questions raised and responses given) may be summarised and made available to the wider market to ensure transparency and equal access to information. To register your interest for this event please email Ewelina Wesolowska – Ewelina.wesolowska@dwp.gov.uk and Shannon Wells – Shannon.wells@dwp.gov.uk Deadline to submit your interest is by midday on 08/05/2026. Please ensure email subject states: “PME STPC Procurement” No materials will be shared prior to the events. 2) One-to-One supplier events via Microsoft Teams. These individual calls will take place between 01/06/2026 and 05/06/2026. Instructions for how to register for these events will be provided on the Group Event. Please note that the One-to-One supplier meetings will be provided only in respect of the procurements for which suppliers have registered an interest. Equal time slots will be arranged for all suppliers interested in the STPC procurement. Please note that information exchanged during One-to-One meetings is not confidential by default and suppliers are advised to consider carefully whether to disclose any information that may be confidential, commercially sensitive or proprietary during One-to-One meetings. Where a supplier wishes to share information it considers to be confidential, commercially sensitive or proprietary, the supplier must clearly identify that information in advance or at the time it is shared and explain why confidentiality is claimed. In such circumstances, the DWP will consider, at its own discretion, whether such information will be treated as confidential. Participating suppliers acknowledge that any agreement to treat information as confidential is subject always to DWP’s obligations under applicable procurement law, including its duties of transparency, equal treatment and the avoidance of distortion of competition. Information from the One-to-One events (including questions raised and responses given) may be summarised and made available to the wider market to ensure transparency and equal access to information.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-0615c5
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040514-2026
- Current Stage
- Planning
- All Stages
- Planning
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Selective
- Procurement Method Details
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
66 - Financial and insurance services
-
- CPV Codes
66000000 - Financial and insurance services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £2,684,640 £1M-£10M
- Lots Value
- £2,684,000 £1M-£10M
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 1 May 20262 weeks ago
- Submission Deadline
- 4 Sep 20264 months to go
- Future Notice Date
- 27 Jul 20263 months to go
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 30 Jun 2027 - 30 Jun 2032 Over 5 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Planned
- Lots Status
- Planned
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- DEPARTMENT FOR WORK & PENSIONS
- Contact Name
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Email
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Phone
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Buyer Location
- Locality
- LONDON
- Postcode
- SW1H 9NA
- 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
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040514-2026
1st May 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030424-2026
1st April 2026 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/009632-2026
3rd February 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/009622-2026
3rd February 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
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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