---
title: "VCMA project - Fuel Bank Foundation - Further expand Fuel Bank across Northern England"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED"
published: "2024-02-15"
---

# VCMA project - Fuel Bank Foundation - Further expand Fuel Bank across Northern England

Buyer: NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8

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## Summary

The Northern Gas Networks Limited has awarded a contract to the Fuel Bank Foundation for the "VCMA project - Fuel Bank Foundation - Further expand Fuel Bank across Northern England." The procurement falls under the services category with a focus on research and development services and related consultancy services. The contract value amounts to £434,227. The procurement method used was a limited award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, chosen due to technical reasons as the services could only be provided by the Fuel Bank Foundation.

This procurement opportunity with the Fuel Bank Foundation aims to support families at risk of self-disconnection or severe rationing of energy in Northern England. Businesses in the research and consultancy services industry targeted at energy provision and crisis management would find this tender suitable. The contract aims to further expand the reach of the Fuel Bank services to help vulnerable households get timely energy support and advice, ultimately reducing the risk of future energy crises within communities.

## Notice

A contract has been put in place with The Fuel Bank Foundation (FBF) they are an independent charity that aims to support families who pay in advance for energy, typically via a prepayment energy meter and are at risk of self-disconnection or severe rationing or indeed have self-disconnected. Self-disconnection is an unfortunate term: people don't choose to self disconnect, when the money runs out the electricity and gas switch off too. In the current climate we are seeing more people than ever turn to the Foundation for much-needed support. These services are only able to be delivered by this independent charity. As a fully independent charitable foundation 'Fuel Bank' has supported over 1 million people - who in turn are supplied by all UK energy suppliers - since launch eight years ago. We have developed a network of 675 partners across the country who act as an entry point into Fuel Bank. A mix of national bodies and local, community-based organisations, what unites them and makes them part of Fuel Bank is that they target distinct demographic groups or particular types of need and identify households in Fuel Crisis. These families are referred into and provided with same-day help from Fuel Bank, to get 'the lights back on and the gas reflowing by tea-time', alongside being provided by relevant and easy-to-access energy advice to give additional support and to lower household money spent on energy. Our key target is that we provide support and help to people within hours of them being referred to us; currently we achieve this over 98% of the time. This creates the enabler that advice provided can be acted upon, with an aim to reduce the propensity for future referral into Fuel Bank for continued crisis help.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

A contract has been awarded to The Fuel Bank Foundation (FBF) they are an independent charity that aims to support families who pay in advance for energy, typically via a prepayment energy meter and are at risk of self-disconnection or severe rationing or indeed have self-disconnected. Self-disconnection is an unfortunate term: people don't choose to self-disconnect, when the money runs out the electricity and gas switch off too. And in the current climate we are seeing more people than ever turn to the Foundation for much-needed support. A mix of national bodies and local, community-based organisations, what unites them and makes them part of Fuel Bank is that they target distinct demographic groups or particular types of need and identify households in Fuel Crisis. These families are referred into and provided with same-day help from Fuel Bank, to get 'the lights back on and the gas reflowing by tea-time', alongside being provided by relevant and easy-to-access energy advice to give additional support and to lower household money spent on energy. Our key target is that we provide support and help to people within hours of them being referred to us; currently we achieve this over 98% of the time. This creates the enabler that advice provided can be acted upon, with an aim to reduce the propensity for future referral into Fuel Bank for continued crisis help. A number of simple, yet straight-forward criteria are used to determine when third parties refer a client for Fuel Bank support: 1. The consumer must pre-pay for energy. 2. They must also be in intense financial crisis, unable to fund the basic essentials for everydayliving (including food, rent or mortgage, energy, water, council tax, and essential travel). 3. The consumer must be at immediate risk of self-disconnection, or indeed have self disconnected,or is making choices that may be of a significant detriment to ensure that energy is funded. 4. The third party who identifies that financial Fuel Bank support is required has also identified some additional steps and actions needed to provide additional help. This can include, but isn't limited to benefits entitlement checks, debt advice, money and household management support, and energy efficiency advice and measures. Based on our most recent analysis 96% of clients are struggling with other essential household bills.

### Procurement Information

The Fuel Bank Foundation (FBF) is an independent charity that aims to support families who pay in advance for energy, typically via a prepayment energy meter and are at risk of self-disconnection or severe rationing or indeed have self-disconnected. Self-disconnection is an unfortunate term: people don't choose to self disconnect, when the money runs out the electricity and gas switch off too. And in the current climate we are seeing more people than ever turn to the Foundation for much-needed support. These services are only able to be delivered by this independent charity.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/005149-2024 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 15 Feb 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 25 Jan 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £434,227 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS LIMITED |
| Locality | LEEDS |
| Post town | Leeds |
| Postcode | LS15 8TU |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE4 West Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE42 Leeds |
| Local authority | Leeds |
| Electoral ward | Garforth & Swillington |
| Westminster constituency | Leeds East |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | FUEL BANK FOUNDATION |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

## Release History

- 15 Feb 2024 at 16:23 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/005149-2024
- 25 Jan 2024 at 22:20 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002656-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://www.northerngasnetworks.co.uk

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0434b8.json.