Tender

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

C047PA Deceased Storage Service

Essex County Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Tender

10 Sep 2026 at 15:53

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Essex County Council is procuring secure, compliant and dignified contingency storage for deceased persons for the Essex Coroner Area, covering Essex County Council, Thurrock Council and Southend-on-Sea City Council. The service provides additional capacity when primary mortuary facilities cannot meet demand, including during peaks, maintenance, disruption or major incidents. It includes secure refrigerated storage, transfers to and from NHS mortuaries at Basildon, Broomfield, Colchester, Princess Alexandra and Southend hospitals, identification and audit controls, temperature monitoring, alarms, and short-notice receipt and release. Providers must also handle complex, traumatic and bariatric cases and maintain business continuity and emergency response arrangements. This is a specialist funeral and related service, delivered across Essex, for HM Coroner through the Council’s statutory coroner service.

The procurement has reached tender: Essex County Council invited offers through an open procedure. There is one lot, with electronic submission permitted in English through the Authority’s OPEN eSourcing portal. Clarification questions were due by 21 September 2026 at 4:00pm, and tenders were due by 6 October 2026 at 2:00pm. The stated award decision date is 16 October 2026. The contract is scheduled to run from 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2031, with an option for three further periods of up to 12 months each, potentially extending to 30 November 2034. Its estimated value is £300,000 excluding VAT, or £360,000 including VAT. Evaluation is based on price at 50%, technical quality at 45% and social value at 5%.

This opportunity suits funeral directors, specialist deceased-storage operators and other providers with suitable refrigerated facilities and relevant experience. Competitors need the operational capability to receive, store, identify, track and release deceased persons safely and respectfully, including at short notice and on a 24-hour, 365-day basis. Facilities must support reliable temperature control, alarm monitoring, secure access and robust audit trails. The service also requires appropriately trained and responsive staff, arrangements for transfers involving NHS mortuaries in Essex, and procedures for complex, traumatic and bariatric cases. Strong business-continuity and emergency-response planning will be important, as the service supports resilience during disruption and exceptional demand. The Council expressly welcomes small and medium-sized enterprises. Demand will be contingent on the need for additional mortuary capacity.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

C047PA Deceased Storage Service

Notice Description

Essex County Council (ECC) is responsible for delivering the Coroner Service for the Essex Coroner Area, which includes the administrative areas of Essex County Council, Thurrock Council and Southend-on-Sea City Council. As part of this statutory function, ECC requires suitably qualified and experienced providers to deliver Deceased Storage Services across Essex. The purpose of this contract is to provide secure, compliant and dignified secondary contingency storage arrangements for deceased persons on behalf of HM Coroner when additional capacity is required beyond that available through primary mortuary provision. The service forms an important component of the Essex Coroner Area's resilience arrangements and supports continuity of service during periods of increased demand, maintenance works, service disruption, major incidents or other circumstances affecting mortuary capacity. The successful provider/s will be required to maintain suitable facilities capable of receiving and storing deceased persons safely, securely and respectfully, operating in accordance with all relevant legislation, professional standards, health and safety requirements and recognised industry best practice. The service provider/s shall maintain: - Secure refrigerated deceased storage facilities. - Support transfers to and from NHS mortuaries within Essex, including Basildon, Broomfield, Colchester, Princess Alexandra and Southend Hospitals. - Robust identification, tracking and audit arrangements. - Appropriate temperature monitoring and alarm systems. - Arrangements for the receipt and release of deceased persons at short notice. - Suitable procedures for handling complex, traumatic and bariatric cases. - Business continuity and emergency response arrangements. - Appropriate staffing to ensure a responsive and professional service. The service will operate on a 24-hour, 365-day basis and must be capable of responding to urgent requests from the Essex Coroner Service. The Authority welcomes participation from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), funeral directors and specialist providers with relevant experience and suitable facilities. This contract is intended to provide contingency deceased storage capacity and will be utilised only when operational circumstances require additional provision. No minimum throughput, call-off volume, contract value or level of expenditure is guaranteed under the contract. Historical utilisation and occupancy data has been provided within the procurement documentation to assist bidders in understanding the nature of the requirement. This information is provided for indicative purposes only and does not constitute a guarantee of future demand.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: The term for this contract will be five (5) years with an option to extend for three (3) periods of up to twelve (12) months each. The Authority may at its sole discretion offer to extend the Contract Term by such period as it may specify in written notice given not less than three (3) months prior to the expiry of the Contract Term.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f739
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/086053-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
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
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

98 - Other community, social and personal services

CPV Codes

98370000 - Funeral and related services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£300,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
£300,000 £100K-£500K
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Sep 20265 days ago
Submission Deadline
6 Oct 20263 weeks to go
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Dec 2026 - 30 Nov 2031 Over 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
Essex County 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
CHELMSFORD
Postcode
CM1 1QH
Postcode Area
Chelmsford
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH3 Essex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH36 Heart of Essex
Delivery Location
TLH3 Essex
Local Authority
Chelmsford
Electoral Ward
Moulsham and Central
Westminster Constituency
Chelmsford

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...