Planning

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

A028PA Direct Payment Support Services

Essex County Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

20 Oct 2026 at 15:45

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Essex County Council is planning direct payment support services for adults and children using self-directed social care. The service is intended to help people arrange and manage their own care, with support including personal assistant recruitment, information and advice, specialist employment guidance, a personal assistant hub, account management, payroll and payments. The Council aims to increase people’s choice, control and independence through direct payments, and to build confidence and understanding of how they work. Delivery is intended across Essex. The Council is consulting providers to understand what services they can offer and how the service should be designed; the scope may change after this engagement and governance approval.

This is at the planning stage: the Council has begun preliminary market engagement, not invited tenders. It is seeking provider feedback on service capability, capacity and appetite, potential service requirements, delivery challenges and barriers. Responses to the market questions are expected by 17:00 on 4 November 2026, through the OPEN online questionnaire. The planned contract period is 1 April 2028 to 31 March 2031. The procurement is expected to be a single service lot, with suitability indicated for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. The final scope, contract duration and procurement timetable remain subject to the engagement and governance approval. No tender procedure, evaluation criteria or contract value is established at this stage.

This planning exercise is relevant to providers of social care support services, particularly those with experience helping people manage direct payments and self-directed care. The Council is seeking market insight from organisations that can support personal assistant recruitment, management and retention; provide clear advice, including specialist employment support; manage accounts; and deliver payroll and payment services. Providers with practical experience of training, solving payroll and recruitment challenges, and helping recipients understand their choices, responsibilities and available options can inform the future service design. The Council is also interested in suppliers able to explain delivery barriers and workable solutions, and in their capacity to deliver a service of this scale. SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises are considered suitable. This is an opportunity to shape future requirements, not to submit a tender now.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

A028PA Direct Payment Support Services

Notice Description

Essex County Council ("the Council") is inviting providers to participate in a market engagement exercise to inform the Councils commissioning considerations regarding the provision of direct payment support services supporting adults and children with their self-directed support offer through the delivery of direct payments. Essex County Council are committed to increase the number of people who wish to access a social care direct payment that enables individuals to remain independent through developing their own packages of care and support. Direct payments are intended to give people greater choice, control and flexibility to arrange and manage their care and support needs, through the receipt of regular funds from the Council. However, we recognise that for some people, choosing a direct payment may not be an option without support managing this arrangement. The Council intends to achieve the following aims and objectives within a direct payment support service: * Improve and increase support to recruit Personal Assistants (PAs) for direct Payment recipients. In turn increasing the market for Pas * Ensure DP recipients have access to good quality information, advice and Guidance, including generic direct payment advice and specialist employment advice and support * The delivery of a PA hub, supporting recruitment, the management and retention of PAs * Access to high-quality account management for the people who need it * Provide easy access to payroll and payments services * Increase confidence in Direct Payments across the system * Increase knowledge of the benefits and responsibilities of Direct Payments, as well as the options available to people who wish to take a direct payment. Essex County Council are seeking to understand: *What services in relation to direct payments support providers can offer and better understand supplier capacity, capability and appetite to deliver a contract of this size *Receive feedback to create better service requirements for future tenders from the market who are currently delivering successful high-quality services. * Learn about challenges and solutions for managing direct payments, such as managing payroll and training, supporting and recruiting personal assistants *Understand Barriers: to gain a better understanding of any potential barriers and how best to overcome them. Please note that the Council reserves the right to refine the scope of any future procurement following this market engagement process. In addition, please note that any future procurement remains subject to governance approval. Therefore, the Council will confirm the final scope of any procurement, including but not limited to, the contract duration and confirmed procurement timetable in the corresponding Tender Notice following the conclusion of the requisite governance process.

Planning Information

Details regarding the current direct payment support service commissioned via Essex county council and the soft market questions can be located via: https://www.open-uk-org/opportunities Please note that you will need to undertake a registration process to secure a user account to access the aforementioned briefing document via OPEN. However, please be advised that the registration process is free of charge and will also provide access to any forthcoming procurement opportunities which Essex County Council issues in due course. If you experience any technical system issues regarding this soft market test, please contact NEPO's helpdesk via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of OPEN's homepage: https://open-uk.org Please note that OPEN uses ProClass to classify procurement opportunities instead of Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) Therefore, the opportunity within OPEN has been prepared using the following ProClass codes which represent the closest matches to the CPV code which this notice is based on 311600 The deadline for responding to the questions will be 17:00 on Wednesday 4th November 2026 and all responses must be submitted via the online questionnaire functionality within OPEN. Likewise, if you require any clarification regarding the questions, please use the messaging functionality within OPEN.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078c22
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099138-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85000000 - Health and social work services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Oct 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Apr 2028 - 1 Apr 2031 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
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...